33

33

KADE

As soon as I reach our destination – the hotel Bernie is staying at – I slam my brakes on and pull off my seat belt.

“Fucking think about this for a second, Kade.” Base swears under his breath as I throw open the door. I shake my head, making my way across the street towards the hotel entrance. “Kade!”

“I have no reason to think about it. She has a goddamn hit out on Stacey, and I need to know where Barry and his family are.” I gesture to the car. “Go to the facility. I don’t want you getting involved in this.”

“You think I’m going to fucking leave you?”

I push into the reception, and the lady behind the desk takes in my all-black uniform, combats, bulletproof vest, the riot helmet hanging from my hand – then her eyes land on the pistol in the other.

Base rushes into the elevator just as the door closes, joining me inside. It’ll take us all the way up to the penthouse. I stare forward while he bounces on his toes – nerves. He’s a ruthless bastard, but he still gets nervous when it comes to confrontation. It’s why he could never handle arguing with my sister, and whenever he did something wrong, he ghosted.

“You think they’re dead?”

I close my eyes and count to three. Maybe ten. I want to smash him. “Stop talking.”

He huffs. “You’re a cheeky bastard when you’re in a mood.” Then, to be even more of an annoying asshole, he asks, “Where do you think Stacey is?”

My shoulder rises in a shrug, but deep down I’m in pieces. Whenever I’ve got someone out of a situation where they had a target on their back, it usually meant faking their death. And they’d need to stay invisible for the rest of their lives. Barry got lucky having a family and some normality outside of working for me – he was a low-paid contract I got on the side from Bernadette’s client.

All I keep seeing is her name printed on a folder – Stacey Rhodes.

Stacey Rhodes. Stacey Rhodes. Stacey Rhodes.

I’ve kept her safe for the last ten months. I did everything Bernadette wanted. Everything. When a group of one hundred soldiers infiltrated her base in Moscow, me and Base had to kill them with a team, and then she blamed me for it. I spent weeks in a cell with stale food and warm water.

That had nothing to do with me, and nothing to do with Base. We’ve done everything we’ve been told. Our pain and suffering meant our families would remain untouched.

As we near the top, I check my magazine again – full. And then I crack my neck from side to side and straighten my spine while Base turns pale with anxiety. I sniff, roll my shoulder, twist on the silencer and wait.

The door slides open, and I put a bullet in the guard’s head before he can raise his gun, his body dropping. The second guard follows when Base does the same.

I step over them with a deadly rush through my veins, adrenaline kicking in as I pull my blade from my thigh strap and shove it in the last guard’s throat. A fountain of blood sprays over my face, but I don’t flinch.

He falls and chokes like an animal just as Bernadette walks out with a glass of wine in hand. She looks at the bodies and the gun pointing at her. “Is there a problem?” she asks with an arched brow. Her eyes flicker to Base, who stays behind me, his weapon still drawn.

“Where are they?”

She gives me a fake smile, trying to warm her eyes as she tilts her head. “Who?”

“Don’t fucking bullshit me,” I snap with fury in my eyes, my pulse racing, blood roaring in my ears. “Where the fuck are they?”

“Oh, you mean the Lennox family. I have no idea—” Bernadette jumps with a squeak as I shoot the ground next to her feet. “Kade! Drop your weapon now.”

“Fuck off,” I counter. “I’m asking you one more time. They had a daughter – is she dead? Are they dead?”

“No,” she says. “The contract was renewed and only Stacey Rhodes was to be eliminated. Mr Lennox and his family are unharmed and” – she glances at the clock on the wall – “most likely on their way home from their family dinner date.”

I keep my aim on her, gritting my teeth. “Don’t lie to me. What about all the blood?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She rolls her eyes and walks to a table full of papers. “You’re being dramatic.”

“Where is Stacey?” I don’t remove my aim as she sits down on the sofa and crosses her legs. I try not to let my words break as I keep going. “Did… did you… did you kill her? Did you kill Stacey?”

“Would you like a drink, Sebastian?”

“No,” he grits. “Answer the fucking question.”

I cock the gun. “I’m seconds from blowing your fucking head off, Bernadette. Don’t fucking test me.”

She shakes her head and stands. “Drop your aim, Kade. You’re not going to shoot me.”

“If you’ve so much as harmed a hair on her head…”

Bernadette smirks and tips her chin. “Shame you didn’t care this much for Stacey when she was drugged and gang-raped. Only weeks after losing your baby girl. And what did you do? You walked away from her thinking she cheated on you and never listened to her side of the story – the truth. You beat up your own brother and disowned him and your father. You came to me. I gave you a new lease of life. I gave you what you needed, and now you’re going to do the same for me. Forget about Stacey – she’s with her wonderful brother Christopher. Most likely spreading her legs for—”

I punch her into silence. I don’t think – my mind isn’t working or thinking about the repercussions as I drop the gun and smash a tight fist across her face, knocking her to the ground. Wine splashes everywhere, the glass cracking, and she’s barely able to gasp before I’m over her – hammering my fucking fist into her face some more.

The elevator dings, and I hear Base in a scuffle – a gunshot, but the gurgling sound isn’t coming from him.

Someone tackles me – then a taser to my side freezes me, sending jolts of pain through my body until I drop to the ground and stop fighting back.

I try to sit up and see Base is being held by two guards, one arm stretched behind his back.

“Bring Sebastian here,” she orders her men as she wipes blood from the split skin on her cheek. “On your knees.”

She gestures to the ground at her feet, pointing the gun at his head as he’s forced down.

“Let me make this abundantly clear,” she seethes at me, cocking the gun and digging it into his forehead. “I own you. I own you both. If you ever raise your fist to me again, I will make you eat his fucking brains after I blow them out of his skull. Do you understand?”

I glare at her, the after-effects of the taser still rolling through my body. I want to tell her to go fuck herself, that I’ll fucking kill her, but I can see the panic in Base’s eyes.

I might not give a fuck whether I live or die, but he’s determined to stick around, hoping he’ll eventually get a chance with my sister.

So instead of unleashing hell on her, I force out, “I understand.”

“As I said, she’s with Christopher Fields. And if we don’t hurry, my plan will screw up, and I’ll take it out on your friend here.”

“What plan?”

She smirks. “You’ll see.” Then she steps back from Base. “You’ll both see.”

Archie barges into the room – not paying us any attention as he erratically pulls at his hair. “Fuck! Bernadette, fuck! We’re so fucked!”

I’m yanked to my feet, and so is Base. We watch Archie hurry around the room – he finds the TV remote as his wife crosses her arms, bruises already blooming on her face.

“This better be important. We were about to have a little fun. Weren’t we, boys?”

I grimace – her version of fun usually means she forces me and Base on each other. We’ll be fine – we know what it is and what it means each time it happens. It’s either that or he needs to get on his knees for someone else.

Will Stacey look at me differently if she knows that?

I want to take advantage of their panic – to slice their throats and run. I’ll find her. I’ll get her away from that prick and torture him till he forgets her name.

Archie turns on the news channel, and Bernie snatches the remote from his hand, turning the volume up while I help Base to his feet, scowling at the other guards as they step back away from us.

He mutters, “Sorry, man,” and keeps his head down. “You should’ve just beat her to death. I’m sure my own demise would’ve been worth it.”

“Shut up.”

The remote drops to the ground when the young news anchor starts speaking.

“We have an emergency announcement. Reports say that Tobias Mitchell has escaped his institution this afternoon and is currently at large. The murderer and psychopath was given a life sentence over twenty years ago.”

A picture of my father appears on the screen, and my lips part. They picked one that makes him look terrifying – his eyes burn through the screen.

“I would like to stress to everyone that this individual is extremely dangerous and may not be in touch with reality. Do not approach him. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact your local station.”

Bernadette’s eyes are wide. “Shit.”

Archie can’t get any paler – all the blood draining from his face as he nods and says, “This is not good. We have his son, for fuck’s sake. What if he knows?”

I stare at the screen in disbelief, knowing my mum will be heartbroken and terrified. I want to call her, to be there for her. The dogs will keep her company. She’ll be cuddling them every night. Ewan will probably take her to fucking Australia to hide her from him – he’ll probably try to kidnap her again.

Dad might not have his meds.

I wipe a hand down my face and step closer.

Then a picture of a piece of paper with words written on it replaces the image of my dad, and I narrow my gaze to read it.

Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them. Save him. Save her. Save them.