Chapter21
Steal a car? What kind of psycho woke up in the morning and thought, yep, this is the perfect time to steal a car?
He said to hurry so I didn't shower, but I did use my finger to scrub my teeth so I would at least feel semi refreshed. Then I washed my face.
Since Borya had already been kissing me this morning and all night, I would kill for some mouthwash.
Er, considering who he was, I probably shouldn't event think thoughts like that anymore.
The motel door clicked shut and I frowned. It wasn't like Borya would leave without me. He'd made that abundantly clear, but he wasn't above rushing me. "Hold on!" I shouted as I wiped down my face and ran out of the bathroom.
Except the room was empty. Had he decided to get the car without me?
I turned in a circle, studying the motel room. It was a mess from all our activities, but we hadn't actually brought a lot of stuff inside, mainly because neither of us brought any luggage. Except Borya's phone was still on the dresser, along with his bag he’d brought in during the night. He wouldn't have left without his phone, would he?
No. And he for sure wouldn't have left me without at least saying goodbye.
Especially not after last night.
Borya wouldn't want me doing anything stupid. And he specifically wouldn't want me to run. So, I sat and patiently waited for a whole five minutes before I picked up the phone. It was an old flip style, telling me he didn't use it for more than making calls. Stupid mafia bullshit.
There were two calls he made this morning about an hour before we woke up, so I called the last one.
“Are you on your way back?”
It took me a moment to place the voice.
“Alek?” This was a good sign. Maybe his brother knew where he was. “It’s Becks.”
“What’s wrong?” he barked through the phone, causing my back to straighten and my nerves to ramp up even more. I had really been hoping he’d give me some instant reassurance.
Though, I technically hadn’t asked him a question yet. “Umm…. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, Borya was gone. He mentioned something about going out to get a car, but he didn’t say he was going anywhere. And his phone and all his stuff is here. I probably shouldn’t be worried but—”
“When did you last see him?”
That sure as hell wasn’t the reassurance I was hoping for. “Maybe ten minutes ago.”
“Hold on.” I waited a few minutes while there was silence on the other end. I would’ve given anything for that annoying music to play on the phone just so I would know I hadn’t gotten disconnected or anything, but there was just continuous, frustrating silence.
But even if this was a flip phone, the call would cut off if we were disconnected. That’s what I kept telling myself over and over again. My foot tapped out a nervous rhythm on the aged carpet as I glanced out of the motel window for any sign of Borya.
“He’s not getting a car,” confirmed Alek.
“What? How do you know that?”
“Because when he was unconscious, I had a tracker put in him.”
“You, what?” Yeah, I couldn’t even pretend to be surprised at that anymore. That was the least insane thing these brothers had done so far.
“After he threatened Daisy, he’s lucky I didn’t break his legs to keep a better eye on him. A tracker was the less excessive of my options. And he’s probably grateful for it now. He wouldn’t leave you voluntarily.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Rebecca, I just talked to him this morning about you. You’re his woman, for better or worse. And when we fall for someone, we fall hard. I know it’s not easy, and you have to deal with all the baggage that comes with us, but you can also depend on us to never leave without saying a word. There’s no reason the dot on the screen I’m staring at would be moving away from you unless your life was being threatened. Understand?”
No. I didn’t understand at all. But I did believe him. “What are we going to do about this?”
“The most important thing is getting you somewhere safe. That’s what Borya would want. I’ll send men after him right now.”
“Send men after him? We’re all the way across the state. You’re hours away. At least I’m closer. Give me an idea of where they are, and I can get a head start.”
He laughed, legit laughed, at me on the other end of the phone. “Borya would never forgive me if you got hurt.”
“If Borya dies, it really won’t matter, will it?”
“Daisy will be alive, and she matters.”
I groaned until I remembered something else. “There was another number that called before Borya called you.” It was a blocked number, but he didn’t need to know that. “What do you want to bet it was someone in the Black Thorn reaching out to Borya? I bet they’d be willing to tell me where he is.”
“Don’t be stupid, Becks.”
“No, you don’t be stupid. I’m here. I’m closer. Don’t let your brother die because you were too stubborn to trust me. I know Daisy has told you about me. I don’t sit on the sidelines and wait for things to be taken care of. He was tortured and brainwashed by those people, and he managed to resist all to save you. Now they have him again. I’m not going to sit back and hope you can get to him in time when I know I’m closer. This is my hometown. I know the area and the types of people. I’m not exactly helpless here, so don’t write me off.”
“If you get hurt, hell is going to rain down on me.”
“I’m going to do this either way. The only question is if you make it easier or harder.”
“Fuck it. You and the bastard are meant for each other.”
Alek agreed to send me updated locations on Borya every five minutes. I was under strict instructions to try to get close enough to see if he was okay, but to do nothing. The phone could receive texts but didn’t have a GPS. However, the fancy ass car that I “borrowed” from Alek did have a nice GPS system built into the dash.
There was backup on the way, and they were trained soldiers. If little old me went in defenseless and alone, I was more likely to get us both killed than to save him, which was frustrating but true.
I entered in the first location that Alek sent me and started in that direction. By now the twenty-minute head start was thirty minutes, but they were driving away from Miami, which made me following them even more important.
I’d been letting Borya drag me around ever since he first found me on the street. But things were about to change. This time I was going to be the one taking charge, and this time Black Thorn was going to have to get used to playing on my territory.