Chapter 12

TWELVE

FALLON

T hree days. It's been three agonizing days since Salem attended the poker game and didn't return. With each passing moment, the silence grows more deafening, punctuated only by the haunting echo of unanswered questions.

Unable to bear the suffocating feeling of uncertainty, I've spent the past three days immersed in a relentless pursuit of answers, my every waking moment consumed by the need to uncover the truth behind Salem's whereabouts.

Armed with a sense of purpose and resolve, I found myself standing on the road leading toward the plantation—a solitary figure cloaked in shadows.

With a resolute nod, I steeled myself for what lay ahead and set off toward the property, my senses sharpened.

As I approached the back gates, the weight of Salem's absence propelled me forward with an urgency that refused to be ignored.

With practiced ease, I scaled the wall next to the gate, my movements fluid and silent as I slipped into the darkness like a wraith in the night.

Slinking through the grounds, my heart pounded with a rhythm that mirrored the relentless ticking of the clock, each passing moment bringing me closer to the truth I sought.

Finally, I stumbled upon my way in—a small, nondescript door tucked away in the shadows.

With steady hands, I picked the lock and slipped inside. The faint click of the door echoed in the silence of the corridor I found myself in. Each step forward was a calculated risk, every movement deliberate as I made my way through the labyrinth of corridors and rooms.

Time stretched on, each passing moment feeling like an eternity as I searched for any sign of Salem's presence. At the end of a seemingly unused wing of the plantation, I stumbled upon a room bathed in soft, ethereal light. Its walls were adorned with paintings and sketches that seemed to pulsate with otherworldly energy. There, at the center of it all, sat Sterling, his back turned to me as he hunched over a canvas. I crept closer, my movements as silent as a whisper as I closed the distance between us.

With a resolve born of desperation, I stepped forward and pulled my gun from its holster, holding it to the back of his head.

"What have you done with Salem?" I demanded, my voice trembling with suppressed fury. "Where is she?"

Stirling sat up straight and turned his head to look at me.

"Where is she?" I repeated sharply. "Where is Salem?"

Stirling's expression was unreadable as he considered my words. And then, with a slow, deliberate motion, he spoke.

"Atticus Boudreaux has her," he said, his voice low and grave.

A cold shiver ran down my spine, my mind racing with the implications of what he'd just told me. Atticus Boudreaux. One of the heads of the New Orleans Triad. Without hesitation, I made my decision, my eyes blazing.

"Take me to him," I demanded, my voice laced with steel. "Now."

Stirling hesitated, his green gaze flickering with confusion. "You don't want to do that," he warned.

But I refused to be swayed—I'd come too far to turn back now. With a glare, I repeated my demand, my patience wearing thin.

"Take. Me. To. Him," I growled, each word dripping with menace.

Reluctantly, Stirling relented. "Okay, Red, but it's your funeral."

He led me toward an imposing office in the opposite wing of the manor.

As we approached the entrance, I could feel anticipation and palpable tension crackling between us like electricity.

We stepped inside, and I was met with the sight of Atticus Boudreaux—a man of formidable stature. His gaze was cold and calculating as he regarded me with undisguised curiosity.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" he asked, his voice as smooth as silk. "Take a seat."

I complied without hesitation, my every nerve on edge as I waited for him to speak. And then, without preamble, he turned to Stirling and dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

"Leave us," he commanded.

As Stirling slipped out of the room, leaving us alone, unease settled over me like a stifling shroud. But I refused to show weakness. I would stop at nothing to free Salem. Even if it meant playing the only card I had left.