His Hostage

“Fuck!” a man shouts and I realize it’s Joe, one of Monte’s sidekicks. He’s got his hands in Jules’s dresser and they’re full of her panties.

A blanket of red falls down over my eyes and I’m on him, beating him with the butt of my gun.

“Where the fuck is she?” I shout, wailing on him.

Track is behind me watching my back and letting me take this piece of shit to the floor.

I hear a crack and his face is bleeding everywhere as he holds up his hand. “He’s got her, she’s gone,” he manages to say between the beatings.

“Who?” I ask, stopping to catch my breath.

“Monte, who the fuck else? She came here a while ago looking for some necklace or some shit. We were ready to grab her if she was stupid enough to come back.”

At his admission I start hitting him again. Nobody talks about my girl that way.

“I can help you.” He tries to talk and I stop for a second to let him finish. “I can get her back for you. I know how to get in there. I know where to find her.” When he doesn’t keep talking I raise my gun again. “Wait, wait, wait. Monte told me to stay here in case you showed up to get her. He wants his money in exchange for the girl. That’s it.”

“So you decided to go through her underwear drawer while you waited?” Track asks, and I see red again.

“What the fuck does it matter? She’s just some dumb pussy that—”

I don’t let him finish his sentence as I turn my gun around and put a bullet in his shoulder. He cries out and I shoot him again in the knee as I stand up.

“We need to get out of here,” Track says. “Jonas said he got a shots fired on the police scanner. We don’t have much time.”

I go over to her closet and see a small pink box in the corner. I open it up and inside I see a roll of cash, some documents and small necklace with a flower on it.

“I’m ready,” I say, tucking the box under my arm and I walk by Joe again.

He reaches out and grabs my leg and I kick him in the ribs to get him to let go. He’s moaning and bleeding on the floor but he’ll live. He may not be able to hold a gun again or walk without a cane, but by the time he’s out I’m sure Monte’s men will have dealt with him properly so he can’t snitch to the police.

“I guess it’s a good thing we took the window,” Track says, pointing to the front door.

The whole thing is wired with alarms, no doubt to alert Monte if someone came in. I nod as we go to the window and climb down the rope. When we reach the bottom there’s a car waiting for us with Jonas in the driver’s seat. Track gets in the front while I crawl in the back by myself.

“Where to, boys?” he asks with a bright smile on his face.

“The warehouse,” I answer, setting the small pink box on the seat beside me.

Chapter Thirteen

Jules

“I know you’re awake,” I hear Monte say before he takes a long pull of his cigarette.

From the moment I came to over five minutes ago, all I’ve wanted to do is go back to sleep. I just want to go back to the time before I made the biggest mistake of my life—a mistake that’s going to cost me everything. It’s going to hurt more than I ever thought possible because now I know what all I’m losing.

I open my eyes. Maybe I can try and get myself out of here since I have a knack for giving people the slip. But I always get caught, so I guess it doesn’t matter how good I am at getting away.

I keep my mind on my breathing as Cooper’s words play on a loop in my head. Breathe in and out, one breath at a time. It’s easier said than done, but Cooper isn’t here and that’s probably why. He fills my lungs so easily and reassures me that it’s all going to be okay.

It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but I can tell we are back at the warehouse in the same room where they counted all the money in front of me. Monte is sitting in a chair and his cigarette hangs from his mouth as he plays with his phone. His eyes lock with mine and I’m thankful no one else is around.

“Done playing possum?” He lifts one thick gray eyebrow at me and I realize he doesn’t look as mad as I thought he would. In fact, he’s completely laid back right now. Before he hit me in the side of the head with his gun he didn’t looked pissed. He was completely calm and it’s creepy and unpredictable. Warren is unpredictable, too, and that’s where my fear stems from.