Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
TRISTAN
Killian leads me through the greenhouse, past rows of orchids and something that looks like tomatoes but probably isn’t. Does that Roland garden? What does that man not do?
Killian stops at a stone bench, bends down, and lifts a section of flooring I would’ve sworn was solid. Oh shit. I already know where my mind is going, and I’m sure it’s what he’s likely been thinking about the space since he found out about it.
“After you,” he says.
I descend a ladder into darkness. The air changes, becoming cooler, with the smell of concrete and metal. When I reach the bottom, lights flicker on automatically.
I take it in. The room is a decent size, larger than I expected. The walls are solid, there’s a drain in the center of the floor, and there’s a table with restraints folded neatly against one wall and a metal chair.
“Soundproofed,” I say. He found this and made a kill room out of it.
“Was this on the blueprints you have?” Killian asks, a little smug, even proud.
“No, it was not. What was this even used for?”
“Beats the shit out of me.” He shrugs. “Maybe Teddy’s grandma was more badass than we know.”
I walk around the room, checking the ventilation and power system.
I pull out my phone. No service. No signal at all.
“I can fix the service issue,” I say, showing him my phone. “Install a blocker too. So you can turn it on and off. Total communication blackout when you need it.”
“That would be useful.” He nods, folding his arms over his chest. When I step more toward the stairs, my phone buzzes, having caught some sort of signal.
“I got a small bar, but maybe it...” I trail off because that can’t be right. “It’s telling me that Lily left the property.”
If all those trackers I’d placed on the clothing I intercepted at the post office before having them then delivered are glitching, I’m going to be pissed.
“Thought you said no service down here,” Killian says.
“There isn’t.” I climb the ladder fast, and one bar pops up. The alert came through during the transition, caught in the dead zone between systems.
Killian follows me up, dropping the door back down. His phone starts to go off, a soft, melodic sound that doesn’t match the spike of adrenaline that’s coursing through me.
“What is it?” A sense of unease begins creeping in. My shit doesn’t glitch. Not since the fifth grade.
“Just a delivery; these girls get shit every day.”
I check the tracking app. Lily’s dot is moving fast and toward town.
“Not a fucking delivery.”
Killian’s head snaps up. I hold out my phone. His jaw tightens as he swipes through his own phone. I watch as he pulls up his own tracker. Guess we have the same thought.
We’re already moving, running back to the main house. Killian grabs keys off a hook as we enter the garage.
“They’re in town,” I say, sliding into the passenger seat of Killian’s SUV. “The ice cream shop.”
I pull up the security feeds on my phone, scrubbing backward through the time stamps. Side door. Garage bay. The convertible left twenty-two minutes ago.
“You hacked my security cameras?” Killian grits out.
“Can we talk about that later?”
He grunts, picking up speed. We hit the road that leads to town doing eighty.
I’m watching the dot on my screen when Lily suddenly starts moving faster and cutting through an alley too narrow for a car.
It’s erratic. She’s running. Which means someone is chasing them.
My blood runs cold. Adrenaline begins coursing through my veins or it could be fear.
“Something’s wrong.” I glance over to him. “They’re running.”
Killian goes eerily quiet, and I pull up the street cameras, hacking through the town’s traffic system in seconds. I find the footage and rewind time. I watch them park and get out of the car, talking and laughing. I scan the area all around them.
I take a deep breath to keep myself under control as I continue reviewing the footage. I watch as the girls head back toward the car, but they suddenly stop and turn, moving away from it.
That’s when I see it: a black sedan with doors opening.
“There are two of them,” I report. “Following on foot.”
“Armed?”
“I can’t tell. Let me see if there’s a better angle.” I switch feeds, tracking them block by block. All the air leaves my body. The two men aren’t trying to hide; they are following them now, and the girls know.
“Shit,” I get out. “The alley behind the hardware store. They’re cornered.”
Killian takes a turn sharp enough to squeal the tires. “Play?”
I calculate distances, speed, and the maze of small-town streets. “We have to go on foot.” A vehicle can’t fit through the alleyway.
We abandon the SUV three blocks over, moving on foot. Killian already has a gun in his hand. I’ve got my knife, the one I keep in my boot. We don’t speak. We don’t need to. We have worked jobs together before.
Normally he’s boots on the ground, and I’m in a control center of some kind close by. That wasn’t always the case. A few times I had to go in.
We hear them before we see them. Lily’s voice is high, filled with words that would make a sailor blush. She and Teddy are bickering about directions.
Then I hear the heavier footsteps of the two men closing in on them. Then the sound of a scuffle.
We round the corner to find Teddy backed against a wall, Lily in front of her wielding a broken piece of lumber, a look of determination on her face.
One of the two men already has a gun out, but it’s at his side.
The second man is closing in from the left, knife in hand, grinning like this is fun for him.
Oh, it’s going to be fun for Killian and me.
Lily sees me first. Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t lower the lumber. Smart girl. The gunman starts to turn toward the sound of our footsteps.
I don’t think; I just move. All I care about is keeping her safe, no matter the cost.
The knife in my hand leaves my fingers before I make the decision to throw.
It catches the gunman in the shoulder. It’s not lethal, but his arm drops, and the gun hits the pavement and skids.
He lets out a scream. I’m already on him, punching him in his kidney, shocking his system.
I wrench his arm behind his back until I feel a pop.
He goes down hard. Too bad—this is just the beginning of what I plan on doing to him.
Killian passes me in a blur; his gun connects with the side of the other man’s skull with a crack that echoes off the brick. The man crumples to the ground.
The first one is still conscious, reaching for the gun with his good hand. Lily beats him to it. She brings the lumber down on his fingers, then his head. Once. Twice. He stops moving.
The silence falls over all of us heavily. I straighten up, scanning the alley.
Lily drops the lumber. Her hands are shaking, but her voice is steady when she looks at me. “You followed us.” Already ready to give me a hard time.
“I tracked you,” I say, holding up my phone. “I like to know where my girl is at all times. She has a knack for getting herself in situations.”
She laughs; it’s slightly hysterical. “Situations. Right.” She points down at the unconscious men. “Who the hell are they?”
“I don’t know.” I crouch, checking the first man’s pockets. No wallet, no ID. That means only one thing. They’re professionals. But I’ll find out who they are. “Killian?”
He’s already searching the second guy’s pockets. “Clean. Military bearing. Not locals.”
“We should probably get going,” Teddy whispers like it might wake the men up on the ground, but she’s not wrong. “I’ll call Roland; I’m sure he can clean this up.” I’m sure he can. He’s a man of many talents.
“I’ll call him. This is a two-man job,” Killian says.
“I’ll take them back and see to removing any footage on cameras.” Killian nods in agreement, already on the phone, voice low.
Lily’s watching me, arms wrapped around herself. Her adrenaline’s crashing, leaving her pale and any bravado gone. I hate how vulnerable she appears this way.
“We’re going back,” I say. “Both of you.”
Lily doesn’t argue for once in her life. Doesn’t make some wise remark about being a prisoner. She just nods. Teddy is standing beside her, shockingly silent for once.
Killian hangs up. “Roland’s ten minutes out. I’ll stay and make sure it’s clean.” He throws me his keys.
I catch them. “The house. Two hours.”
“Got it,” Killian says before pulling Teddy into his arms for a kiss. He leans down, whispering something in her ear, and she gives a tentative nod.
“Come on, girls.” I keep my hand on Lily’s back as we make our way down the alley toward the SUV.
Lily slides into the back with Teddy. In the rearview, I can see that she’s staring at her hands.
The drive back is quiet, which isn’t normal for the two of them.
They’re shaken. Seeing them that way only pisses me off more, knowing it’s partly on me and Killian for not protecting them.
My only solace is that those two motherfuckers that attacked them are going to pay.
I pull up to the house and kill the engine. In the mirror, I watch Lily meet my eyes for one second before she looks away.
I get out and open her door. “Go inside,” I say. “Both of you. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
I can tell they are sorry. It’s all over them, but right now I’m still pissed and don’t trust myself.
Lily was almost abducted or worse, and all I can think about is pinning her down and fucking the hell out of her so I know she’s still here with me.
All of it is building up inside of me. I need to release it.
She nods, and she and Teddy enter the house. Once the door is closed, I can finally take a full breath. I know where I’ll be taking out that frustration. Killian and I are going to do a little gardening.