75. Victor

Chapter seventy-five

Victor

D onovan is dead. He’s dead. I killed him and I don’t regret it. Gun shots ring around me, so I stay low as I scramble behind a car. Lincoln is right behind me, dragging Leo. As prepared as we thought we were, this is still not what we thought would happen. I grab Leo under his arms and hoist him behind the car.

Lincoln rips his suit jacket off and holds it to the wound in Leo’s neck, trying to put as much pressure on it as possible to stop him from bleeding out. “Boss,” Leo gasps, and I finally force myself to look at him. He coughs and blood seeps from the corner of his mouth. “Tell Liv she’s the best little sister.”

“You’re going to tell her that yourself,” I tell him as I look around and try to figure out how the hell to get out of here. He grabs my arm, forcing me to look at him. I swallow the lump forming in my throat. “You are not going to die.” I’m trying to convince him as much as myself.

“If I hadn’t jumped in front of them when I did, it could have been her. I’ll gladly die for her.” Tears drip out of his eyes as he takes in a labored breath. Why the hell are they still shooting? Haven’t they noticed Donovan is dead? I stare down at him and come to terms with the fact I may only have a few more moments with him.

My voice cracks. “Thank you, Leo.”

“Don’t go getting all sappy on me, boss.” Leo closes his eyes.

“Open your fucking eyes!” Lincoln shouts at him. Leo opens his eyes and glances at Lincoln before looking back at me.

“I knew Lane didn’t turn on you. He has a crush on Liv, though, so you better lock that shit down.” Even when he’s fucking dying, he’s cracking jokes. Someone dives around the car. Both Lincoln and I turn with guns raised, then relax at the sight of Arden. Arden looks from us to Leo.

“Fuck!” He pushes Lincoln aside so hard Lincoln falls back against the car. Arden scoops his arms under Leo and looks at me, ignoring Lincoln. “I’ll take care of him.” Before I can respond, he takes off with Leo in his arms.

Lincoln turns to me with shock on his face. “What the hell was that?” I stare at him pissed that Arden did that. What if Leo dies and I don’t get to tell him how much I appreciate everything he’s done for me and Olivia?

I shake my head and rub my hand over my head. “I have no idea.” Taking a deep breath, I try to assess the situation. “We have to get out of here.”

The building groans again, and Lincoln looks behind him with worry on his face. His fucking building. Shit. The gunfire is dying down. I lean up slightly so I can look through the car’s windows. Lane is looking in our direction with his gun raised.

I turn and bring my gun up to point it at one of the men that was beside Donovan who is pointing his gun at me, but before I can pull the trigger, a gun goes off. I suck in a breath, waiting for pain to spread through my body. Instead, the man falls to his knees. Blood pours out of the hole that’s now on his forehead. He falls face forward. I fall back, and the car braces my fall.

Shit, that was close. I exchange a look with Lincoln. Lane comes around the car and looks between Lincoln and I. “You okay, boss?” he asks. I nod, unable to speak at the moment. “Where’s Leo?”

I swallow my mouth dry as hell. The smell of blood and sweat assaulting me. “Arden took him to get help. He was shot,” I say.

Lincoln stands, still holding his bloody suit jacket in his hands. His shirt has blood on it and I don’t know if it’s his or someone else’s.

“I have to go find Ansley. We need to get out of this garage before the building collapses.” Lane and I both nod. I have to get to Olivia. Maybe she found Ansley and they’re together.

I stand and look around, trying to assess the situation. The gunfight slowly stop as Donovan’s men realize they’re outnumbered and their boss is dead. My attention goes straight to where I saw Donovan fall. I quickly walk over to him and stare down at his lifeless body. Still not convinced, I squat and put my fingers at the pulse on his neck. When I’m met with nothing, I know he’s dead, but there’s still a part of me that’s afraid he might pop back up.

“I’ll take care of him,” Malachi says as he walks up to assess the situation as well. I look up at him and nod once.

“I have to go find Olivia. Her arm was hurt badly. I need to make sure she gets medical attention.”

Malachi nods and waves at me to go. Lincoln, Lane, and I walk to the exit gate and are met with chaos. There are first responders everywhere. I spot an FBI vehicle and I shake my head. This little town got the attention of the fucking FBI. We walk through the various people and rubble. There’s shouting coming from inside the building and Lincoln glances at Lane and I.

“I have to go find out what’s going on,” he says. I can tell he’s torn between finding out what’s happening with his building and the people inside and finding Ansley.

“I’ll find Ansley and Olivia and we will come find you right away,” I tell him. He looks around and nods reluctantly.

“I’m going to talk to the Sheriff or the FBI. I’m assuming they’ll tell me what to do,” he says. He takes off toward where a sheriff deputy's car is and an FBI vehicle are side by side. Lane and I begin our search for Olivia and Ansley.

“Victor!” a voice calls out to me and I turn in time to see Ansley, Bec, and Connor racing toward me. “Where’s Lincoln and Olivia?” Ansley asks. Her eyes frantically look around the street.

“Lincoln had to go speak to the authorities.” I point toward the vehicles and she visibly relaxes when she sees his back. “Is Olivia not with you?” I ask her. She turns back to me and shakes her head.

“No.” She looks at Connor and Bec. “I saw Donovan and his men, so I went to go get help.” She motions to the chaos all around us. “But there wasn’t anyone. Connor and Bec just got here, so I was filling them in on what was happening.”

“I was about to come down to the garage to see if you needed help,” Connor says. Bec is clutching Connor’s arm.

“Donovan is dead,” I tell them. “Arden was able to get Olivia out of the garage and bring her out here. We need to find her.” I start walking without waiting to see if they’re going to follow me, but they do. I glance at Ansley. “You need to go see Lincoln. Even if it’s just for a minute. He needs to know you’re safe,” I tell her.

She looks conflicted, but nods. “I’ll go tell him I’m okay, then help you look for her.” She takes off in the direction of Lincoln.

An EMT walks by us and Bec stops him. “Hey, we’re looking for our friend.” He stops and looks at all of us. His eyes focus on the blood on my shirt.

“I’m okay. It’s someone else’s blood. My wife was injured. We were in the parking garage and I sent her out here to get help,” I explain to him.

“What does she look like? I’ve helped a lot of people, but maybe I’ve seen her.” He looks exhausted.

“She’s petite, has long black hair, and ocean blue eyes. She was wearing a white blouse and gray pants.” I want to say she’s the most beautiful woman he’s probably ever seen, instead I try to think of any kind of marks that might set her apart from others he’s seen today.

“Her eyes,” he says. “When you say ocean blue. You mean—”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” Hope rises in my chest. Olivia has unusual eyes that set her apart from others. Of course he’d notice.

“I did see her. She had a gash on her bicep that needed attention. She lost a lot of blood, so my colleague took her to the ambulance.” He turns and points in a direction where there isn’t an ambulance. He squints. “The ambulance was there ten minutes ago,” he says as he looks around.

Alarm bells begin to ring in my ears as he turns in circles, like he’s looking for the ambulance.

“Maybe your colleague took her to the hospital,” Connor says. The man shakes his head.

“No, we were instructed to only take those who needed life-saving procedures to the hospital. She wasn’t going to die. She just needed her arm stitched, and she needed to sit down.” He starts walking toward another ambulance and motions for us to follow him. “Hey, Cal! Where’s Alice?”

Cal’s head pops up from helping someone that has a broken foot. “I haven’t seen her in a while.” He looks back at the person’s foot and I realize it’s James.

“James!” His head pops up at the sound of my voice.

“Victor? Where’s Olivia? Is she okay?” He looks around like he expects her to pop out of thin air.

“I’m trying to find her. Arden brought her out here.” I swallow. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I tell him.

He puts his head back against the raised gurney the EMT has him on. “Yeah, I was getting sick of seeing Donovan’s car parked on the curb. So, I decided to go out there and confront him, but no one was in the car.” He opens his eyes again to look from me to Connor. “I called a towing company to get the car towed. I was outside when everything happened. The damn building pitched forward, causing concrete to fall onto the sidewalk and one of them landed on my leg as I was trying to run away from the debris falling.”

I look toward the building and realize the building is leaning forward. Connor and I share a concerned look as Bec, who is being unusually quiet, bites on her thumbnail. “Will the building collapse into the street?” I ask no one in particular.

“Precautions are being taken. That’s why there’s a barricade.” The EMT I don’t know the name of says. “I’m going to use your radio and see if I can get in touch with Alice.” He looks at me. “Hopefully she was told to move the ambulance and they’re a few blocks away.”

Connor, Bec, and I wait as he goes to the ambulance, but my eyes are scanning everyone. I haven’t seen Arden or Leo either. Where the hell are they? Ansley walks up, looking around like she’s expecting to see Olivia.

“Did you find her?” she asks. Bec shakes her head. Connor wraps his arm around her and pulls her into his side before kissing the side of her head. The EMT steps out of the ambulance with a shake of his head and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Something isn’t right.

“Alice isn’t answering,” he says.

Cal, the other EMT, looks up from where he’s wrapping James’ foot and scoffs. “Doesn’t surprise me.”

“What do you mean by that?” I ask him. He looks at me and shakes his head. The look in his eyes makes my lungs seize.

“Alice isn’t reliable. She’s been a loose cannon since she started.” I try to suck in a breath, but it’s like I’ve lost the ability to do that.

“When did she start?” Connor asks. He must notice my distress. I lift my hand to unbutton my collar and I realize it’s already loose. It must have gotten ripped or come undone with everything that happened in the garage.

“About a month ago,” he answers. Something is wrong, but I don’t know what it is. Out of the corner of my eye, I see several men running toward us. I turn in their direction and notice Malachi in the front.

“Donovan has been working with that woman,” he says as he comes to a stop in front of us. Blood thunders in my ears. The woman he told me about at my pub. Her name was Alice.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” I put my hands on top of my head and begin pacing. Ansley and Bec are holding onto each other and Connor is saying something, but I can’t hear him with the ringing that’s going on in my ears.

“What’s the woman’s name?” I ask him, knowing what he’s going to say. I force myself to focus, so I can hear his answer.

“Alice Brighton.”