“I’ll leave that for Willow to decide.” Gray knew that would work.
“That’s harsh,” Ryan muttered. “How’s she doing?”
“She asked for an hour’s radio silence so she could calm down,” Gray replied. “We’ll hear from her soon, I think.”
Darius groaned, but it wasn’t in response to what Gray had said. It was clear as day when he tried to turn, and Gray hurried to help him onto his side. And a beat later, Darius threw up.
“Hold him in place,” Gray told River. “I’m gonna go downstairs and find water.”
He found three bottles that he filled with water, but on the way out, he ran into Niko, who wanted him to help out in the back. So Gray hollered for Ryan to get up on his feet and take the water.
Ryan entertained them with a couple old-man grunts and made his way down the steps. “I’m not sure I’m a fan of you bossin’ me around, boy.”
“I think you are,” Gray replied, handing over the bottles. He put his mask back on next. If he was gonna be down here for a longer period of time, he didn’t wanna risk it. “We have some stellar banter going on, and you can’t resist my abs.”
Ryan snorted, and his eyes glinted with humor. It was nice to see, all kidding aside. The men had been through hell.
“Please take care of my man until I get back,” Gray said. “I’ve grown fond of him.”
“Wilco.”
Then Gray and Niko went deeper into the compound, jogging down the corridor leading to the back rooms. On the way, Niko explained that Reese wasn’t getting any useful information on the whereabouts of other victims. Alicia, AJ, Alfred, and the other one whose name was Friedrich, Gray learned, knew they didn’t have much leverage left. For as long as they kept the location of the victims secret, they were alive.
“Who’s this Friedrich guy?” Gray asked. “Where did he come from?”
“He was hiding in the back with another guard that Dante took care of,” Niko replied. “They kept Friedrich alive because he was quick to claim that he’s AJ’s right-hand man.”
That was interesting. Plenty of broken alliances here tonight, judging by what Willow had revealed. It’d been beyond frustrating earlier when their communications had been cut, but she’d filled in the blanks—the magnificent hero that she was. Now that the worst danger had settled, Gray kept going back to Willow. How she’d pulled off so much at once, he’d never understand.
They made it to the rooms in the back, and Gray spotted Reese out in the dark hallway, pacing and running a hand through his hair. He wasn’t wearing his mask.
Only two of the multiple rooms had viewing windows. Alicia was in one, and Alfred was in the other. Both were seated on the floor, still zip-tied, and they had thrown up more than once.
“I’m not an interrogator,” Reese said irritably. “They’re not talking, and I’m not supposed to paint the walls with their brains, so…”
Gray chewed on the corner of his lip, his gaze flicking to the room where Alfred was held. “Put AJ in there with him. According to Willow, AJ and Alicia planned all this, right? They were gonna fuck over Alfred once we were out of the picture.”
Reese nodded once. “Your idea is better than any of mine.” He headed over to one of the rooms without a window, and Gray followed far enough to get a look. It was AJ.
He turned to Niko next. “Are you up for a chat with Friedrich?”
Niko shrugged. “I’m not sure I’ll be good at it, but I can give it a try.”
“Pit him against AJ,” Gray responded. “Remind him that AJ was gonna let him die here.”
Niko nodded and then headed for Friedrich’s room.
Gray eyed the little panel next to the door to where Alfred was. Two buttons and a volume control. That had to mean there were speakers around, right…? He moved closer to the viewing window and inspected the frame, and it only took him a couple seconds to notice the built-in soundbar at the very top.
As Reese dragged AJ from one room to the next, Gray tested the buttons, and the sound followed shortly.
He heard the thump through the speaker as AJ landed on the floor across the room from his father.
When Reese came out again, Gray closed the door and asked him to just listen. Pay attention to Alfred and AJ, see what was exchanged between the two. Maybe they’d do the job for them.
“I’m gonna check in on Alicia,” he finished.
“Better you than me,” Reese said. “I just wanna end her.”
So did Gray.
He didn’t waste another second, and right now, he was even glad he wasn’t with Darius. In fact, he was relieved to be alone. He went into the room where Alicia was seated in a corner and counted his blessings. Not only was he alone with this bitch traitor, Darius wasn’t going to be able to stop him. How many times had Darius put himself in between Gray and whatever was deemed “dangerous”? Not this time.