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Cruz and I took our hands off each other and turned on him, nostrils flaring with rage burning between us.
“Every minute counts.We’vegot to find San!”
“I can’t fuckin’ believe you let someone take her!” I barked.
Cruz cracked his neck, his voice a menacing growl when he spoke.“How long was she alone?”
“She works on campus.She’sbeen alone most of the day. But I’ve been texting her own and off all day.”
“How can you be sure it was her you were texting?” Cruz asked.
“And more importantly,” I added. “Do you have any idea how longshe’sbeen gone? Was it all day? Midday? What?” I shouted.
“It’sbeen less than an hour now. I saw…” His eyes widened and his color paled.
Cruz grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “You saw what, motherfucker?!”
“When I got the note, I went looking for her. Her car is still on campus grounds – her personal items are still in her office.I made security show me the cameras. She’s there. I saw them take her.”
“Fuck!”I tightened my fist and worked overtime not to swing at him again.
Cruz paced like a caged animal, and while wedidn’twant to fight amongst each other, Storm had put us in a position to take his head off his shoulders.
Cruz stopped suddenly and turned back to Storm.“Whydidn’tyou tell us your access keycard was missing?”
“Ididn’trealize it was left at the scene. I thoughtI’dfind it later but became restless because something felt off. I knewI’dfucked up somewhere, andthat’swhat’sbeen keeping me up at night.”
My nostrils flared.“Why the fuck would you bring your keycard to a hit, Storm?You’resmarter than that!”
“I’dplanned to swing by the school later that night, and I meant to leave the card in the truck, but Imust’vekept it on my person because when I searched for it, Icouldn’tfind it.”
“Santari is your main priority.You’veknown all this time that your keycard was missing.You’veknown something was off, yet youdidn’tkeep your eyes on her when she needed you most, and for that, I should snap yourfuckin’neck.”
“Titan—”
“You had one job, motherfucker,”I continued, ignoringCruz’scaution.“Andthat’sto protect her at all costs!”My next words came out in a snarl.“Instead, you let your mistake walk right in and take her.”
Storm’s head dropped. “I know.”
“You know?”Cruz laughed, the sound echoing ominously from his throat.“Oh, he knows, Titan. That makes it all better.”
I gritted my teeth as my mind cycled through scenarios. This was the worst possible thing that could happen. Santari was atthe mercy of whoever this fucker was, and her words from the previous day’s came back to haunt me.
“You can’t protectme from everyone.”
My gut tightened,my shoulders tensed, and a knot formed in my throat. What if they beat her, tortured her, raped her? Bile rose in my throat as her face filled my thoughts. I blinked and her face changed to her brother’s – Rev. Blood spilled from his gut as he grunted and took his last breath. Every muscle in me clenched and my jaw locked. Santari was right. I couldn’t shield Rev. And I couldn’t keep her safe. He was gone, and so was she – by the hands of our enemies. How could I call myself her protector when I had failed to….
“Titan!”
I blinked and cut my eyes at Cruz and Storm, staring at me with dark, narrowed eyes.
“Youdidn’thear me calling you, nigga? We need your head in the game. Snap out of it now!”
My footsteps took me across the room to a community computer station.
I tapped along the keys, entering the dark web, where I could break the rules and gain access to theuniversity'ssecurity system.
The security feed loaded, and multiple screens appeared from different angles of the university grounds.