Chapter 53
Chapter fifty-three
Barrett
Something isn’t right. It’s been a growing instinct in my gut since I arrived at Campbell’s house. Despite being here since the middle of the night, I don’t believe he’s here. Neither Rafe or Fain have seen him at his regular haunts, so it only stands to reason he’s here, in bed, asleep.
The feeling grows and when my phone rings with a call rather than buzzes with an incoming message, my stomach drops. Fain’s name is on the screen.
“What’s happened?”
“He has Sage. At Morrison’s house.”
My chest freezes with pain. It takes what feels like several moments to make my voice work. “How?”
“He took her sister. Paisley let her out, then called me.” Fain doesn’t need to give all the details for me to imagine exactly how it happened.
He would have taken Nova and used her phone to call Sage.
I already know the lengths she’ll go to for her sister.
Campbell would have made it impossible for her to say no or do anything but obey.
“I’m on my way.” I turn the car on and burn the tires on the asphalt after making a U-turn to get the hell out of here.
When I get there, Rafe is coming around the side of the house and Fain pulls up behind me. My Porsche is parked in the driveway with the driver’s door hanging open. She took my car.
“They aren’t here.” But Rafe doesn’t put his gun away. He’s as ready for this to end as I am. “But they were here. There’s blood on the tile inside the front door and inside one of the closets. Two cell phones are broken on the floor.”
“This was just the lure.” Blackness invades and for the first time in my life, I don’t know what to do. But the blackness has red-tinged edges. When I find Campbell, it’s going to be a bloody mess.
“Would he deal with her here or try to take her away?”
“Fuck, he might try to run now that he has her, and once he hears what’s happening to his organization.” Rafe’s shoulders lift as he tenses.
“No, not yet.” I don’t recognize my own voice. It’s death, cold, shadowed. I’ve barely pulled myself from the dark place after Sage was attacked. “He doesn’t know. He’ll keep her to himself first. Then when he hears what’s happened, he’ll try to run.”
“We could catch him as he tries to leave,” Fain suggests.
“No. He wants Sage, not her sister. Nova is disposable to him.” He’ll kill her and run with Sage, and only the devil knows what damage he’ll do to Sage in the meantime. Red begins to creep in on the blackness. The feeling of despairing rage is painful.
“Where would he take them? We’ve been watching his regular places all night.”
Rafe has remained silent, stuck with his own demons and reasons for getting rid of Campbell.
“Sage’s house.” It’s the only place I can think of, but somehow I know I’m right.
“I’m driving.” Fain looks between the two of us, and starts toward my car, snatching the keys from my hand as he passes.
“We can’t leave all these vehicles here.” Rafe looks at Fain’s bike and the car Sage drove.
“Got it covered.” Fain pulls out his phone and sends a text. I don’t question him. We all have our connections and employees in our clubs and bars.
We park blocks away from Sage’s townhouse, travelling on foot through the neighbourhood behind the string of homes to get in through the back door.
Our hands hover, ready to grab our weapons.
There’s a dim light in Sage’s bedroom, only enough light to come from a lamp rather than the overhead light on the ceiling.
Seems finding the attacker he hired to kidnap Sage disemboweled scared Campbell enough to rid him of his cocky attitude. The house is swarming with men. A few outside, but now that we’ve stalked closer, I can see the disturbance of the shadows in the house.
We stop on the other side of the fence, keeping our voices to a low whisper. “There are too many.” I point to the two at the back door and to each of the windows where I saw a shift.
“The light?”
“Her bedroom.” I nod. That’s where he is with Sage and Nova. I hope with Nova as well. I’m unsure what he would have done to her once he had Sage.
“We might get through a few of them without notice, but not all the way up the stairs.” Rafe peers over the fence, his eyes tracking the same movement of the shadows I saw.
“Give me time to get to the bedroom window before you two go in.” It’s the only option. I have to reach Campbell before he panics and does something to Sage or Nova once he realizes they aren’t alone. His interest in Sage is an anomaly—I can’t predict what that means he’ll do to her.
Rafe and Fain nod before disappearing over the fence and landing silently in the grass.
Each backyard on this strip of townhouses has a single tree.
Everything is identical, the fences, the trees, the deck, and even the height of grass, aside from Sage’s.
The tree doesn’t quite reach the house, but I’m tall enough I can stretch across and get a grip outside her bedroom window.
As long as none of the men stationed outside the back door look up.
I don’t see Rafe or Fain from up in the tree, but I don’t expect to. Just as I know they can’t see me from my perch. But they won’t move until I do.
Sage never kept her bedroom window locked before, and I’m hoping Campbell didn’t think of the added security measure. But as soon as I start to slide up the glass, I need to move fast.
I reach across slowly and grip the bottom of the fake shutters placed on all of the townhouses in this neighbourhood for the sole purpose to look aesthetically pleasing. Digging my toes into the siding, I pull, lifting myself up enough to peer into the bedroom.
Sage is standing in front of her sister in the corner, her lips moving while Campbell stands near the bed, shoulders back and head cocked.
He says something back to her, but I’m unable to hear their conversation through the glass, only to make out the different tones of their voices.
Sage is strong and defiant, and Campbell is confident.
But Sage is trembling. Ever so slightly, her shoulders shake and her fingers slowly make a fist. She’s terrified.
And unharmed. For now. There isn’t enough distance between them for me to get inside in time. But this is my only chance.
Heaving my feet higher, I push up on the glass at the same time, focusing on my grip and swinging my feet inside the room. When I land and straighten, I see more than I expected.
Campbell has his arms wrapped around Sage with a knife identical to the one I stole off his henchman resting under her chin and with his foot pressed against Nova’s throat, cutting off her air as she struggles in the corner.
Nova isn’t strong enough against the majority of his weight, but she freezes as her eyes land on the knife.
I don’t trust his balance.
One slip, a slight wobble, and I’ll watch him destroy my entire life with one swipe.