“Absolutely.” There was no question now. I had to make sure of their safety.
“Whoever this is has to be some talented hacker. You need to drill down deep into the system for names. The firewalls and security are almost invincible.”
“Almost.” I grimaced. “He found a way in. Damien is furious.”
Marcus grinned. “No doubt he will set them straight.”
Damien glanced up. “Damn right. I’m in on this one. It’s personal.” Then he muttered something about systems and breaches, his anger evident.
Marcus put his hand on my shoulder. “Tell us the plan.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Julian
The wind blew around us, sending dry leaves and dirt tumbling around the dead grass and concrete that surrounded the old, abandoned building. Clouds obscured the moon, the night dark and foggy.
Perfect for a raid.
We blended with the dark, all dressed in black, nothing to be seen except our eyes. We were silent and stealthy. Shadows in the dark. Armed to the teeth, ready to kill anyone standing in our way of taking back what was mine.
Tally was in the back room, closest to the loading dock. They, no doubt, thought it was the easiest way to get her into the building with no one seeing her. It was also the easiest way for me to take her out of it.
Dim light glowed behind the dirty windows, not easily seen from the street, the building looking empty.
We knew it was not.
The screech of a night owl echoed in the quiet, and I waited patiently until another sounded. The guards around the building were gone. Eight taps echoed in my ear, and I knew we had eight heat sources remaining, plus Tally’s and Julianna’s in the back. I closed my eyes and prayed we’d be successful. That my shoulder and arm would cooperate and stay strong long enough for me to see this mission through. Sofia had jabbed my shoulder with a syringe filled with a mixture of pain relievers, numbing action, and whatever else she could add to give me freer motion and hopefully a steady hand when I aimed my gun if I needed it.
I gave a low whistle, indicating it was time.
We waited to hear the commotion around the front of the building that took out the guards, then we slipped inside the door in the basement, working our way up to the main floor by the loading dock. The building was cold, rank, and disgusting. It ratcheted up my anger to unchecked fury, knowing my wife and baby daughter had been trapped in here for hours, no doubt terrified and freezing.
“On the left,” a voice whispered in my ear. “All the remaining heat signals are in one place.”
I walked in, my gun already aimed, my arm steady. Matteo was with me, his gun drawn, flanking my side. I growled low in my chest at the sight before me. Tally holding Julianna, terror bleeding from her eyes. Behind her, a Zander look-alike, his gaunt frame and bleached-blond hair giving him a ghoulish skeleton look. He held a gun to my wife’s head, and images from the day Marcus and Missy took down Zander floated through my mind from the videos I had seen. It was like déjà vu, except I didn’t have Missy and her wicked knife skills to back me up. But I had something else.
His voice was cracked and high, his eyes wild as he observed us. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon. How rude to show up early.” He shook his head, looking mournful. “You could have made this easy, but now I have to kill all of you and find that coward myself.” He tsked.
Marcus strolled in the doorway on the other side of the room. “No, you don’t, asshole. Freddy, isn’t it?”
Freddy’s eyes went wide, shock and hate registering. “It’s Fredrick,” he snapped.
Marcus waved off his words. “You want me, Freddy? You come get me. Step out from hiding behind a woman and her child like the coward you are and face me.”
I caught Tally’s gaze, slowly lowering my hand. I saw understanding on her face and her barely discernible nod.
I took in the room. The other look-alikes—all too young, too stupid to be caught up in a game like this—held their guns wrong, their anxiety obvious as they surrounded Marcus. They would be easy to take out. We needed to distract Freddy so Tally would be safe.
As if he knew that, he gripped her tighter, using her as his shield.
Marcus stepped closer, making Freddy focus on him.
“How did you find me?” Marcus asked, almost casually.
“I wanted to avenge Zander. He understood what it was like to be trapped, ignored. He didn’t deserve to die like a dog in the street.”
“You’re right. He deserved worse.”
Freddy grew agitated, shifting. His grip loosening slightly on Tally. I noted it, hoping for a little more slack so she could drop to the floor.