Chapter 37
T he cold muzzle of a gun jammed into Beth’s temple. Biceps nudged her with his free hand down the wide stone stairs lit by a single dim bulb. “You know the way.”
Evangeline stumbled next to Beth and sobbed. “I’m sorry.”
Beth’s dislike for Evangeline grew to hatred as dark as the basement. “For what? For putting a tracker on me or helping a cartel plan my kidnapping through a secret passage?”
The tunnel had been built before it was mandatory to submit building plans to city hall. Most of the parish members didn’t even know it existed. Evangeline must have told the Diablos to break into the old residence across the street and bust through the boarded-up passageway. Last time she’d been down here, all looked secure, but nothing was impenetrable.
Not like Kane. He was impenetrable. She needed his strength, his speed, everything extraordinary about him, but she couldn’t wait for her super soldier to ride in and save her. Biceps might not be threatening to kill her, but they wouldn’t let her live once she’d served her purpose.
She paused midstep and teetered in heels. If she got herself out of this alive, she’d strangle the last of her irrational fears and start living.
And tell Kane she loved him.
Focus, Beth. She didn’t have her gun, but she’d learned to defend herself in other ways. To do that, she needed to stay calm and alert so she could attack when the opportunity arose.
Biceps growled behind her. “Move it, or I’ll shove you down.”
Evangeline’s sobs grew louder.
“Shut up.” Beth hissed as she counted the steps to keep her panic contained.
Nine.
Ten.
The counting didn’t help. The dank smell that never bothered her before clogged her nostrils. How long would Hudson wait for her to chat with her parents? The service didn’t start for another few minutes. And what if Madalynn kept a secret for once and didn’t tell anyone about the necklace? Beth’s impromptu plan hinged on it getting back to Scarlett so it could be reverse tracked.
“Hurry up.” Biceps jammed the gun into her lower back.
She bit her tongue to keep from crying out and stepped down again.
Eleven.
She needed to take a chance. If Biceps got them through the tunnel and into a vehicle it would be so much harder to find her.
Twelve
She bit back a squeak and paused as another plan, this one reckless, took shape. “Careful. The thirteenth step is uneven. The kids trip on it all the time.” As she stepped down, she ducked and pushed Evangeline into the stone wall. She ignored her scream as she crouched lower and heaved all her weight back into Biceps’s legs. He cursed in Spanish over the muted organ music as his stout body sailed clear over her head and tumbled down the unforgiving stone.
Beth yanked Evangeline up. “Hurry.”
“Stop .”
She ignored the command and ran to the top of the stairs. The music grew louder the closer they got to the landing. A muffled shot—like the one she heard in the cemetery—reverberated off the walls. Evangeline screamed and pulled Beth down with her. They toppled down the stairs in a tangle.
Beth’s chin hit the stone. Her tooth sliced into her lower lip. Blood coated her mouth as the impact reverberated in her bones. Fear spiked her adrenaline as a tall figure emerged from the shadows.
“Stand up, Cazampulga, or the next shot hits your amiga instead of the wall.”
The cruel nickname burned her from the inside like thousands of spiders pricked at her skin and burrowed underneath. She spat out the nastiness along with blood. “She’s clearly not my friend if she led me here.” And this guy clearly wasn’t Biceps. His accent was too smooth. His shadowed frame too tall, and his features too sharp. As he stepped into the dim light, her stomach dropped to the stone.
Chavez.
“You’re…” She blinked. He still stood there, all six foot something, tall, dark, and even more menacing than his photos. A terrified squeak chirped from her throat. “You’re supposed to be in the hospital.”
“That’s my baby brother. You’ll meet him soon.”
She cradled her aching jaw with her hand as the enforcer’s face blurred in her vision. “You don’t have a brother.” Not one that was alive.
He waved the gun in his hand toward the tunnel entrance. “Move.”
“Come on.” Evangeline’s voice shook as she held out her hand. “They mean business.”
Beth ignored her and pressed her palm to the cold stone. Clammy sweat dripped down her face as she rose and sneered at Evangeline. “I’m not going a step farther until you tell me what you’ve done.”
Chavez wouldn’t kill her yet. She had something he wanted. She didn’t care what they did to Evangeline. She prayed Dr. Sable had been rescued and they were bluffing about killing her. But what if they weren’t? She could already be dead. So could Kane.
No. She clutched her stomach and spit up bile. Voices echoed around her, but the fear-forged buzz in her ears muffled the words.
Biceps grabbed her arm. The violence in his face that was already bruising from his roll down the stairs snapped her panic to rage. Moaning like an injured animal, she raised her knee and shot a kick to his groin. He grunted as he swung his pistol at her face. She raised her forearm to block it. Pain lanced through her wrist as bone struck metal. Heaving, she twisted and ducked to avoid his next blow. As she tried to scoot away, Chavez roughly grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head back. Too afraid to even pant, she stared into the eyes of the devil.
“I’d love to play more , Cazampulga, but I promised my brother you’d be unharmed when I handed you over to him. After I get the formula for Triple X, of course, but he’ll forgive a few bumps and bruises in the name of making you cooperate. ”
Pain ripped through her scalp. She fought for breath. “Go to hell.”
He cursed and yanked her against him. “I like the fight in you.” He slid his hand from her hair to her throat and squeezed. “That soldier who will become number four when he tries to rescue you doesn’t deserve your fire. Then again, my brother doesn’t deserve you either, but he spent all that time stalking you, and he did see you first.”
She clawed at the hand choking her airway. Wheezing, she fought for breath as a gravestone with Kane’s name on it burned behind her eyes.
Kane wouldn’t die. He couldn’t.
She wasn’t a black widow. Everyone had been wrong. She’d been wrong. She was Kane’s and he was hers until death do them part, which wouldn’t be today.
As she blacked out, she vowed to kick this Chavez’s ass when she awoke, right after she kicked her stalker’s.