“She’s fine.” Nigel shakes his head, his attention on his phone. “She’s almost to the boutique.”
“It’s not that. It’s—” I see the blow coming out of the corner of my eye and lunge forward, shoving my cousin out of the way. The baton takes me in the shoulder instead of him in the head. Pain flares, intense enough to leave me woozy. “Get Tink.”
Nigel curses. “Are you fucking with me?”
There’s only one attacker, and their mask tells me this is a diversion. “Tink. Now, Nigel. I got this.” If he thinks I’m distracted, Peter will move on Tink. He’ll hurt her. “Go!”
“Goddamn it, Hook. I’m sending Colin’s team this way.”
The baton comes whistling at my head again, and I have no breath to argue. He’s obeying, and that’s enough. I barely dodge the blow this time and kick out, aiming for the masked man’s knees. A crunch as my boot makes contact, and he goes down. I step forward and kick the baton from his hands and then lean down to yank off the mask.
I don’t recognize him, but the guy is more kid than man. If he’s eighteen, I’ll be surprised as hell. Peter always liked to surround himself with teenagers. They look at him like he’s a god, and it feeds his ego something fierce. “Who the hell are you?”
“John.” He grins suddenly. “Gotcha.”
“What the hell?”
This blow, I don’t see coming. It knocks me off my feet, and I land hard on the ground, asphalt grinding against my face. I’m still trying to relearn how to breathe when a boot catches me on my injured shoulder, the force of the kick knocking me onto my back.
I already know who I’ll see before the bastard leans over me, a satisfied smirk on his face. Brown hair, blue eyes. A face that might be trustworthy if a person didn’t know better. I know better.
“Fancy seeing you here, Hook.”
“Fuck off, Peter.”
“Hook and I are long overdue for a conversation.” He motions to the men who appear at the mouth of a nearby alley. “Get him up. Let’s go.”
Chapter 27
Tink
I know something’s wrong the second Nigel appears at my side. I don’t get a single word out before he’s hauling me down a side street, his grip firm but not hurting my arm. He barely checks his stride so I can keep up with his longer legs. “There was an attack.”
“What?” I look around, but the handful of people on the street are very pointedly not paying attention to us. “What are you talking about?” Understanding dawns, and I almost trip over my feet. “Is he okay?”
“Hook can handle some asshole with a baton.” Nigel doesn’t look convinced, though. He glances at me. “He sent me to make sure it wasn’t a diversion so they could go after you.”
I look around. Peter doesn’t burst out of anywhere. “It wasn’t a trap for me. It was a trap for him.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” He types on his phone while barely looking at it. “We have backup closing in. Both teams shadowing you will be here.”
“And the third?”
“I sent them to Hook as soon as he sent me to you.” Nigel’s jaw goes tight. “They aren’t checking in.”
I thought I was afraid before. It’s nothing to the feeling that washes over me when we arrive at the spot where Nigel says he left Hook, only to find a spatter of blood and nothing else. I speak through numb lips. “Where is he, Nigel?”
“Fuck.” He drops his hand and stares at the blood as if he can divine Hook’s direction if he just concentrates hard enough. “Fuck.”
The truth crashes over me hard enough to make me stagger.
This wasn’t about me. It may have started that way, but Peter is too savvy to blow his chance to take out the true threat—Hook. “Where is he, Nigel?” I repeat, louder this time. “Where the hell is he? Where is the team?”
“If I knew where Peter was, we wouldn’t be in this fucking mess to start with.” He turns away from me, typing furiously on his phone. No doubt trying to find the missing team. My gaze lands on the blood again. Peter took Hook. If he got the drop on him, he could have killed Hook, but he took him.
He’ll have gone back to his secret base, back to the spot where he feels safest. My breath stills in my lungs. “I know where he is.”
Nigel stops typing and gives me his full attention. “How the hell do you know where he is?”
“I … I don’t know if I know where he is. But I know where his new woman is.” I found her once before, after all. She didn’t want to be saved, and I got a black eye for my efforts, but it was more than worth it if I can keep Hook alive. “Peter won’t be far from her. He won’t want to let her out of his sight longer than necessary.” That I know for truth. For four years, my survival depended on anticipating his every whim and need and desire, on watching him closely to judge his mood and course-correct as needed to ensure I stayed ahead of it. I never once thought I’d be grateful for that knowledge.