Stir (The Sizzle TV Series Book 5)

Chapter 32 – Finn

I’ve been in this neighborhood a couple times, in the early days after high school. Sometimes, a crew leader wouldn’t look too hard at your experience if you were willing to show up more than once, and plenty of guys wouldn’t even bother to show up once they got the address out here. It’s a rough neighborhood, even by construction work standards, and God knows the cops are thin enough on the ground already.

It was Nic’s private investigator buddy who tipped us off that Barry had been seen coming and going over here.

“Should have waited for the cops.”

“They’re on the way,” says Nic. He called them as we left downtown. “We were closer.”

“What’s your plan?”

“Find the SUV. Find Natalie. Shoot my brother.”

“You don’t have a gun.”

“You do.”

He ignores the look I give him.

I’m reasonably certain Nic wouldn’t actually shoot his own brother, but that little bit of uncertainty is… unsettling. Violence isn’t supposed to be sexy. Filing that away to think about later, I keep scanning parking lots as he drives us slowly down the road. Nothing but warehouses, rusted-out fuel tanks, and busted fencing. Trash. Next to no traffic, save for the occasional eighteen-wheeler. Every second or third gate we pass is chained and locked, with weathered For Sale signs held up by buckets of cement.

No gray SUVs.

“Take the road first, see if we can find it from here,” I tell Nic. He drives slowly as he checks the other side of the road. “If we don’t see it on the first pass, we’ll take it lot by lot.”

The parkway stretches for a couple of miles. Round-trip, this is going to take forever.

“We should wait for the cops.”

Nic glares at me.

“It has to be said.”

“I’m not waiting.”

“I’m not stopping you. I just want it on record that I was the responsible one in the car today.”

His lips twitch, as good as a laugh under the circumstances, and exactly the reaction I was hoping for. I lay a hand on his leg, squeezing lightly.

“We’ll get her back.”

He nods, eyes back on the road.

“Is that—” I point left. “Turn there. Turn now!”

The gate is mostly closed but not chained or locked up like the others we’ve passed so far.

The parking lot is deserted, but a rear bumper and a red tail light are just barely visible around the corner.

Gray SUV.

Nic tears through the lot. Gravel goes flying everywhere.

“So we’re not sneaking up on them, I take it.”

“Fuck off, Finn.”

Now is maybe not the time to be cracking on him, but it’s a helluva tension reliever, and it keeps my mind off the terrified look on Natalie’s face as she climbed into the back of that SUV. If I could manage not to puke in Nic’s car so far, he could suffer through some jokes.

He throws the car in park. Not bothering to cut the engine off, Nic opens his door and starts shouting.

“Barry! You absolute fucking lunatic, get the fuck out here before I shoot you!”

I finish texting the address to Nic’s PI buddy before I open my door, pistol in hand, safety off. I stay low, keeping between the vehicle and the building. The fuckhead is probably in there on his own—we’re not talking about some seasoned criminal here; this is Nic’s brother, whose only recorded interaction with the police is a drunk and disorderly from his fraternity days—but I’m not taking chances.

“Barry!”

Nic has no such reserve. My stomach twists in on itself. I swear to Christ, I’m going to spank him for this later, making himself such a fucking target.

“Barry!” The first two doors he tries are locked, but the third one opens easily. He yanks the door wide and yells again. “If you so much as lay a hand on her, I’m going to kill you.”

He walks in, still yelling, the threats getting more and more creative. I cover him as best I can. There’s absolutely nobody around, much less in the parking lot—mixed blessing; we’re clearly on our own with this clown—but Nic just walks right into the dark warehouse without so much as checking it out first.

“Natalie!”

The heavy sounds of machinery coming from the buildings on both sides of this one make it hard to hear, but Nic’s hollering echoes. The little bit of light filtering in through dirty, broken windows shows the place to be empty—empty of people, empty of equipment, entirely empty of stuff. Though probably not empty of vermin, if the smell of rat piss is any indication. The idea of Natalie anywhere near this place twists my gut into a knot.

No time for that now. I stick to the shadows near the door we came through, concealed by one narrow entry wall. Not the best vantage point, but without climbing some rusty-ass metal stairs, it’s the best I can do. I scan the room as Nic keeps on walking.

“I know you’re here, you brainless sonuvabitch,” yells Nic, standing in the middle of the floor, stretching his arms out wide, spinning a slow circle. “She’s not the one you’re after. You want something, you come to me, you?—”

“Oh my God, shut up.”

The echo makes it impossible to tell where the voice is coming from.

“Get the fuck out here,” says Nic. The hard, bossy note in his voice is having a predictable effect on me. Maybe it’s the adrenaline. Something to think about later when we don’t have a kidnapper to kill.

Or catch. Whatever. At the moment, I’m feeling pretty flexible about that.

The metal stairs creak. Nic must have spotted him before I did. I take aim, tracking his progress across the floor as he finally makes his way to Nic. He keeps his hands at his sides, but the flash of metal in his hand makes my blood go cold.

“Are you alone?” asks Barry.

“Are you?” asks Nic.

His brother jerks his shoulder, the gun catching the light with the action. “You mean your little whore? Yeah, I got her.”

Nic’s whole body twitches at the word “whore.”

Come on, baby, don’t lose it now.

“You ignored my note. Did you bring the money?”

“No.”

“What the fuck, Nic? You really think?—”

“Shut up, Barry. You let Natalie go, then you and me, we’ll drive straight to the bank.”

“Right now?”

“Right this minute.”

A taut silence.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then maybe you’re not as dumb as you look,” sneers Nic. His voice is heavy and mean. Like he’s barely hanging on here. “Where is she?”

“Oh, relax. She’s fine. A bit tied up at the moment is all. You know how it is with women.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“You’re not doing a damned thing until I get my money. Unless you want the whole world knowing what a fucking pervert you are.” His brother laughs. “Honestly, Nic, I’m surprised at you. Dad is going to lose his mind when he finds out his precious firstborn is a faggot.”

Nic doesn’t say anything.

“You know, I think I’m going to enjoy this,” says Barry, gesturing expansively with the pistol. “I thought maybe I’d just send the pictures anonymously, but I’ve got a contact at the newspaper who loves these human interest?—”

Barry never even sees it coming. I rush him, tackling him to the concrete floor. The gun goes skittering off. Something cracks. Barry screams.

“You broke my fucking arm!”

“Oops.” I keep him pinned, looking at Nic, eyebrows up.

“Where is she?” he demands, eyes on his brother. No mercy.

Christ alive, I love that man.

“Get this asshole off me!”

“Where is Natalie?” Nic demands. I lean in, my elbow in his back.

“Ah! Get the fuck off me! She’s back there, second door on the right!”

Nic’s off like a shot, and finally, finally, I hear sirens approaching.

Not even a minute later: “Police! Hands in the air!”

“We’re over here!” I call them over, showing my permit so they don’t arrest me, staying put until somebody else takes over so I can head straight after Nic.

They’re already coming back up the hallway, Nic with his arm around Natalie, Natalie looking around wildly, hair wild, clothes dirty, but otherwise intact.

I don’t make it another step, my knees hitting the floor.

Thank God. Oh, thank you, God.

“Finn!”

They come running. One of the cops is barking about taking statements, but Nic and Natalie get to me first. I don’t hear anything else until my hands are on her face, her eyes wide and wet with tears.

“You’re okay.” I can’t stop touching her, checking her limbs for injury, and clocking the red marks at her temple.

“Blindfold,” she says. “I’m okay, Finn.”

“You’re okay.” I can’t believe it.

Nic’s on the ground with us, his arm around my waist like he needs to help hold me up.

“You do, you know,” I tell him, pretty sure that made more sense in my head than it did out loud. I try to explain it to him, but his eyes are wet too, so I must be doing it wrong.

“You hold me up. You both do. I thought I knew. Thought I was doing okay. Life was fine. But it wasn’t. I was just waiting for you.”

“Oh,” Natalie gasps. “Finn.” Her eyes dart around, looking at something around us.

I’m pretty sure there are other people here. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is them, and they’re safe, and they’re here, and they’re mine.

“Natalie. Nic. I love you. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Finn,” says Nic. His eyes are darting around too, looking back at me like maybe I need to stop talking, but I can’t, so I tell him so.

“I can’t. Can’t stop. I won’t. I won’t leave you. Not this, not us. You’re the best thing about my life, do you know that? Both of you. I love you so much.”

Natalie hugs me hard, and the relief of having her safe, back with us, and she’s not hurt… the relief is so huge I start to cry.

It’s several moments later when I realize what they were trying to tell me.

“Uh.” Drying my eyes on Natalie’s shoulder discreetly, I lift my head just enough to look at Nic. “Are they still watching?”

“Yeah,” he says, his expression full of cautious humor.

“Did I say…”

“Yeah.”

“So they know…”

“Oh, yeah.”

I take a deep breath.

“You okay with that?” I ask, feeling weaker than I’ve ever felt in my life. Natalie blinks up at me through her own tears. Nods. Nic looks between us, his chin rising, a small smile on his face. He nods.

“Okay, then.” I get to my feet, offering them each a hand. Even when they’re up, I don’t let go. “Here we go.”