Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
ICE
T he car dropped him off a block from his destination, per Holden’s instructions. They’d been texting back and forth during the tortuously long drive, and the more information Holden dug up, the heavier the rock in Ice’s stomach grew.
Starting with the fact that Ace hadn’t left California after the article showed up. No, he’d left on a commercial flight the same day Silver had called Simon to let him know she’d tracked Ice down in South Carolina. And while he had, indeed, rented an apartment in the building he’d brought her to, it wasn’t the one he’d mentioned in his text.
Little details that added up to something far more sinister than a jilted ex-lover wanting a few private words.
A large shape stepped out of the shadows of an alley to Ice’s right as he strode down the sidewalk, looming over him. It took him a heart-stopping moment to recognize the giant figure as Holden.
“Jesus Christ, man, I nearly shit myself. What the hell are you doing, lurking in the shadows like that?”
Holden raised a brow. “Surveillance. Like you asked me to.”
“Right.” Two more familiar forms crossing the street caught his eye. “I see you brought the cavalry.”
“I was on my way the second you asked for a car,” Beckett said as he and Braden stepped up onto the sidewalk. “And I called Braden on my way. Whatever’s going on, you’re not dealing with it alone.”
Gratitude welled up inside him. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Hopefully I’m just overreacting but…”
“Go with your gut,” Holden said, repeating his earlier words.
“Right. So, what do we do now?”
“They’re in the apartment he rented, same floor but different unit. I’ve got a man on the roof of the building across the street. Blinds are closed so he can’t actually see what’s going on inside, but he can see shadows moving around.”
“I’m going up there.”
Placing a hand on Ice’s shoulder, Holden forced him to pause. “Not sure that’s the best plan. We have no way of knowing if he’s armed.”
Or if he’ll hurt her . That last part seemed to go without saying.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a scream pierced the air, freezing the blood in Ice’s veins.
“Silver!” Jerking out of Holden’s grasp, Ice raced for the front door, shoving it open and cursing under his breath as he headed for the stairs.
Too long. It’s taking too long.
Another scream reached his ears just as he burst through the door of the second floor, Holden hot on his heels.
“End of the hall,” Holden said, his voice low and serious. “Go, knock on the door, act like you didn’t hear a goddamn thing. Just tell him you want to talk.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Hey. Look at me.” The words snapped with authority, the kind born in blood and battle. “You go banging on the door, demanding to see her, he’s going to get nervous. He gets nervous, she gets hurt. You wanna see your girl alive and safe again, you’ll fucking listen to me. Got it?”
“He knows what he’s doing,” Beckett reminded him, panting for breath as he and Braden came up behind them. “Trust the expert.”
“Right. Yeah. Okay.” It took every ounce of self-control he possessed, but he managed to swallow down the murderous rage bubbling in his gut. “Okay, I got it.”
“Good.” Holden gave a single sharp nod. “Cops are on their way. We just gotta keep him occupied, keep him from hurting her again until they get here.”
“Okay. Okay, I can do that.”
“Let’s go.”
It took too many precious seconds to make the walk down the hallway to the door Holden pointed to. And when he was standing in front of that single piece of wood keeping him from the woman he loved, it took more control than Ice knew he had to raise his hand and rap his knuckles against the door instead of ramming his entire body through it.
“Ace? You in there, man?”
Silence greeted him, and for one terrifying moment, he thought maybe they were too late.
“Ice?”
Thank all the gods. “Yeah, man. It’s me. Silver said to meet you guys here. Said you wanted to talk.”
“Oh really? Is that what she told you?”
Something sinister slithered around Ace’s words, and again Ice felt that bone-freezing terror. “Ah, well, not exactly. I followed her here. Gotta keep an eye on her, you know?”
“Tell me about it. She’s about as faithful as a two-dollar whore, this one.”
Bile rose in Ice’s throat, but he forced himself to laugh, hoping it was what Ace wanted to hear. “I know. So, ah, can I come in? I don’t really want to have this conversation through the door.”
“Probably for the best. We’ve had enough unwanted publicity lately, haven’t we?”
It was another impossibly long wait before the door swung open. Ace grinned as he stepped to the side, gesturing for Ice to enter.
But it wasn’t the too-wide smile, or even the insanity glinting in his friend’s eyes that had Ice’s knees going weak.
It was the knife Ace held in his raised fist. And the blood dripping from the blade that told him he was too late.
Silver
“Ace? You in there, man?”
No! Ice, no, no, no!
She wanted to scream, to tell him to go. But terror froze the words in her throat when Ace pointed the knife at her face.
The throbbing ache in her palms, across her fingers, was a constant reminder that he had no problem using it.
Frowning, Ace looked over at the door to the apartment. “Ice?”
“Yeah, man. It’s me. Silver said to meet you guys here. Said you wanted to talk.”
Malice shone in his eyes when he turned back to face her, and she swallowed back a sob. “Oh really? Is that what she told you?”
Another sob rose up, threatening to choke her as she whipped her head side to side. “I didn’t, I swear,” she whispered, praying Ice would hear the threat in Ace’s voice and change tactics. “I didn’t tell him anything.”
“Ah, well, not exactly.” Ice’s voice came through the door again. “I followed her here. Gotta keep an eye on her, you know?”
If she’d been standing, relief would have knocked her to her knees at Ice’s backpedaling. Ace grinned, and relief faded to terror once more. “Tell me about it. She’s about as faithful as a two-dollar whore, this one.”
More faithful than you ever were, you psychotic son of a bitch.
From the other side of the door came a strained laugh. “I know. So, ah, can I come in? I don’t really want to have this conversation through the door.”
“Probably for the best.” Ace’s grin turned to a sneer. “We’ve had enough unwanted publicity lately, haven’t we?”
The second he turned his back, she jerked at the ropes binding her to the chair, fighting to free herself despite the blinding pain turning the edges of her vision black. Now slick with her blood, the ropes weren’t holding as tightly, and a desperate hope filled her chest, to the point she couldn’t pull in enough air to fill her lungs with that hope crowding her.
Please, please, please. I have to get free.
She risked a glance at the door, and her heart plummeted to her feet at the sight of Ice standing there, staring at the knife in Ace’s hand.
And she could be silent no longer.
“Ice! RUN !”
Chaos erupted around her, as if her words had triggered some kind of explosion. A giant came barreling through the door, slamming into Ace and taking him to the ground. The knife skittered across the floor, and then Ace was screaming.
“Get the fuck off of me! Do you have any idea who I am?”
The giant sat up, easily flipping Ace onto his stomach and pinning his hands behind his back. It wasn’t until he glanced over that she recognized him as Frankie’s Giant Silver Fox Daddy.
“Silver!” Rushing past the duo on the floor, Ice dropped to his knees in front of her, and she saw her own terror reflected in his eyes as he reached for the blood-soaked ropes. “Oh, god. Baby. What did he do to you?”
“He-he cut me. Bad. Ice.” A strange sort of numbness settled in her chest as she stared down at him. “Ice, I can’t move my fingers.”
She was dimly aware of Holden on the phone, barking orders for an ambulance right fucking now . Of Braden and Beckett stepping into the room, their eyes wide with horror.
“I need a knife!” The sharpness of Ice’s voice seemed to spur them both into action. Beckett strode forward, pulling a pocketknife from his perfectly tailored slacks.
Who would have thought stern, sophisticated Beckett would be the type to carry a switchblade on him?
Laughter bubbled out of her as Ice slipped the blade between her wrists and the rope, and she saw Beckett and Braden share a worried look.
“Sil? You with me? Eyes on me, baby. Daddy’s got you.”
Ice’s words were like a magnet, pulling her gaze to his. And though he smiled, she could see the fear, the worry in his eyes. “There’s my girl. Can you breathe for me, Sil? In through your nose.”
It wasn’t until the metallic scent of her own blood filled her nostrils that she realized she’d stopped breathing. Tears blurred her vision as he yanked off his shirt, using Beckett’s knife to rip it to shreds. “I can’t move my fingers.”
“It’s okay, baby. We’re going to get you to a hospital and the doctors are going to fix you right up. I promise.”
Liar. She could hear it in his voice as he wrapped a strip of fabric around her shredded palm. But she clung to that lie with everything she had, because the alternative was more than she could bear.
More noise, more chaos as sirens pierced the air around them and moments later men in uniforms poured into the apartment. She watched as two of them put a zip tie around Ace’s wrists and hauled him to his feet. He was screaming again, his face contorted with rage as he spewed all the hateful things she imagined he’d thought about saying to her for months. Years, maybe.
Had he always hated her this much? Or was that new?
“Silver, baby. Eyes on me.”
She forced her attention back to Ice, still kneeling at her feet, his expression oddly blank. “You don’t look at him, you don’t listen to him. You hear me, little girl? You keep your eyes on me.”
The steel in his voice settled her. Gave her something to cling to that wasn’t empty promises and soul-shattering hope. “Yes, Daddy. I hear you.”
“Good girl. That’s my good girl. Daddy’s here. Daddy’s got you.”