59. CHAPTER 54
AXL
The building looks empty from the outside. There are three stories with blacked-out windows. We let this building stand after rescuing the women because Dane wanted to track who would try to come back.
And now here we are with my girl chained inside.
Kase kills the headlights a block out and pulls to the curb behind the Sinclairs. My door is open before we stop moving, and the sharp pain in my ribs hits me. I push through it. I don’t have time for pain.
Fox is already out, weapon drawn with his vest on. Tate is beside him with a deep scowl on his face, and Thorne checks his gun and moves to stand on the other side of Fox.
My father stands by the Sinclairs’ vehicle looking over at the building with his hands in his pockets.
“Adam is going in first,” Fox says. He turns to face us as we approach. “Travis is expecting him. The rest of us will be in position before he’s through the door. Tate, you and Thorne take the east entry. Priest, Kase—west. Axl and Crew are with me on the main.”
“And if it’s a trap?” Tate asks, looking at my father.
“Then we kill everyone in the building,” Fox says. “That’s the plan anyway. We’re just hoping for the element of surprise.”
My father nods and adjusts his jacket. I can make out the bulk of the bulletproof vest he wears beneath it. He’s calmer than I’d expected him to be. But he’s trained for this shit too.
“Crew, you still have the other cameras?” I ask.
“Everything except her room.” He doesn’t look up from his phone. “Justin is still on the main floor. The two Talons are at the east corridor door. I don’t see Travis, but I can’t see every room.”
“He’s there,” my father says. “He told me he’ll be in a back office on the first floor.”
“Axl,” Crew says, getting my attention. “I haven’t seen Ryan again. He’s probably still in there with her.”
I grind my teeth and fight the urge not to just run into the building right fucking now. But if I go in there without a plan, I could get us both killed.
Just hang on for me, little heathen.
Fox checks his weapon one more time. “Move to positions. Adam, give us two minutes and then walk in the front. When we hear you over the comms, we come in hot.”
My father heads toward the building without looking back. He walks with his hands in his pockets, shoulders loose, like he’s showing up for a meeting. I watch him cross the lot, and I don’t know what to think. If he double-crosses us, he’s fucking dead.
“Two minutes.” Fox looks at me. “Hold your shit together, Axl. We clear the main floor first. Then we go up to get her.”
“I’m going up the second I have an opening,” I growl.
“You’re going up when the floor is fucking clear.” Fox grabs my arm. “Stick to the fucking plan, so you stay alive.”
He’s right, but I don’t have to fucking like it. I nod once and he lets go.
We split and each make our way to our respective entry points. Fox, Crew, and I are at the front of the building. We press against the wall on either side of the main entrance and wait. My body shakes from the pain and adrenaline of needing to get to her.
Fox holds up two fingers. He’s counting down.
I hear my father’s voice through Crew’s phone. He’s inside. “Travis. It’s Adam. We need to talk.”
Fox looks at me, then Crew. He nods his head toward the door and we creep in.
The main floor opens into a wide corridor with rooms on both sides and a larger room at the end. Fox takes point, and I’m right behind him. Crew covers the rear.
We’re halfway down the corridor when two men come around the corner. I recognize both of them. They served with us for the last couple of years.
They see us at the same time we see them. The one on the left reaches for his weapon.
“Wrong fucking side, boys.” Fox puts two rounds in the first one before his hand touches his gun. The second one gets his weapon up, and I drop him before he can fire.
They hit the floor, and we step over them.
Gunfire erupts from the side of the building where Tate and Thorne should be and then from the west where Priest and Kase are. They all know we’re fucking here now.
Fox motions us toward the main room at the end of the corridor. The door is open, and I can hear voices inside—my father’s and someone else’s. They’re arguing. My father’s side of the conversation isn’t coming in through our earpieces.
Tate’s voice comes through the comms. “Two dead over here, but Thorne’s been stabbed.”
Fox stops in his tracks. “How fucking bad, Tate?”
“I’ll be fine,” Thorne growls through the comms before Tate can answer for him. “Keep fucking moving so I can go home to my wife.”
“We’re going to need medical, Fox,” Tate says, the concern in his tone is obvious.
“Call for help and stay with him. This isn’t over yet.” Fox motions for us to follow.
We round the corner into the main room, and it’s already chaos. My father is standing with his hands up. Travis Keller is behind a desk pointing a gun at him, saying something I can’t make out. Randall is on Travis’s right, also armed.
“Randall,” Travis barks at the other man, nodding toward us. “We have company. We’ve been fucking double-crossed.”
Fox charges forward, and Travis swings the gun toward him.
“Now, Adam,” Fox shouts.
My father moves. He grabs Travis’s arm and drives it down against the desk. The gun goes off into the floor. Fox doesn’t hesitate—he pins Travis’s hand against the wood with the butt of his gun, and I hear bones crack.
Randall comes off the wall. He’s fast for his size. He aims straight for Priest who’s coming through the west doorway with Kase.
The man fires before Priest clears the doorway. The shot catches Priest in his left arm—-the same one he’s been grinding through since the explosion. He lets out a series of swears and grunts through clenched teeth as his arm drops to his side, blood running down it.
“Priest!” I shout to him.
He doesn’t go down. He braces against the doorframe, raises his gun, and fires back. The shot clips Randall’s hip and sends him stumbling sideways.
From behind Priest, Kase fires into the man’s chest, and Randall goes to his knees.
Crew is already across the room. He drives a blade into Randall’s neck before he can raise his weapon again. “Fucker!” The man grabs at Crew’s arm, his mouth moving. He’s saying something through the blood. Whatever it is makes Crew freeze in place.
The man drops back. And Crew is still holding him.
“What did you just say?” Crew shakes the body. “What did you just fucking say?”
“Crew.” I’m beside him now. “What happened? What did he say?”
The man’s body goes still, and his eyes are frozen open.
Crew drops the body. His hands are covered in blood, and his chest is heaving, and his face is blank. He looks like he’s seen a ghost.
“Crew. What the fuck is it?”
He shakes off whatever it is. “Don’t worry about it.” He wipes the blade on his jeans and stands up. His jaw is locked so tight the muscles twitch. He won’t look at me. “Let’s get Saylor, Axl. Let’s just make sure pretty girl is safe.”
Behind us, Travis is screaming. Fox has him pinned against the desk with his broken hand pressed flat, and my father is standing two feet away.
“You fucking traitor!” Travis spits blood at my father. “We’ve worked to build—”
My father puts a round in Travis’s head.
The room goes quiet. Fox steps back from the desk, staring at Travis’s body, then at my father. My father lowers the gun and meets Fox’s eyes without flinching.
“He was going to kill me.” My father says through gritted teeth.
Fox looks at him for a long second. Then he nods. “We said everyone was going to die.”
I haven’t seen that fucker Justin yet, or Ryan. They could be waiting to ambush us. Thorne and Priest are already injured.
“Go, Axl.” Fox reloads. “Crew, go with him. Kase, stay with Priest. I want pressure on that wound. Adam and I will keep watch on this floor.”
Priest is leaning against the wall by the doorway, his left arm soaked in blood and hanging limp. He nods at me once. His color isn’t good. “I’ll be fine, brother.” It’s like he could read my mind.
I don’t want to leave him, but I have to get Saylor. I nod to Crew, and we head for the stairwell.
The second floor appears empty. We don’t stop and keep going to the third floor where she is. When we exit the stairwell, we hit the third-floor corridor. I stop when I see a body on the floor. The man is face down with blood pooled underneath him.
I know who it is before I turn him over.
I crouch down and roll David Carter onto his back. His eyes are closed. His shirt is soaked through, and there are slices that look like they came from a knife. He’s not breathing. I press two fingers against his neck and hold them there for a count of five.
Nothing.
I don’t know when this happened, who did it, or why he was killed before we even arrived. Crew and I look around and check for anyone in the corridor.
I pull up my phone to narrow down which door is hers.