Chapter 15
DAMIANO
Everyone is in place. We sent Hannah to Madison’s resort, and we have others guarding the perimeter. Nobody will take Madison away.
I feel ill when I think about how we rushed through our explanation to Madison.
We’ve been here almost since she arrived, but not at her resort.
We thought informing her of our presence might make her act differently.
In the end, though, it doesn’t matter. Pointer found her regardless of our safeguards.
One of our scouts, Boyle, checks in. His voice is low and urgent, yet calm, through the earpiece.
“There’s an SUV parked inland, near some tourist hiking trails,” Boyle says. “At least one person is sitting inside.”
Pointer. Right where he said he would be. He’ll want to be close to the action, but not too close. He wants to observe, but from safety. And more than anything, he wants a confrontation with us.
He will not be satisfied with Seth and me dissolving Nove and signing everything over to him. He knows these things can be undone. And even if they cannot be undone, he knows that we will never rest, not until we take back what is ours.
Boyle gives us more information on the SUV’s orientation. Seth and I start driving inland. Slow, steady. This hiking area isn’t open to vehicles, but nobody is here to keep us out. We pull up to a clearing about three kilometers inland from the resort. I’ve kept the headlights off.
As Boyle informed us, another SUV waits, pointing west. It is painted black, as is ours.
Seth and I silently get out of our vehicle. I pull my handgun from its holster.
“What’re you doing?” Seth asks in a low voice.
“If it’s him, I don’t want him getting away quickly.” I aim for the tires.
Seth raises his eyebrows. “And if it isn’t him?”
“Then I owe someone new tires.”
I shoot out the two rear tires. The shots are silent, but the man slamming open the passenger door and jumping out, shouting with his gun raised, is not.
Even in the dim moonlight, I can see details.
Pointer has black hair, with silver at the temples.
Blue eyes. A cleft chin. At a casual observer’s first glance, he looks like a nice enough person—respectable, distinguished.
Yet there is never any expression in those blue eyes, and his mouth is always twisted in a cruel sneer.
“What the fuck?” Pointer stares into the shadows, trying to find us. “Colton? Romano? Stop hiding like the fucking cowards you are, and sign the paperwork.”
“Call off your soldiers, first.” As soon as I speak, Seth and I move silently along the trail, changing position. Just in case Pointer decides to take his chances and aim blindly—
He shoots into the trees, close to where we’d been standing.
Yes, I saw that coming.
“We just want Madison to be safe.” Seth moves to another position, and I go with him. “Call off your soldiers, and we’ll sign whatever the fuck you want.”
“That’s not how this works.” Pointer shakes his head in mock disappointment. “I’m in charge, so you’ll do what I say, when I say it. You’ll sign over Nove. To me, specifically. I’ll be generous and offer you a million for it. Once business is all taken care of, your girlfriend will be safe.”
His offer of a million dollars is an insult. But I will take whatever insult he throws our way if it means Madison is unharmed.
“Fine.” My jaw is tight—I have to force the word through my teeth. “We’ll sign.”
Pointer’s stance relaxes. He holds his gun loosely at his side. “I’ve already sent the contract to your email.”
I keep my gun trained on Pointer while Seth takes out his phone. He swipes his fingers over the screen before thrusting it my way. “Here.”
The light from the screen makes us vulnerable—Pointer can see exactly where we are, now. But he’s getting what he wants—he has no reason left to hurt us.
I scan the contract, even though my eyes aren’t fully comprehending the words.
None of it matters. Whatever happens, we’ll void the contract afterward.
No legitimate business deal happens in the rain forest, in the dark, without lawyers present.
I scrawl my signature at the bottom, my fingertip moving easily across the phone screen.
Even if we couldn’t reverse this “sale” of Nove, this action would be worthwhile if it keeps Madison out of Pointer’s grasp.
“We’ve signed it,” I call out. “It’s done.”
Pointer takes his phone from his pocket and grins. “So it is.”
“Call off your soldiers,” Seth says. “Leave Madison alone.”
“Actually.” Pointer makes a soft tutting sound. “You’ve put me through so much shit, I can’t wait to do the same to you. I’ve been wanting to see you suffer for five long years now.”
I raise my gun and let off a warning shot. “Call them,” I say. “Now. We signed your papers, you have Nove, you have everything you want. There are two of us, one of you. We can end you right now, Pointer, and end all of this. Or you can tell your men to stand down.”
“Maybe there’s one of me.” He reaches into the open door of his car. “But I have a hostage.”
A young, blond man in cargo shorts and a Hawaiian-print top stumbles out of the vehicle.
Fuck.
“Oh hey, Erich, right?” The man’s words are slurred. He waves at Pointer, clearly not seeing the gun or understanding the threat. “So sorry, I couldn’t find your phone, man. I think I fell asleep in there. Will I still get paid?”
“I’ll fucking kill him.” Pointer jams his gun against the guy’s temple.
“Wait, whoa-whoa-whoa,” the tourist says. “I’ll look again, man. You offered me a hundo, so I’ll find the phone, promise.”
“I already found it.” Pointer holds up his device, then his gun. “Now you’re coming with me.”
My mind moves quickly, evaluating our options. If Pointer has a hostage, there’s nothing he won’t do. He doesn’t care about that man; he will shoot him as easily as breathing, and feel zero regret.
“This wasn’t part of the deal,” the tourist says. “Come on, let’s just get some drinks and put this all behind us.”
Pointer aims at the ground, next to the tourist’s foot, and shoots.
The tourist yelps. Now he seems to understand the threat. “Okay, yeah, whatever you want.”
“If I get even the sense that you two are following me,” Pointer says with a sneer, “this young asshole dies.”
I balance on the balls of my feet. I don’t care about the young asshole. I care about Madison.
But I can’t be responsible for an innocent man’s death.
Pointer drags the guy down the trail at the other side of the clearing. Seth and I wait, listening to them disappear into the shadows. “Don’t kill me, man,” the tourist says. “I just want to get back to my party, okay?”
Once they’re out of earshot, Seth and I exchange a look and get in our car. There are other routes to the resort, and we aren’t leaving Madison in Pointer’s path—fuck no.
MADISON
“I’m so sorry.” I meekly go into the tiny storage room and hand back Landon’s earpiece.
He shakes his head. “We should’ve given you the info sooner. Fuck, now I don’t have a weapon.” He winces at whatever Seth and Damiano say through his earpiece. “No. She threw it in the bushes. I didn’t have time to retrieve it…. Yeah, I know.”
To his credit, he doesn’t seem mad at me. He doesn’t even act annoyed. Everything I’ve done to throw a wrench into their plans, he’s taking it in stride.
It makes me feel worse, for some reason.
He pulls the door shut after us. I take stock of the tiny room. It’s mostly filled with spare linens, but one shelf is laden with cases of travel toothpaste, toothbrushes, and soaps.
In this storage room, I should feel safe. Yet instead, I feel trapped. Not by Landon, but by the circumstances. If someone shows up here, we have nowhere to run, nowhere else to hide. There isn’t a passage leading to another safe place. We’re stuck.
This is it.
“If that opens”—Landon points at the flimsy door—”you stay behind me. Understand?”
“Yeah.” I nod for emphasis.
His gray eyes lock on mine. “I don’t care what happens, or who you think is on the other side. Even if they call out and it’s Seth or Damiano’s voice. Even if someone says they’re going to kill a puppy if you don’t come out the door. You stay behind me.”
“Got it.”
My stomach feels like twisting ropes, tightening and knotting.
I’ve been scared before; I’ve been in dangerous situations like this before.
But something about this one feels different—maybe because I can’t see the enemy.
When Alessia’s ex had us in the hotel, he was right there, staring at us and threatening violence.
The same thing happened with my cousins.
They were there, and I could see what they were doing.
Now, I’m hidden away, and someone bad is trying to find me. They could show up at any second, and I won’t see them coming.
“Hey.” Landon lowers his voice. “Hey, I know you’re scared, Madison, but it’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah.” I have to choke the word out. I really just want to burst into tears, curl up in a ball, and rock in the corner. But maybe Landon is right, and it’ll all be okay.
“So,” he whispers, “how did you meet Seth and Damiano, anyway?”
“Oh.” I see what he’s doing—he’s trying to distract me so I don’t freak out. “Um, I met them at a club. Although I already knew Seth…he used to be my brother-in-law.”
Landon’s eyebrows go up in surprise. “Really. I hate to ask, but—”
“My husband, his brother, passed away. Motorcycle accident.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.”
I nod. “Yeah. It was pretty terrible. Still is.” I don’t want to dwell on death, though. Especially not right now when Erich Pointer is trying to hurt me. “Anyway, we met at the club, and…now we’re together.”
“I’m glad for you—the three of you seem like you have a solid relationship.”
A warm feeling blooms in my chest. “They’re pretty great, and—”
The door flies open, and my sentence ends in a scream. Fear pumps through my veins, ice-cold.
This must be Erich Pointer. I’ve seen pictures of him—I looked him up when he first kidnapped Seth’s parents.
Even without that knowledge, though, I’d know it’s him.
There’s something about the way he holds himself, the calculating look of hatred in his blue eyes.
This is a man who hates Seth and Damiano with every fiber of his being, and he’s bent on their destruction.
And to him, I’m the key to their ruin.
Landon lifts his arms, but taken by surprise, he isn’t fast enough. Pointer smashes his gun into Landon’s head, and Landon goes down.
Now nobody stands between me and the man in the doorway.
Landon groans from the floor, crumpled against the linen shelf. Blood spills from a wound just above his temple. He moves like he’s trying to get to his feet.
“Say goodbye, Madison.” Erich Pointer lifts his gun.
“You don’t have to do this,” I whisper.
“Oh, I do. And even if I didn’t have to do it…” He smiles with his teeth showing. A threat. “I want to do it.”
He takes aim with his cruel, blue eyes. His finger clenches on the trigger.
Landon throws himself in front of me.
A shot rings out.