Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Smiley held onto the oh-shit handle of Flash’s SUV as he took a corner on two wheels.
“Come on, come on,” Flash muttered, as both men frantically searched for the piece-of-shit brown, four-door car that Williams had used to steal Kelli right out from under their noses.
The memory of Kelli’s shriek of pain when the asshole cut her leg wouldn’t be something Smiley forgot anytime soon.
Nor the anguished noise that flew from Flash’s lips.
Seeing the woman he loved—yes, Smiley was aware that his friend was well and truly hooked on Kelli—being hurt, but not being able to do a damn thing about it, was terrifically painful for his teammate.
Seeing a car on the side of the road with its side all scraped to hell—and its front end bashed in from hitting a light pole—Smiley yelled, “Go right!”
Flash took another corner way too fast as they did their best to track the path Williams had gone by the destruction left in his wake .
Just when they thought they might’ve lost him, Smiley’s phone vibrated in his pocket. Feeling like an idiot for not calling in backup immediately, he yanked it out and stared down at the text from an unknown number.
Unknown : This is Bree i’m in car w Kelli & asshole just passed 37th st
It took Smiley’s brain a beat to understand what he was reading. He was confused as fuck. Bree? His Bree? How did she have his number? And how the fuck was she in the car with Williams and Kelli? Was she working with him?
What the absolute fuck?
Unknown : was visiting K when u guys came outside I saw what happened & got into car while he was distracted by u guys and hurting K we just turned on Aspen st
“Keep straight here!” Smiley told Flash.
“But I think he went west,” he protested.
“Straight!” Smiley barked. Thankfully, his friend listened and continued straight instead of turning. “Bree’s texting me. She’s in the car with them. She’s telling me where they’re going.”
“What the fuck?!” Flash asked.
That’s what Smiley wanted to know, but at the moment, he needed intel on Williams more. He had no idea what Bree’s intentions were, but if she could lead them to Kelli, he wasn’t going to question her…not yet. Later? Yes. She had a lot to answer for. But Kelli needed to be his focus right now.
Smiley : Got it
He couldn’t resist one question.
Smiley : r u ok?
Unknown : for now. passing 40 th
Smiley continued to pass along the information Bree was giving him.
A ball of panic sat in his throat, as there were now two women in danger instead of one.
And because, for the second time, Bree was putting herself at risk in order to help one of his friends.
When he got his hands on that woman, he’d make certain she understood that was unacceptable.
That she needed to stop putting herself in danger.
Unknown : slowing down. going down cedar. pulling into drive. Brown hse, one sty, 47. We r at 47 cedar st!!!
Smiley : We’re coming. Stay put. Do NOT leave. I mean it.
Unknown : I wont. Tired. Need help .
Smiley was almost as alarmed at the fact that Bree was admitting she needed help as he was that she’d stowed away in Williams’ car in the first place.
From everything he’d learned about this woman throughout his long and unsuccessful search for her, she was very stubborn and far too independent.
Now, he didn’t like how…defeated she sounded.
Which was crazy, since it was just some words on a screen.
But he couldn’t shake the thought that she was definitely at the end of her rope.
He and Flash would take care of the Williams situation, then he and Bree Haynes were going to have a very long talk.
Kelli’s eyes widened as they pulled into a driveway in front of a dilapidated house that looked like no one had lived there for a very long time.
Brant didn’t give her time to even try to open her door and run, not that she could’ve outrun him with her leg throbbing as badly as it was.
He grabbed her by the arm and manhandled her across the front seat and pulled her out the driver’s side door.
Without a word, he half dragged her to the front door. He kicked it hard, and it flew open. Dust swam in the sunlight coming through the door as he pulled her inside then kicked the door shut behind them.
“Brant, I?—”
“Shut the fuck up,” he growled menacingly.
Deciding it was in her best interest, Kelli shut up.
Her mind spun, attempting to figure out how the hell to get out of this situation.
But she had no idea what to do. Brant slashing her leg made it impossible to walk very well, much less run.
She could feel the blood oozing down her leg under her pants, making the material stick to her as she walked.
Not to mention the wound in her chest. The knife hadn’t gone in very deep, but it was still painful.
Brant hauled her to a room in the back of the house that was littered with trash and decaying food.
There was a moldy mattress in the corner, and Kelli could see several used needles in the filthy mess around her.
Brant shoved her—thankfully not at the disgusting mattress—and she fell onto her hands and knees in the middle of the filth.
She immediately turned on her butt to face Brant.
If he was going to come at her with that knife, she’d fight him as best she could.
But he seemed to forget she was there as soon as he let her go. He immediately began to pace, mumbling to himself as he walked.
Kelli kept her gaze on the man who’d obviously gone a little crazy, inching backward until she was against one of the walls.
The only window was on the back wall, and it had so much dirt and grime on it, she wasn’t sure it would even open.
If Brant left her in the room alone, she could break it out, but that would alert him in seconds that she was trying to escape.
For now, she had to be content with the fact that Brant hadn’t tied her up. He obviously thought, correctly, that she wouldn’t be going anywhere, not with that wound on her leg.
Kelli’s thoughts turned to Bree. How had she gotten in the car? Had she managed to tell Smiley where they were? Was she going to do something stupid and get herself killed? That would suck, especially considering Kelli’s plan to get her and Smiley to meet face-to-face had failed .
She had no idea how long she’d sat against the wall, watching Brant pace and talk to himself. A matter of minutes. But when he finally stopped and faced her, Kelli tensed.
This wasn’t good. Not good at all.
“It’s time,” Brant said, pulling the knife from a sheath along his hip.
He ran his thumb over the tip and smirked.
“I don’t need you alive to get my ransom.
I just need your boyfriend and his friends to think you’re alive.
Frankly, you’ve been a pain in my ass since Jamaica—and I’m done dealing with you. ”
Kelli shrank away from him and mentally berated herself for not doing anything to even attempt escaping sooner. Fending off a man armed with a very sharp knife—and she should know, she’d felt it first-hand, slicing through her flesh—would be far less fun.
But no matter what, she wasn’t going down easy.
She’d do what she could to get his DNA under her fingernails, to scratch him so it was obvious he’d been in a fight.
Anything that would tell the police and forensic people that Brant was guilty as hell.
She might not be there to see him put away, but she prayed with all her might that he’d pay for what he was about to do.
Regret hit Kelli hard as Brant stepped toward her.
She loved Flash, more than she’d ever loved anyone in her entire life.
He gave her confidence, made her believe she could be anyone she wanted, do anything.
He made her laugh, sigh in pleasure, and she simply enjoyed being around him.
And she regretted that she hadn’t had more time with him.
That she’d never get a chance at the future for them that Flash envisioned.
Taking a deep breath, Kelli focused on Brant’s right hand. The one holding the knife. This was it. She’d either win or die trying.
Attempting to channel Flash’s badass SEAL vibe, she waited for Brant to get close enough to make a move. She’d try to kick the knife out of his hand, make the first strike. Then the fight would be on.
Flash focused on not hitting any other cars as he sped through Riverton toward Cedar Street. He had no idea how the hell Bree Haynes was in Williams’ car, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. All he could think about was getting to Kelli.
Watching Williams cut her had felt like his own flesh was being sliced. The expression on Kelli’s face would stick with him for the rest of his days. He’d been injured in missions, and had seen many others get hurt too. But nothing had affected him as deeply as seeing Kelli’s pain.
Fury churned under the surface. Williams was a dead man. Of that, he had no doubt. He’d dared put his hands on his woman. Had drawn blood. He’d answer for that.
“There!” Smiley practically yelled.
They were both amped up. Neither had called Kevlar or any of the other guys, and they’d probably all be pissed about that, but they’d understand…
eventually. There hadn’t been any time to stop and call them, or even text.
Flash was concentrating on driving and Smiley was communicating with Bree, then looking up 47 Cedar Street on his map app.
Taking a deep breath, attempting to slow the adrenaline coursing through his veins, Flash turned down Cedar. His gaze immediately locked onto the piece-of-shit car Williams had been driving. It was sitting in the driveway of a brown one-story house, just as Bree had described.