Dirty Dealers

What appears to be the broken blade of a knife reflects the light back at me, hurting my eyes. I take a step forward, my heart beating faster.

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“What is this?” I whisper, going to what appears to be a wooden desk against the far wall.

I’m breathing fast as I approach. A sheet of white paper is pinned to the grey wood by a jagged Bowie knife. Around the sharp tip is brownish stain, and a tiny square is trapped against it.

“No…” The word is out of my mouth before I even make sense of the ink on the paper. “Freddie…” The words die on my lips as my mind decodes what I’m seeing, the writing on the paper.

Stop wasting my time. The clock is ticking, and either I get my money or you get body parts. I’ll send you the drop location, and remember, I make good on my promises. –B.

My heart is lodged in my throat. Leaning forward, I try to calm my breathing. All I can think of is Kass.

“What’s happening?” Freddie shouts in my ear. “Logan! Talk to me—what’s going on? Are you down?”

“She didn’t even know.” My voice is practically feral. “He hurt her and she didn’t even know why.”

My body is shaking, and I have to rein in my fury against the king, against Freddie, against all of them, before I do something I’ll regret.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Freddie orders. As if he has the right.

“I let you do this to her. I let you hurt her…” Pain twists my insides. “She can’t even fucking see!”

Staggering back, my leg hits the metal card table. Turning, I grip it by the sides and hurl it with all my strength against the wall. I hear it collapse in a heap on the wet floor. My phone is on the desk, the light still shining on that fucking knife stained with her blood. My head feels like it’s splitting in two. The black is taking over my vision. I’m raging and hopeless, one thought ringing clear in my mind: I’ve got to find her.

“Logan, talk to me.” Freddie is in my ear, and I reach up to claw the earpiece away, but just as my hand reaches it, he stops me. “Send me a picture of the letter.”

My stomach tightens at the request. “It has her blood on it…”

“Logan, think like a guard. We have to see it. We need to analyze it.”

Rage burns red in my chest, but I go to the table. I push my wet hair out of my eyes and lift my phone to snap the photo.

“Sass,” I whisper, reaching forward to pull the knife out.

I slip the weapon in my boot, replacing the smaller knife currently there. I put the letter and the tiny chip in my pocket, vowing with each step I will break every bone in his body.

I’m just about to leave, back to tracking, when a strange sound makes me pause…

Strength

Kass

I vaguely recall Taz jerking me up from the floor and carrying me to the van. Without care or ceremony, he throws me inside on the rubber-mat floor and slams the door. I close my eyes and beg for unconsciousness. My insides are flayed. Cameron… I can’t even help him or retrieve his body.

A few moments pass and the door opens again. Ava stumbles as if she’s being pushed into the vehicle as well. She crawls quickly to where I’m lying and puts my head in her lap.

“Kass… are you okay?” Her voice trembles and I hear her tears. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

She touches the wound on my forehead, which I’m sure is clotted and bruised. From there, she moves to my side.

“Your pants are soaked with blood.” She tries to move my side, but I whimper and pull away from the pain. “I’m sorry!” she cries.

Two doors slam and the engine starts. We’re pulling away from the windmill, leaving my little brother behind. I curl forward as my insides collapse.

He’s in there alone… He needs me… We can’t leave him here… I don’t even know where here is…

“Can you talk to me?” Ava whispers, smoothing my hair away from my face. “Did they shoot you?”