Chapter 136
Okay, maybe she does know me. It sounds exactly like what I would have done.
“Alright. Alright,” I say. “You’ll have the honor. That doesn’t mean they can’t help. I promise you, I’ll take you with me, and you’ll be the one to finish him. off. How does that sound?”
She finally stops typing. It’s not a full pause. Her fingers lift from the keys, hovering in the air like they’re unsure what to do next. Then she turns her head until her eyes meet mine. There are varieties of emotions running through those eyes. Exhaustion, fear, rage, and some others I can’t place.
“You promise?” she whispers.
“I do.”
“Swear on your life.”
I pause. Then, because I mean it, I lean in closer.
“Better yet, I swear on yours. You know I’m not tetting anything happen to you ever. Not while I’m alive.”
Her face softens. She exhales and gives a small nod.
“Mateo’s going to call back in ten minutes,” she says. “I’m setting up to track the live call this time. I wasn’t ready before, and he didn’t leave a footprint. Not one. He must have someone very skilled with him. Their work is pretty neat.”
Before I stand up to call the team back into the room, I say, “Are you sure he has your sister?”
“Yes. I saw her. He switched to video call and shot her in the thigh.” Her lips press together, trembling as she forces herself to keep it together.
Jesus.
That son of a bitch has already shot her. It now makes sense why Sloane’s so worked up. She watched her sister take a bullet in real time. This is the kind of information that makes me murderous. Mateo really does have a flair for the dramatic. I know I promised Sloane she can have at him when we find him, but that promise is looking slightly harder to keep with what’s running through my head. My hands curl into fists at my sides before I force them to relax. She doesn’t need me losing my head too.
“If I find that man…” she says.
“We’ll find him. Tell me, what else did you see in the video?”
Her lashes lower. “They were in a basement. Four of them. All tied up.”
“Four of whom?”
She hesitates. Then, “Right. I didn’t tell you. Sorry. It totally escaped my mind. Mateo has Hunter, Soraya, Finn… and my sister.”
I blink, unsure if I heard her right.
“I beg your pardon?”
“He has all of them,” she whispers. “I should’ve known. I should’ve anticipated this knowing I have family in this city. I-”
I don’t let her finish the sentence. There’s no need, not when it’s already written all over her face. I reach for her and cradle her face in both hands. Her skin is cold due to the temperature of the room. I pull her into me, and thankfully, she doesn’t resist. Doesn’t pretend to be fine. Her body leans into mine, head resting on my chest as I caress her hair.
“It’s alright,” I say into her hair. “We’re going to get them all back.”
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Chapter 136
Chapter 136
Okay, maybe she does know me. It sounds exactly like what I would have done.
“Alright. Alright,” I say. “You’ll have the honor. That doesn’t mean they can’t help. I promise you, I’ll take you with me, and you’ll be the one to finish him off. How does that sound?”
She finally stops typing. It’s not a full pause. Her fingers lift from the keys, hovering in the air like they’re unsure what to do next. Then she turns her head until her eyes meet mine. There are varieties of emotions running through those eyes. Exhaustion, fear, rage, and some others I can’t place.
“You promise?” she whispers.
“I do.”
“Swear on your life.”
I pause. Then, because I mean it, I lean in closer.
“Better yet, I swear on yours. You know I’m not tetting anything happen to you ever. Not while I’m alive.”
Her face softens. She exhales and gives a small nod.
“Mateo’s going to call back in ten minutes,” she says. “I’m setting up to track the live call this time. I wasn’t ready before, and he didn’t leave a footprint. Not one. He must have someone very skilled with him. Their work is pretty neat.”
Before I stand up to call the team back into the room, I say, “Are you sure he has your sister?”
“Yes. I saw her. He switched to video call and shot her in the thigh.” Her lips press together, trembling as she forces herself to keep it together.
Jesus.
That son of a bitch has already shot her. It now makes sense why Sloane’s so worked up. She watched her sister take a bullet in real time. This is the kind of information that makes me murderous. Mateo really does have a flair for the dramatic. I know I promised Sloane she can have at him when we find him, but that promise is looking slightly harder to keep with what’s running through my head. My hands curl into fists at my sides before I force them to relax. She doesn’t need me losing my head too.
“If I find that man…” she says.
“We’ll find him. Tell me, what else did you see in the video?”
Her lashes lower. “They were in a basement. Four of them. All tied up.”
“Four of whom?”
She hesitates. Then, “Right. I didn’t tell you. Sorry. It totally escaped my mind. Mateo has Hunter, Soraya, Finn… and my sister.”
I blink, unsure if I beard her right.
“I beg your pardon?”
“He has all of them,” she whispers. “I should’ve known. I should’ve anticipated this knowing I have family in this city. I-”
I don’t let her finish the sentence. There’s no need, not when it’s already written all over her face. I reach for her and cradle her face in both hands. Her skin is cold due to the temperature of the room. I pull her into me, and thankfully, she doesn’t resist. Doesn’t pretend to be fine. Her body leans into mine, head resting on my chest as I caress her hair.
“It’s alright,” I say into her hair. “We’re going to get them all back.”
Chapter 136
She pulls away suddenly.
“It’s almost time,” she says. “If you’re calling them in, do it now.”
I nod once, then push to my feet. My steps are steady as I cross the room and open the door. I don’t have to say a word. Just a glance, a tilt of my head, and they understand. One by one, the team starts to file in. Their eyes sweep the room, taking in the mess of open hardware, tangled wires, glowing screens, and the unmistakable tension still hanging in the air.
As the team cautiously moves toward Sloane, she begins dishing out instructions, and I just stand there and watch her. I’m trying so hard to fight a smile. Her world is tumbling down right now, but I can’t get over how she came in here and chased some of the city’s deadliest tech criminals out of their office and is now giving them instructions like five–year–olds.
My guys exchange glances. Marcus, who’s been doing this for fifteen years, nods along like he’s learning something new. Tony actually pretends to take notes on his phone. They’re humoring her because they can see how important this is, but also because–hell, she’s impressive. The way she moves between systems, the speed at which she’s processing information. She might be giving them elementary instructions, but she’s doing it while orchestrating something far more complex than any of them could handle under this kind of pressure.
Levi stands by the corner, narrowing his eyes at the scene and then at me. I must not be hiding my pride too well. Despite everything–the hostages, the threat, the chaos–there’s something about watching Sloane take command that makes my chest swell. She’s magnificent when she’s angry.
Jade comes in at that moment. “What is going on?”
“Tech madness,” I reply, not taking my eyes off Sloane. “Are the guys ready?”
“They are. Just say the word.”
Right then, a phone starts vibrating. It must be Sloane’s phone, because she screams, “He’s calling!” She spins toward me, eyes wide. “Knox! You’re the one he really wants to speak with. Talk to him and keep him on as long as you can.”
I come closer and sit beside Sloane, grabbing the phone from her trembling hands. It’s a video call. I accept it, and sure enough, the first thing I see are the four people Sloane mentioned, tied to chairs in what looks like a concrete basement. Serena’s head is slumped forward like she’s unconscious. Sloane notices it too and starts screaming into the phone, “Rena? Rena!”
Mateo’s annoying voice comes through the phone. “Don’t worry,” he says. “She’s alive. I can see
you’ve got your boyfriend on the line.”
I’m looking at other things in the frame while my tech workers do what they do in the corner of the room–hands flying over keyboards, screens lighting
up
with tracking algorithms. The basement Mateo’s in looks old, industrial. Exposed pipes, concrete walls. There’s a single light bulb casting harsh shadows.
“Treat her,” Sloane demands, leaning into the phone. “She doesn’t look okay.”
“Women,” Mateo says with that grating laugh of his. “Always dramatic. Am I right, Knox?”
I can feel my throat tightening in anger the more I stare into the phone. “If that’s a characteristic of women, you must be one then, Mateo.”
“Haha. You’re still a funny guy, Captain.”
Then he begins speaking in a foreign language I recognize as Russian. When did he learn his ex–wife’s language? A masked man appears on the screen, moving into frame with a first aid box that’s seen better days. The metal corners are dented, the white paint chipped and stained. He approaches Serena, and I can see her head lift as she becomes aware of his presence. Guess that means she’s still alive.
The masked man sets the box down and opens it. Inside, I can make out gauze, bottles of antiseptic, and what looks like a pair of pliers.
The moment the man reaches for Serena’s wounded leg, she comes alive. Her whole body jerks against the restraints, and the sound that comes out of her throat is pure terror. She’s shaking so violently that the chair she’s tied to starts rocking, the metal legs scraping against the concrete floor.
“Hold her still,” Mateo orders in English, clearly for our benefit. He’s enjoying this–the performance, the control, the way Sloane’s face crumples as she watches her sister fight.
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Chapter 136
Another masked figure steps into the frame, grabbing Serena’s shoulders and pressing her back against the chair. She’s still struggling, still making those sounds, but now she’s trapped between the two men. The first one positions the pliers over her wound, and when he starts to dig for the bullet, the scream that comes out of her would give those horror movies a run for their money.
Sloane is gripping my arm so hard that I feel her nails through my shirt, and I can hear her whispering, “It’s okay, Rena, it’s okay,” like her sister can somehow hear her through the phone.
The other three hostages in the room look horrified. Hunter’s jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscle jumping. Soraya has tears streaming down her face. But it’s Finn who really catches my attention–he looks like he’s about to be sick. Why is he even there?
“What is this, Mateo?” I ask, forcing my voice to stay level. “Are you forming a basement secret society with people I know?”
“Not exactly. Let’s cut to the chase while they try to save your girlfriend’s sister’s life, shall we?”
“Alright. Cut to the chase. And no theatrics, please. I have reached my quota of bullshit for the month.”
It’s kind of difficult to gauge someone’s mood and intentions when you can’t see their face. Mateo’s making sure the camera is fixed on the hostages
alone.
His voice drops, losing the fake joviality. “You’re going to apologize to me, Knox. Right here. Right now. Acknowledge the fact that it was your fault we got captured that day while you were off proving that you’re some sort of hero. You bloody escaped and left me there to die. What sort of captain does that to his own men? And then you stopped searching for me? Do you know the things I had to do to stay alive? The number of countries I ended up in?”
I lean back in my chair, keeping my expression neutral. “Shouldn’t you be grateful you made it out?”
“I’d have preferred to die.”
“That can still be arranged.”
“Stop joking about this and acknowledge it was your fucking fault! Apologize to me for ruining my whole life!”
The room goes quiet except for the humming sound of servers and the soft clicking of keyboards from my tech team. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, Sloane’s especially. She needs me to do whatever it takes to keep these people alive. But there are some things I just won’t do. One of them is taking blame for what isn’t my fault.
“I have nothing to apologize for, Mateo.”
Mateo barks something in Russian, and a masked man goes to Hunter, pressing a gun directly against his temple. Hunter’s eyes squeeze shut, but he doesn’t make a sound.
“I will get my apology right now,” Mateo says, “or I start putting bullets in everyone here, one after the other.”
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