22. Booker

Chapter 22

Booker

B rynne's red bandana sat in a heap on my center console, and it was all I could think about as I sat around the corner from the park off the exit. I'd dropped Austin and Henley off to scope the area, and the plan was for me to pull into the parking lot alone. I didn't want to risk her life if Chase's boss got ticked off that I'd brought company.

Austin and Henley were the backup now, in case things went south on my end. Two men stood guard at the back of a black van. They each had their own gun tucked in the waistband of their jeans as they talked. If they'd looked hard enough, they would have seen my truck through the foliage, but to my advantage, they were distracted.

We were guessing Brynne was inside the van, so Austin's job was to take care of whoever the driver was, and Henley's was to deal with dipshit one and dipshit two at the back. I'd handle the boss and getting Brynne back. That was, if everything went to plan.

Every second I sat here was another second that something could be happening to her, and the thought made me sick. I couldn't wait any longer.

I reached across the center console and opened the glove box to pull out my pistol. Clicking the compartment shut again, I set the gun between my thighs and shifted into reverse. Slowly backing the truck up, I drove onto the main road and headed onto the street that led to the gravel parking lot. I turned into the abandoned park and killed my headlights as I rolled to a stop. I let it idle for a minute as the two men stared at me. They both donned their guns at the same time, keeping them low.

I killed the engine, taking one last glance at the bandana beside me as I hid the gun in my jeans below my shirt, then got out. I left the door open just in case they decided to fire, but I stepped out from the protection of it.

"Where is she." My tone left no room for question. I wanted my girl back, no matter what it took.

"Busy," the tall one said.

The van was still running, which didn't comfort me one fucking bit. I just had to trust that Austin would take care of whoever was behind the wheel before they had the chance to run.

I held my hands wide. "Well, I'm here."

As if on cue, the back door to the van opened, and a man clad in all black jumped out with a gun gripped in his hand. He barely spared me a glance before turning back around to grab something.

Panicked breaths sounded as he pulled, and that voice that made every nerve in my fucking body come alive filled my ears, wrapping around my mind, telling me to go to her. But I stood firm.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Brynne shouted as he yanked her to the edge of the van. Her feet hit the ground as he wrapped his free hand around her forearm, which was at an awkward angle as I noticed her arms were tied behind her back. As soon as she was on her feet, my eyes couldn't miss the blood coating the side of her face.

I stepped forward on instinct, but the short guy cocked his gun.

"What did you do to her?" I tried to keep my voice calm, but I couldn't be fucking serene seeing her hurt like that. I wanted to tear every fucking limb from their bodies, gut them like fucking pigs.

"Did what you couldn't do," the man with his filthy hand on my girl said. But I knew his fucking name. Same with all his different personas he put on for show. "Taught her to behave."

My sweatshirt was swimming on her, covering her shorts, and even from where I stood, I could see her legs shaking.

I rolled my lips together. "Doesn't seem like you did a very good job if she's still fighting you."

"We're working on that." He looked down at her, bringing the tip of the gun up to her cheek. She froze instantly, her wide eyes glued to me like I was her north star in this dark lot. "Aren't we, sweetheart?"

My blood boiled in my fucking veins. I'd never hated a sight so much in my life—her standing there like a deer in the headlights, like her death was imminent. I wouldn't let that be the outcome.

"What do you want?" I barked. I was done playing fucking games .

He dropped the gun back to his side, his finger on the trigger as he looked at me. "What I'm owed."

"You're not owed shit."

He tilted his head. "I'm not? Far as I know, Chase won a prize, and that prize was mine. Now it's gone. Pay up, and I might consider giving your little girlfriend back."

My jaw ached with how hard it was clenched. "Chase cheated."

The man's brows rose. "Is that so?"

"Everyone in that room can attest to it, so my deed isn't his, and it sure as hell isn't yours." Neither is my Brynne.

In my peripheral, Austin stepped out of the bushes, approaching the driver's side of the vehicle. I kept my eyes forward, not wanting to give away his position with their backs to him.

The boss shrugged. "He won it fair and square."

"That how you play, Lance?"

He tried to hide it, but I didn't miss the slight shock in his eyes at the use of his real name. He wasn't the only one who did his research.

"Fair and square?" I added, then tipped my chin up in Brynne's direction. "Doesn't look like you gave my girl much of a fair chance here, did you?"

Lance swallowed. I'd taken him off guard, just like I'd wanted. A smart man never left paperwork lying around with his name on it, but when we were digging through his house, I'd found an old letter from someone addressed to him, with his full name. It hadn't been hard to find every little thing out about him from there. How he ran away from home as a kid, or how his father was arrested for drunk driving. That his mother was a prostitute, and he had no records in terms of renting or jobs past the age of eighteen.

"Someone has to be the bad guy," Lance said as the tall guy took a step toward me. The old swing set behind them creaked as it swung in the wind while the dry leaves rustled above us.

I needed to keep stalling them. Keep him talking. I wouldn't be able to get Brynne away unharmed without Austin and Henley. Not with a trigger-happy man holding her.

Austin had disappeared inside the van without a sound, and I could only hope he'd taken care of his part of the plan.

I rubbed at a callus on my hand, inspecting it like it hadn't been there for the last thirty or so years. "See, that's the problem, Lance. You're playing a part in being a bad guy." I looked up again, meeting his gaze. "But I'm not acting." I moved a hand to my shirt as if I was simply rubbing an itch. "I am the fucking villain." In one swift motion, the pistol was in my hand, and I was taking aim at Lance.

One after the other, Henley put a bullet in the two guys' skulls after emerging from the brush. They both fell to the ground with a thud, and then Austin was swinging open the doors to the van. One hit Lance in the back, causing him to lose balance, but he held tight to Brynne in return, keeping himself upright. My bullet flew past him, right at the fucking taillight as I shifted my aim at the last second. It wasn't worth accidentally hitting Brynne.

Brynne's scream rang through the air, and panic seized me with the thought that I may have hit her instead, but then the glass shattered to pieces with a pop, and the tiniest bit of relief hit me. But it came all too soon as Lance backed up with Brynne's back now pressed to his chest. He had the muzzle of his gun pressed to the side of her head, staining the tip with her blood.

"I'll kill her right fucking here if you don't back the fuck off!" Lance yelled, backing up another few steps.

Austin hopped down from the van with his gun still gripped in his hands. He glanced at me, as if I knew what to fucking do. Whatever we did, it had to end in Brynne getting out of here alive. If anyone was getting a fucking bullet in their head tonight, it was Lance.

"Let her go, Lance," I warned, keeping my gun trained on him. I couldn't shoot, though. Not with Brynne being used as a shield.

Tears streamed down her face, and one glance at her exposed neck sent blackness careening into my line of vision. Her fragile skin was bruised a gruesome shade of purple, and she'd barely been with them for half an hour.

"I want what's mine!" he barked.

"Then we'll trade," I said.

He shook his head. "I have no fucking reason to trust you."

"And neither do I. But she means a hell of a lot more to me than some fucking piece of property." Just saying the words out loud felt odd. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd think so highly of a woman to give up everything for her, but for Brynne, I would. I'd grown attached too damn fast, but I didn't regret a thing.

"How do I know you have it with you?" Lance asked.

"Austin will get it from my truck." He was the one closest to the two of them, but it'd drop Lance's guard down enough for me to take him by surprise.

"Booker," Austin protested at the same time Henley sent me a questioning glance.

"Now, Austin. It's in my glove box." But all that was there was another magazine filled with bullets.

He glanced between Lance and me twice before giving in and dropping his gun. He walked toward the passenger side of my truck, careful not to make any sudden movements. Lance kept his eyes on Austin the entire way, making sure he didn't get any smart ideas, but he was looking at the wrong guy. Just like I'd expected he would.

I had one opportunity, and if I wasn't extremely precise with my aim, Brynne would suffer the consequences.

That wasn't something I was willing to let happen, so when I raised my pistol in their direction, with Lance's attention still focused on Austin at my truck, I centered all my hopes and wishes on the trajectory of the bullet.

My finger squeezed the trigger, and then my heart stopped.