Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
I scan rows, corners, blind spots.
“Where’s Thom?” I bark when two guards jog over.
“Sir, he’s on Level A,” one says. “He and Jareth are in the lobby.”
“Did either of you watch the freight elevator?”
They glance at each other.
“We didn’t have word he was moving her that way.”
“You didn’t need word,” I snap. “You needed eyes.”
Yuri’s phone buzzes. He opens the file and expands it on his screen so I can see. The parking-cam feed shows Marcus at the glass door with Mari at his side. His hand is light on her elbow. He looks like he’s walking her to a car. He glances once toward the booth. The guard isn’t there. He swipes a card and walks her through to the staff bay. The next camera shows a black SUV idling near a freight elevator. They vanish through the door. Two minutes later, another SUV leaves Level C. No plate on the frame.
“Who was in the booth?” I ask the nearest guard.
He swallows. “Reece was there, but he—”
“Where’s Reece now?” I snap.
“On break,” he answers, his face going pale.
I stare at him until he looks away.
“Who was supposed to cover his break?” I ask, taking a deep breath.
“I don’t know.”
I step closer, my anger boiling to the surface. “I have given this team one very important job for the last few weeks,” I say, nearly growling. “You are supposed to have eyes on Mari at all times.”
“Sir, for all we know, she’s upstairs in his office safe and sound.”
He stops when he sees my hand move.
I don’t raise my voice. I don’t need to. “Say that again.”
He tries to square up like he’s brave. He isn’t.
“She could be with him upstairs—”
I put a round through his thigh before he can finish. The blast kicks off the concrete, bright and hot. He goes down hard, hands flying to his leg, sound tearing out of him. Blood spreads under him in a quick slick.
The other guards jump back, eyes wide, hands up. The driver flinches. I keep the gun at my side.
“Anyone else think I’m overreacting?”
No one speaks. Finally, they show some sense.
“Someone get Thom and Jareth down here now,” I say, sliding my gun back into its holster.
Yuri is already on his phone, voice low and clipped. He rattles off addresses, plates, names.
“Townhome. Office. The Petrov boutique. The Newark yard. Hit them all,” he says. “Street teams rotate cars. No marked units. If you see him, you don’t chase alone. Don’t be a hero. You call it, you hold the door.”
He ends one call and makes another. I hear him tell Legal to lock Marcus’s credentials and freeze every account he can touch. He calls IT and has them kill Marcus’s device tokens. He calls the garage manager to hold every exit. Then he grabs my shoulder and shoves me hard enough to move me a step.
“Back in the car,” he orders. “Now.”
“I’m not done,” I say.
“You can’t shoot all of your people,” he says, voice flat. “Save rounds for someone who deserves them.” He jerks his head at the driver. “Get him in the car.”
The driver hovers, waiting for permission that isn’t his to ask. I force myself to breathe. The guard on the ground sobs quietly through his teeth. Blood keeps pooling, but he’ll live.
I climb into the SUV, slamming the door behind me. The driver takes off, and I look over at Yuri, who’s sitting opposite me.
He speaks without looking up. “I’ve got teams to Marcus’s townhome.”
“He won’t be there,” I say. “He’s not that stupid. I don’t know how long he’s been planning this, but it’s definitely long enough to cover his bases.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Yuri answers calmly. “They’re going anyway. Sometimes the stupid thing pays.”
I stare out the window at the tunnel lights flicking by. I count them, because if I don’t concentrate on something, I’ll rip the door off. I force the voice in my head to shut up. It says I should’ve answered her first text in one minute, not ten. It says I should’ve held the board meeting at the office instead of at the Chairman’s restaurant. It says every choice was the wrong one.
“Call his wife,” I say. “Even if she doesn’t know anything, she could be leverage.”
“Daniella left him in the spring,” Yuri reminds me. “You knew that. She nearly took everything. At least, it looked like she did, but she probably didn’t know about his little side business. Anyway, she got the place in Maine and has been there ever since.”
“What about his friends?” I ask. “His neighbors? There has to be someone we can get to.”
“We’re his friends,” he answers darkly. “We were his friends,” he quickly amends.
I can’t concentrate on the thousand ways Marcus has betrayed us. The only thing that matters now is getting Mari back. Every other feeling is going to have to wait until I know she’s safe.