CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
BLAZE
“There’s something wrong with the cameras at the house.” Havoc studied his phone with a frown. “There was an alert, but everything is black.”
“Something wrong with the cameras?” Daire repeated. “Like what? I knew we shouldn’t have left them alone. I should’ve trusted my instinct.”
“I’m sure it’s just a glitch.” Knight spoke up from the front seat. “We’re only a block away. Don’t sweat it.”
Daire muttered something beneath his breath. He’d been tense all evening. I got the feeling he wasn’t totally present with us.
“There are mobsters outside the house,” I reminded him. “I’m sure you’re just being paranoid because of everything that’s happened. There’s nothing wrong with that. You’ll see that the girls are fine.”
We were down the street from the house. Once it came into view, we saw that the sedan the mobsters had been using still sat out front. That felt like a good sign to me. Until we drew closer.
That’s when the blood splatters on the windshield and side windows became visible. That’s when we saw the two men slumped over inside the car. My heart dropped. For a moment, the world spun.
Knight screeched to a halt next to the sedan. We all rushed to get out of the vehicle. Nobody hung around to check on the men in the sedan. They were obviously dead.
As we rushed toward the house, it became apparent that the cameras on the exterior had been spray painted black. Nothing prepared me for the moment we entered the house to find it deadly quiet. It should’ve been a good thing that Clover and Raina weren’t there dead on the floor. Except it wasn’t. Because I knew that meant something so much worse. Someone had taken them. It had to be JD. He found us after all.
“We fucked up,” Daire shouted, his voice strained with panic. “We led that asshole right to them. He must’ve put a tracker on one of our cars or something. How could we overlook something so fucking obvious?”
Right away Havoc got busy checking the tracking app for Raina’s location. Following his lead, I did the same. It showed me a location on the other side of town. A rich neighborhood known to be occupied by those in the millionaire club.
Havoc showed me his phone. “Is this what you’re seeing?”
I nodded. “Yeah. They’re still together.”
“Then let’s go.”
While Gage gathered more ammo, Havoc made a call to request more mobster back up. Without explaining why, he sent them to the location we were headed to as well. If anything happened to the girls, Desmond would kill us all.
As we piled back into the Jeep, my mind struggled to comprehend what was happening. It would not allow me to consider the reality. JD had Clover and Raina. That could only mean one thing. He was going to do with them what he did best. He would use them for his sick content.
Most of us remained stoically calm. The terror we shared gripped us as a whole, uniting us in fear and determination. Not Daire though. He came apart in a way I had never seen before.
“This is my fucking fault,” he rambled. “I had a feeling that we shouldn’t leave them. Why didn’t I trust that? Why didn’t I listen? This is all on me. It never would’ve happened, if only I’d listened.”
He went on like that, repeating himself on a loop that bordered on crazed. Cash and I tried to talk him down, but he wouldn’t have it.
“No,” he shouted. “You don’t understand. I knew this would happen. I felt it. I could’ve stopped it, and I didn’t.”
Out of nowhere, he took a swing at himself, punching himself in the face. I’d seen Daire meltdown before, but nothing like this. It shook me to the bone. I didn’t know how to help him when I was on the verge of a breakdown myself.
All we had done was hurt Clover. Every time I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I was surprised. We were a plague to her, and she deserved so much better.
Daire continued to ramble while hitting himself. Finally, Cash pinned him against the door. Grabbing his arm, he stopped him from throwing another punch in his own face.
“Get it together, man,” Cash shouted. “This is not only on you. We’re all in this now. Freaking the fuck out will not help Clover. If you can’t keep your shit together, we can’t take you in there. Is that what you want?”
Muscles rippled in Cash’s forearm as he pressed it across Daire’s chest. Daire struggled against him. Eventually, he went limp. His head fell back against the window as he craned his neck so he could look outside.
His voice was barely audible when he said, “If Clover dies, promise you’ll kill me too.”
“I’ll gladly fucking kill you if anything happens to Raina.” Gage was quick to volunteer. “I’ll finish what I started on your arm.”
“Good,” Daire muttered.
“Real fucking helpful, dick.” Unable to control my temper, I fired my pent up energy at Gage. “Do you think any of us wanted this? Do you think we meant for this to happen? We were forced into this as a favor to the Sinners. One we owed them because they helped us save Clover. Your girl took us in. She insisted. This isn’t all on us.”
Gage opened his mouth to retort but was quickly cut off by Havoc. He raised his voice so it boomed through the entire SUV. “Everybody shut the fuck up right now. Our girls are in serious trouble. If we don’t work together, they’re going to end up as entertainment for the dark web. They will die on camera. Do you assholes understand that? I don’t want to hear another fucking word from any of you unless it involves saving Clover and Raina.”
An immediate hush fell over everyone inside the SUV. No doubt we were all feeling the strain of what we were up against. Even though none of us said it aloud, I’m sure we all wondered if they were even still alive.
As we drove under the fancy brick archway that announced our entry into the ritzy neighborhood, I swallowed hard. We were potentially headed to our deaths. None of that mattered if Clover wasn’t safe. I would die for her again and again.
I watched the tracker app as we drew closer. She had to be alive. I wouldn’t be able to accept anything less.
We parked a block away. If they saw us coming, we would never get close enough to save Raina and Clover. We had no way of knowing how much security JD would have. Luckily, we had the element of surprise on our side. If he didn’t know the girls were wearing trackers, he wouldn’t expect us. Maybe that would be enough for him to let his guard down.
Daire had calmed down considerably. He didn’t say a word as we got out of the vehicle. I eyed him closely, seeking any sign that he may go off like a bomb. We needed him to keep it together.
“Everyone ready?” Havoc surveyed the rest of us.
Daire clenched a gun in one hand, his jaw hard set. “Let’s kill this sick fuck.”
Together we marched toward what we assumed to be JD’s house. I shoved my fear and uncertainty down inside me, replacing it with sheer grit and determination. If I didn’t come out of here with Clover, I didn’t want to come out at all.