Chapter 25
I hung that phone right up in Solei’s face. I didn’t know who the hell she thought she was fucking playing with. I’d turn her car back on when I felt like it. Solei instantly called my phone back. I swiped her off and paid attention to the address on my screen.
“She gon’ fuck yo’ ass up,” Ghost spoke, and I ignored him.
A warehouse on the edge of the city. Abandoned. Perfect for men who believed nobody was coming.
I parked across the street and killed the engine. Rain tapped against the windshield. Ghost sat in the passenger seat cleaning beneath his fingernails with the tip of a knife.
“You sure she’s in there?”
I stared at the building. A nineteen-year-old girl was snatched from the gas station parking lot three days ago. The police were still chasing tips. Blackveil had found her in less than six hours.
“She’s in there.”
Ghost sighed. “Shame.”
I already knew what he meant. It would’ve been easier if she wasn’t, because if she was, the men inside were about to have the worst night of their lives.
I opened the door. The rain soaked my shoulders. Ghost followed.
“You want backup?”
“No.”
Ghost chuckled.
“Damn.”
We crossed the empty street. A security camera hung above the warehouse entrance. I looked up at it, then smiled. The door exploded inward with one kick. The sound echoed through the building. Three men looked up from a folding table. One stood. The other two reached for weapons. Wrong move.
I calmly removed my glasses and folded them, then handed them over to Ghost.
Ghost immediately stepped back. “Y’all done messed up.”
The first man charged. I met him halfway. My fist landed once in his chest. The man’s feet left the ground. His body crashed through a table before hitting concrete. The second pulled a pistol. I grabbed his wrist and twisted it. The snap echoed.
“Ahhh!” he screamed.
I ripped the gun from his clutches and drove the butt into his face.
Blood sprayed across the floor. The third man ran, but I caught him before he reached the door.
One hand wrapped around the back of his neck and then introduced his face to a steel support beam.
I bashed his shit repeatedly ’til he stopped moving.
Silence filled the warehouse. Only the rain remained. Ghost walked over carrying my glasses.
“Damn,” left his lips.
I ignored him, and my attention shifted to a soft sound. Fragile crying. The kind someone made after they’d run out of strength. My eyes found a locked office in the back corner. The crying came from behind it.
I headed over there and kicked that shit straight off the hinges. Inside sat a girl, barefoot, bruised, and terrified. Her wrists were tied. Mascara stained her cheeks. The moment she saw me, she flinched.
I crouched down in front of her. “It’s okay.”
Her crying intensified. I pulled a knife from my pocket, and the girl recoiled. “It’s okay,” I repeated.
The blade sliced through the restraints. The ropes fell away. The girl covered her face and sobbed.
“Ambulance?” Ghost asked from the doorway.
“No.”
Ghost frowned. “No?”
“They’ll get to asking questions and shit. We don’t have time for that. Call her mama.”
The girl’s head lifted. Ghost stepped away to make the call.
The girl wiped her eyes. “Who are you?”
I stared at her. The same question everyone asked. The same answer nobody ever got.
“Someone your mama sent.”
Her lips trembled. “Thank you.”
I nodded and then turned back toward the warehouse. My eyes turned to slits. There was a difference between me protecting someone and me punishing the people who hurt them. One was business . . . the other, personal. The personal was where the monster lived.