Chapter 65
Daniel
I was losing my mind.
Jake’s guy lost Langford. Becca’s bodyguards were drugged and passed out in the men’s bathroom at Vale. Becca and Lydia’s phones were on the floor in the parking lot with their purses.
We underestimated him.
I paced my living room with Cole, Jake, and Terry. Cole kept cracking his knuckles, looking like he was going to kill one of us if we didn’t point him at a target. Jake was pacing the kitchen, shouting into his phone, and Terry was on my couch, tapping frantically into his laptop.
“Terry, give me something.”
Becca and Lydia are gone. Becca and Lydia are gone. BECCA AND LYDIA ARE GONE.
This can’t be happening. I couldn’t accept it.
Terry shook his head. “I can’t find him. I can’t find any footage of them leaving Vale or of Langford. His phone is at home, but the security cameras don’t show him there.”
My phone rang. Kernel’s app flashed on my screen.
I answered, putting him on speaker.
“Mark Langford has Lydia!” Kernel’s voice shrieked before I could say anything.
Cole, Terry, and Jake froze and stared at my phone.
“Where are they, Kernel?” I tried to keep my voice calm, but I sounded shaky.
“He’s hurting her!” Kernel gasped between words, screaming each one like a madman.
“Calm down! Tell me where she is, now!”
He hung up, and all of our phones pinged.
A location.
We all ran to the door. I pointed at Terry. “You stay here.”
I tossed Cole my car keys and grabbed the helmet.
Our phones pinged again when we were in the elevator. The app opened and audio played on our three phones at the same time—Becca screaming, Lydia groaning, Langford screaming, and someone getting hit.
Dead. He’s dead. He’s fucking dead. I fucking swear to god…
I didn’t wait to see what Jake and Cole were doing. The second the doors open, I ran to my bike and took off.
Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up to a remote house. It was quiet.
Gun pointed at the floor, I ran inside, not waiting for Cole or Jake. I dialed Terry and put my earbud in.
“It’s quiet here, Ter.”
The kitchen was clear. Dining room, living room, top floor with three bedrooms… all clear.
Study, clear.
“Floor plan shows a basement going down from the kitchen closet,” Terry said.
I ran, practically pulling the closet door off its hinges.
Fuck!
The basement was clear.
Jake and Cole walked in. I shook my head.
“Give me something, Terry.”
“Hold on. I got something from Kernel. He was monitoring all of his buys, it’s how he knew he got a new phone. He bought this house three months ago and got a panic room installed in his bedroom.”
Jake and Cole followed me, the three of us running upstairs to the bedroom. I stood in the middle of the room, eyes scanning for any clue to the room’s location.
“Got it,” Jake whispered. He moved the bed’s headboard—it folded down over the pillows, revealing a number pad.
I didn’t need to say anything—Jake entered Natalia’s birthday.
I turned toward the hiss behind me. A floor-to-ceiling dark bookcase moved forward like a door.
What I saw in front of me will never leave me until the day I die.
Becca was on her back on the floor, crying.
There was blood everywhere. At the back, the only piece of furniture in the room—a chair, facing the door.
Lydia was tied to it. Langford’s hands were around her neck.
Her face was covered in blood, and she was looking right at me with the most terrifying smile I had ever seen.
Angel of Death.