Carter Reed (Carter Reed 1)
Carter stared at him. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t blink. His eyes were blank. They were ice-cold blue.
Gene hurried over. The taller, older man stopped and glanced around. He stroked his jaw. “That was the first hit.”
“I’m aware.” Carter glared at him. He threw the man to one of their guards and crossed to kick at one of the unconscious men. When he was rewarded with a moan, he hauled the guy up and threw him against a wall. “Who leaked her location?”
“We can interrogate them at the warehouse.”
“No!”
“Carter.” Gene stepped forward, placing a hand on his associate’s tense shoulders. “We will do this. Go to your woman. Make sure she’s okay.”
Carter knew he was right. Gene was always right. It was annoying. However, while he would normally ignore the unwanted advice, he listened this time. He remembered Emma’s face and how pale she had gone when she was lifted into the car.
He reached down, wound his arms around the struggling man, and snapped his neck. As he stood, Gene stepped back and asked him, “Did that make you feel better?”
“No.” He glanced up, an impassive mask over his face. “We leave for Chicago tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?”
Carter didn’t answer.
Gene sighed, “There’s another issue.”
Carter snapped his gaze to his friend. His jaw clenched as he waited.
“The boyfriend went back.”
Carter’s shoulders grew even more rigid. “Tell me he went for money.”
“There was no money with him. They’re getting him hooked. They can control him better that way, if they still need him.”
A savage curse came out, but Carter couldn’t do anything about that. He repeated instead, “We go to Chicago tomorrow.”
Gene never questioned him again.
“And call Noah. I don’t want her going to New York. It’s not safe.”
Two of his other men had pulled up on motorcycles. He gestured for one to step off, and he climbed on. He turned the bike around and went home.
The car sped into the basement, and Mike carried me through a door. It opened to the gym, and we kept going until we were in the kitchen. After he sat me down in the middle of the room, he swept it. Four more men followed and they went in opposite directions. They were checking the perimeter.
I couldn’t form a thought, much less a decision, so I stayed and swayed on my feet.
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
I glanced around the kitchen and croaked out, “Clear in here.”
Someone laughed somewhere in the building, but all seemed quiet as they filtered down to the kitchen area. Nope, only three of them did. Two were missing.
Mike said, “They took point outside your elevator.”