Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Landon
There’s an annoying rhythmic beeping making my head pound. I feel a twinge of pain at the base of my skull but can’t seem to muster up the energy to fight through it enough to wake up. I’m just so fucking tired. Maybe if I sleep a little longer, the pounding in my head will pass.
What is Allora doing to make that incessant beeping noise?
“Babe.” My voice sounds more like a croak. “Can you—”
“Landon.” A woman’s voice. Soft. Worried. Tearful?
But not Allora’s voice?
“Wha’s wrong?” I mutter, trying valiantly to open my eyes.
“Landon, can you wake up?” The woman’s voice again. Definitely not Allora. “Please, Landon. Wake up.”
It’s Courtney.
Why is my sister crying?
And where is Allora?
Finally, I manage to open my eyes just a slit, enough to recognize Courtney’s red hair and the tears in her eyes.
“Where…” I can’t seem to finish the sentence.
Why does my head hurt so much and where the fuck am I?
“Come on, wake up, Landon!” Her voice is louder now, bordering on annoying.
“Don’t…yell,” I grunt.
“You’re in the hospital,” she says, taking one of my hands between both of hers and rubbing them briskly. “You had surgery because of a brain bleed. The doctors need you to wake up. I need you to wake up.”
Brain bleed?
What the hell is she talking about?
Somehow, I find the energy to open my eyes again and stare at her. She looks exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes, her hair in a messy bun on her head.
“I’m…awake.” More croaking but it’s better. “Water?”
“Yes.” She reaches for a cup and puts a straw between my lips.
I suck the cold liquid gratefully, even though I can only swallow a little at a time.
“What happened—” Before I can finish my sentence, it all comes rushing back.
The attack.
The tasers.
Allora’s screams.
Tex.
I immediately try to sit up.
“Hey, no, you have a head injury,” Courtney says quickly, gently pushing on my chest.
“Tex!” I grunt, though the effort costs me and I have to lay back.
“What?” Courtney looks confused.
“Where’s…Rage?”
“Everyone is out looking for Allora,” she says softly.
“Call…someone.”
“You need a nurse?”
“No. Rage. I need…call!” God, it’s hard to fucking talk. I need her to read between my very blurry lines of communication.
“Okay, calm down. I’m calling him now.” She pulls out her phone and puts it on speaker so I can hear it ringing.
“What’s up, Court?” Rage’s voice calms me.
He’ll handle this.
I want to but I don’t think I can.
But my best friend will.
“Rage.” My voice sounds raspy and weak but it doesn’t matter. “Listen.”
“What do you remember?” he asks automatically.
“Tex.”
“Tex?” He’s quiet for a beat, but he’s not stupid. “He did this? Are you sure?”
“Saw…him.”
“Hang on.” I hear him calling to Daniil. Lots of voices. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but then I hear a roar.
“Grim. Tell me.” It’s Silver.
“He…took her. Saw his tattoo. Heard…his voice.”
“He’s a dead man.”
I don’t have the energy to agree with him, but then Rage’s voice is back on the line.
“You just get better. We’re going to find her.”
“They’re going to leave…the country.”
“Fuck. All right, we’re on it. We have a few leads.”
“He’s going to hurt her,” I say before I feel sleep pulling me under again.
But I trust Rage.
If I can’t get up, he’ll take care of her.
I just hope he gets there before it’s too late this time.
* * *
When I next open my eyes, it’s easier. I still have a bitch of a headache but at least I can stay awake for more than a few seconds.
Courtney is still here, in a chair next to me, dozing.
I don’t know what time it is, but the room is dark except for light coming from a slit in the door. That damn machine is still beeping and I’m about ready to throw it out the window but I figure they’re monitoring all the important stuff.
“Courtney.” My voice is a little stronger now.
“Landon.” Her eyes snap open and she sits up. “How are you feeling? Do you need a nurse?”
“No. Update.” I hate being abrupt with her but I can’t think about anything except Allora.
“Nothing yet,” she says softly. “I don’t know exactly what’s going down but Silver came up with some bogus arms deal. Something that would supposedly bring in ten million dollars. He said money is the only way to lure Tex in. So far, he hasn’t shown up, though.”
“What time…is it?”
“Almost midnight.”
“How long since…they took her.”
She hesitates.
“Courtney.”
“Just over twenty-four hours.”
“Fuck.”
I’m going to kill Tex. Slowly. Painfully.
“I have to find her.”
“I know, but they fractured your skull. You can’t go anywhere right now. They had to operate to relieve the pressure in your brain from a bleed. We almost lost you.” Her voice breaks.
“Call…Rage. Please.”
She looks like she wants to protest but knows me well enough to know when I’m not going to back down.
She pulls out her phone and once again puts it on speaker.
“How is he?” he asks by way of greeting.
“Worried,” I grunt. “Catch me up.”
“Dude, you almost got your brains bashed in. I told you—”
“If you want me to stay in this bed, tell me everything.” Fuck, my head hurts. “Or I’m leaving.” That’s probably bullshit because I don’t think I can stand on my own, much less drive or think or do anything that requires energy. But it feels good to sound like a tough guy.
Rage sighs. “Tex hasn’t shown up, but we found out something from Nitro. Turns out, Tex was drunk night before last, got to running his mouth. Kept talking about buying a castle for Allora. Luna dug into his finances and discovered he bought a piece of property in fucking Albania two weeks ago.”
“Albania?” I blink, like I didn’t hear him right.
“And she just found a chartered flight leaving John Wayne at six a.m. for Tirana.” John Wayne is the airport in Orange County and Tirana is the biggest city in Albania.
“You have to stop it.”
“No shit, Sherlock. We’re heading out.”
“I have to come.”
“Dude. You have to trust us. Silver and a handful of his guys are here, along with our entire crew.”
“I…” Despite the pounding in my head, I have to be there. “Please. I’ll stay in the car. I can’t stay here knowing she’s about to be taken out of the country. Dammit, Elliott, this is important!”
“You’re a stubborn bastard, you know that?”
“That’s why you love me.”
“We’ll swing by. Be ready in fifteen.”
“Bring me clothes.”
Rage snorts before hanging up.
“Landon, are you crazy?” Courtney stares at me.
“Probably.” I meet her gaze directly. “Do you remember getting hit in the head when they kidnapped Micah? Do you remember threatening to walk out of the hospital with your ass hanging out if Lennox didn’t find you clothes and a nurse to take out your IV?”
She sighs. “Yes, I do.”
“So, help me get this IV out and sign myself out of here.”
“Landon, this is crazy. I had a concussion but not a brain bleed. I didn’t need surgery. You almost died.” Her eyes puddle with tears. “I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t. I’ll have the whole gang there to keep me from doing anything to make this worse. But I have to be there. I have to look him in the eye before I put a bullet in his head.”
She swallows and then nods. “Promise you won’t do anything stupid. I can’t lose you to prison either.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m positive Silver will make him disappear.”
Our eyes lock and I can see how conflicted she is.
But she gets it.
Six months ago, one of Daniil’s enemies in Limaj kidnapped their son to influence his vote on a bill in Parliament. Courtney got hurt during the attack but she refused to stay in the hospital, insisting she had to be back at the palace and in the thick of things to find him.
“All right,” she says finally. “But I’m coming too.”
Daniil probably won’t be happy that his seven-months-pregnant wife is going on a mission but that’s a problem for after we get Allora back.
I promised her I wouldn’t die, but I also promised her they’d never get to her as long as I was still breathing. And I’m still breathing.
I have a lot to make up for.