“Tristan, please,” I said one last time as Drake forced me to the mattress. Tears streamed down my face as he shoved me forward and began using the knife to cut through my pants. I was vaguely aware of Drake speaking, so I knew that he was once again taping us, but I didn’t want to hear the words he was saying to Memphis in the video. Instead I focused on Tristan’s soft voice as he sang and that was all I heard.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Memphis
“Clear.”
I clenched my hand on the grip of my gun when I heard the voice crackle through the COM in my ear. The small communication device had been a blessing and I knew I had the man next to me to thank. Between the COMs, the extra manpower and a cache of weapons fit for a small army, Dom Barretti had come through in a big way.
“Clear.”
The first call had come from one of Dom’s men but this last one was Hawke. I knew he had at least one more guy to take out and there were at least two more that Mav or the bald-headed tank named Jagger would take care of. Once the perimeter had been cleared, Ronan, Dom, myself and Dom’s brother-in-law, Cade, would be able to take out the handful of men lingering near the side entrance of the abandoned church.
“Clear,” I heard Mav whisper. Which meant he was likely in view of his next target.
Two more men…two more and then I’d be able to get through that door and get to my men…and rip Drake’s fucking black heart from his body.
I’d known as soon as I’d seen the colored lights in the picture where Drake had taken Tristan, Brennan and Tanner. The church had been the one my parents and sister had attended every Sunday without fail and was located just a few miles from their home where they’d been murdered. The church had been abandoned in recent years after lightening had caused a fire that had damaged a significant part of the building.
“Clear.”
One more.
I pressed the side of the gun against my forehead as the agony of not knowing what was happening to my men and that little boy went through me. It had taken nearly two hours to get to the place Drake had chosen for our final standoff – and I knew that was exactly what it was since he hadn’t gone through great pains to hide himself away. He’d deliberately picked a place he’d known I would eventually think to search and from the firepower he had waiting for us, he’d known I wouldn’t be foolish enough to come alone. Ronan, Dom and I had run into Hawke in the lobby of the hotel as we’d been leaving and we’d met up with Dom’s men and Mav at a small deserted gas station a mile from the church. It had taken just minutes to come up with a plan of attack. There’d been more of Drake’s men than we’d anticipated which was proof that not only did Drake have no intention of walking away from this, he was clearly going to take as many of us with him as he could.
The minutes passed by like hours and when my phone buzzed to indicate a new text message, I was torn whether to check it or not. I hadn’t gotten any more texts after the one with the picture, but I instinctively knew it was Drake texting me again. I could feel tears threatening as an image of Janie’s video loomed in my mind. I willed my men to hang on as I closed my eyes and waited for that last call over the COMs.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I rose, but Ronan grabbed my arm and yanked me down.
“It’s taking too long!” I whispered.
“If we go too soon, the last guy could warn Drake,” Ronan hissed. “The only thing we have going for us is the element of surprise.”
I knew what he was saying made sense, but the unease in me grew. I knew, just knew, what that text was.
“Ronan-” I said when another fifteen seconds went by and nothing.
“Clear.”
With that, I was off like a shot. I rounded the burned out car we’d been using for cover and took out the man standing closest to the side entrance of the church. My silencer muffled the sound as the man crumpled to the ground. I barely registered more muffled shots going off around me as I ran to the door. Not one gunshot rang out so I knew Ronan, Dom and Cade had taken out all the remaining men. I had no idea if there were more men inside, but I didn’t care.
I’d been to the church often enough to know that most of the stained glass windows had been in the main part of the small building. There was no way Drake was holding my men in that part though, because I knew the walls weren’t plain, bare cement. There was only one room that fit the description and also had a stained glass window – it was a room that had been used for storage because I remembered helping my mother move some donated items for the needy into it.