Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ash
“He’s going to get out of that chair.”
Tucker hummed, popping a grape into his mouth. “I’m counting on it, actually.”
The masked man standing beside Tucker’s chair at the table just a few feet from me shifted on his feet, doing his best to not meet my eyes.
I recognized his voice. He was an Astoria local.
I just couldn’t place where I’d heard him.
Still, in about an hour, when I was free and his blood covered my hands, I would know.
There was no need to waste my energy worrying about it now.
The roof of this shitty place was leaking, a steady stream of rust-colored drops falling onto my shoulder. I looked up, taking my time as I scanned the place.
“See? He’s already looking for a way out,” Tucker boasted.
I rubbed my wrists together, feeling the poorly tied rope loosening by the second. The bastard wanted me to run so he could hunt. It was a power-play for him.
“Who put out the order?” I asked, watching Tucker’s sidekick.
The stocky man stiffened and turned to Tucker. “Do we answer him?”
“You know, for a hit man, you suck at interrogations,” Tucker drawled, sounding bored.
“I’m usually a few buildings away when I finish my jobs,” he spat.
Tucker looked at me, an apologetic smile on his face. “Forgive him.”
“Hired a hit man to do your dirty work?” I drawled, clicking my tongue. “How big of you.”
Tucker’s smile slowly faded away. “What did you just say?” he murmured coldly.
Now it was my turn to smile. “You heard me.”
“Doss, you’re tied to a chair,” he lifted his gun off the table, “I have this. Let’s not forget that.”
I pursed my lips, nodding. “Yeah, and in half an hour, you’ll be in the chair, I’ll have the gun,” I tipped my head to the masked man, “and he’ll be dead.”
A laugh, sickening and twisted echoed through the air, bouncing off the metal walls as Tucker threw his head back.
“Oh god. God, how I’ve missed that fucking cockiness of yours, Doss!
” He stood up, gun in hand, loosely waving it around.
“I’ll tell ya, you’re a breath of fucking fresh air.
My last job wouldn’t stop fucking screaming—and don’t get me wrong,” he grinned, a prideful gleam in his eyes, “I love it when they scream, but I needed to get some information first.”
Sighing, I looked over to the exit door in the distance. “Are you going to kill me or what?” My eyes slid back over to them, bouncing back and forth. “You’ve had plenty of time.”
“Yeah, I’m just waiting for you to beg for it.”
I nodded, playing along. “When did Nightshade reach out to you?”
Tucker came to stand in front of me. “Why would I tell you that?”
“Because you’re an egotistical bastard,” I deadpanned. Pain radiated through my cheek, and I felt my skin split open. I bit down, grinding my teeth.
Don’t get up.
Don’t get up.
Don’t get up.
Angel was safe. I knew it in my gut. My team had her. They would come for me.
Get fucking answers first.
“I said you were a breath of fresh air, not that you could insult me.” He sighed, sounding disappointed.
As I righted myself, he took his seat in the old metal chair and propped his feet up on the table.
I watched him as he ate a few more grapes.
He broke eye contact first, looking at the masked man.
“Go shoot him in the foot if you’re bored. ”
“You’re into torture now?” he asked in disbelief. “I thought you didn’t like to leave a mess.”
“I don’t, but this is Ash Doss. Decorated American hero.” Tucker pointed his gun at me, laughing. “All that hero shit and look where you are now.”
I have stared down the barrels of over one hundred guns in my time, and each time, I allowed a sense of dread to take over.
Not this time. I stared back at the weapon, knowing he wouldn’t fire.
It took me all of three minutes to clock his shit.
Tucker wasn’t going to kill me. He may hurt me, torture me, but he wasn’t going to kill me.
Whoever had a bounty on my head wanted me alive.
I tilted my head to the side, looking around the gun and at Tucker’s scarred face. “How much does your boss want for my head?”
“Aren’t we curious,” he teased, dropping the gun back on the table. It landed with a hard clank. The masked man jumped. My eyes went to him, and he moved away from Tucker, his fingers flexing at his sides.
He was nervous.
“Rom, seriously,” the man hissed. “Let’s just get the job done.”
Tucker stopped chewing, glaring at the man.
I wiggled my wrists a bit more. “Rom, huh?”
Tucker ignored me, keeping the good side of his face toward me as he slowly raised the gun to the masked man. “You’re bothering me.”
The stranger’s composure snapped and he pulled out his gun. “To hell with this shit and to hell with you—”
An explosion went off to my left and instinct took over. I pulled my hands free and shot up as the other two dove for the floor. As Tucker hit the ground, his pistol popped out of his hand, sliding across the floor. Our eyes met, and then I went for it. He slammed into my back as I grabbed it.
“No,” he growled. “You don’t get to win. Not again.” He wrapped his arm around my neck, and we struggled for power.
I pointed the gun back at him. “Bad move,” I pushed out, shooting him in the hand. The gunshot followed by a pain-filled scream filled my ears, blood spilling all over my shoulder. Tucker’s weight fell away, and I got to my feet, chest heaving, gun pointed at him.
“What the fuck?” the masked man shouted.
I looked over. “I’ll be with you in a minute,” I promised darkly, firing at his trembling hands.
He screamed, stumbling back as he tried to catch his gun.
I fired again as Tucker started to crawl away.
The bullet grazed the fucker’s fingers, and he dropped to the ground again, shaking in fear.
“Please don’t! I don’t even fucking want the money anymore!
Is the president going to come after me? The CIA? Fuck, please leave me alone!”
A loud creaking noise caught my attention as half of the exterior wall fell into the building, a cloud of smoke seeping in.
“Ding dong,” Grayson called. A second later, my team walked through the smoke.
I smirked. “Took you long enough.”
“Apologies, Mitchell needed a good parking spot for the chopper,” Dominic drawled, pointing his AK at Tucker, a red dot shining in the middle of his forehead. His eyes met mine. “You good?”
“Be better once this is over with,” I deadpanned.
“Don’t fucking move!” the masked man shouted. We all turned to find the source of my annoyance holding his gun. Again. His eyes were wide with panic, his chest heaving, his hands shaking.
“Scott?”
Angel’s voice cut through me and my head snapped, following the sound. She emerged from behind Jake, dressed in tactical gear and my mask. Her golden eyes found mine and the world started to slow. I could see her tears shining in the low light.
Oh, baby. You came for me.
“Move a fucking inch,” Dominic warned darkly, quickly moving to my side, “and I’ll blow your head off.”
Hayes and Grayson followed suit, surrounding the two men. Tucker rolled to his back, a manic laugh coming from him. “How did you fucks find us?”
“Shut the fuck up, Fitzgerald,” Gray barked down at him. “Stay on the fucking ground.”
Jake moved closer, my Starlight, remaining behind him, shielded by his body.
“That’s far enough, Murphy,” I clipped. His eyes sliced to mine. He nodded once and aimed his gun at Tucker. “Still got a fucker waving a gun around.”
“It’s Scott,” Angel said.
Jake glanced over his shoulder. “Who?”
Hayes popped his gum. “Can we just fucking—” He lifted his gun and fired, hitting Scott in the shoulder.
The man went down hard, and Hayes went to him, kicking the pistol away and yanking off his mask.
Grayson swiped up the gun, AK still pointed at Tucker and disarmed it with one hand.
The magazine crashed to the floor, bullets popping out and rolling onto the ground.
I scanned the area, making sure it was secure as I shoved Tuck’s . 45 into the back of my pants.
Then, oh fuck, then I went to my woman.
Jake moved out of the way just in time. I took her head in my hands, pushed her mask up, and slammed my mouth onto hers before she could say a word.
Her lips, like honey, melted to mine. I shifted us, blocking everyone’s view of her as my arms caged her against my body.
Her arms locked around my neck as she kissed me back with the same urgency as my own.
The moans and cries from Scott and Tucker were drowned out.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, holding her eyes.
Her bottom lip trembled as a new wave of tears fell onto her cheeks. “I couldn’t let you get lost in the darkness again, and if you did, I wanted to be the one to pull you out.”
My precious starlight.
I kissed her again. “You came for me?”
She nodded, her words breathless and cracking with emotion. “Just like you came for me.”
God, I loved her.
I loved her more than I ever thought possible.
“You’re safe,” she rasped against my mouth.
“Yes.” I kissed her again. “I’m safe.”
She whimpered, her tears warm on my tongue as I drank from her. The boys were quiet; the world was quiet. All I could feel was her. All I could taste was her. She was here in my arms, and it was finally over.
The life we needed could finally begin.