Page 59 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

Chapter

Forty-Six

TITUS

The SUV roared down the cracked highway, the engine growling like a beast as hungry for blood as I was.

I gripped the wheel so tightly that my knuckles ached and my leather gloves creaked. The dashboard glowed a sickly green in the dark cab, but it couldn’t hide the storm building in my eyes.

I glanced at Nathaniel as he loaded another clip with calm efficiency, a deathly quiet hovering around us.

“Breathe, brother,” Nathaniel said low. “We’re almost there.”

“I am breathing,” I growled. “Every second she’s in that place…I feel like a fucking blade is sticking in my chest.”

In the rearview mirror, headlights stretched behind us, five black SUVs filled with men loyal enough to kill without blinking followed in our wake.

But it was Bella, Daisy, Hailey, and Holly that stood at attention in the back of our vehicle.

Their faces as serious as mine, sensing the urgency of our mission.

We were heading to a rundown motel just outside the city. A place where more than one person had disappeared for good. It was the kind of place that reeked of rot and desperation. A place where no one would care about the gunfire or hear the screams as I ripped the place apart to get to Fawn.

My stomach turned as we rounded a bend in the road. Each second Fawn was in danger shaved another year off my life.

I slammed the heel of my palm against the steering wheel.

“If any of them touch her…if they lay a single finger…they will wish for mercy that I’ll never give them.” My voice cracked into a growl that was more animal than man. “I swear to God, I’ll make them choke on their teeth before I tear their fucking souls out.”

Nathaniel didn’t argue. He just loaded another weapon and tucked it into a holster out of sight. His phone vibrated, and he picked it up. I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for him to speak.

“Location has been confirmed. Room sixteen near the south end of the building,” Nathaniel said.

He didn’t tell me who he knew or how he was getting this intel, but right now, I didn’t give a fuck as long as it was accurate.

The motel rose out of the darkness like a weakly flickering beacon as we approached at breakneck speed.

The convoy behind me didn’t slow as the final mile sailed by, and I wheeled into the parking lot, sending stones flying.

The motel was all one level, so I trained the lights on room sixteen as I got out.

Marching to the back of the SUV, I opened the hatch, and the four dogs jumped down and fanned out around me.

“Room sixteen. We’re dealing with the 696 crew. No idea how many are here. Spread out, kill who you must, and take the rest as prisoners,” Nathaniel ordered.

The men blended into the darkness like lethal shadows, armed with guns, knives, and a thirst to kill. Naji and Goran jogged ahead of us, weapons out and their heads on a swivel as they put themselves in the most danger.

Gunshots rang out, followed by yelling. The flashes from the discharge were as bright as they were loud in the otherwise quiet night.

Naji signaled for me and Nathaniel to stand off to the side.

As if he knew I had no intention of doing so, Nathaniel grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the motel door.

What if we were too late? What if they were already gone and I never saw Fawn again?

I was yanked out of the terrifying thought as Naji kicked in the door. It splintered and cracked as it slammed open. We all piled through, but no one was inside.

“Fuck,” I growled.

Goran ran to the only other door and, with a heavy boot, smashed it open to reveal an empty bathroom and a tiny open window. I tossed the bed and dressers, hoping to find a clue as to where they went when Goran yelled for me.

Heart leaping into my chest, I ran into the bathroom.

He pointed at the few strands of long brown hair that had gotten caught on the window lock.

Fawn…did she escape? No one had come out of this room, and there was no way a grown man could fit through that narrow opening.

They had no way of knowing we were coming, so she had to have gone through the window on her own.

“Step out of the way,” I ordered, and Goran slipped by me and out the door. I pointed at the hair. “Find Fawn,” I said, and Hailey took the lead. Paws up on the wall, she sniffed and then raised her nose to the window and whined.

Without explaining, I bolted out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and ran around to the back of the motel. Naji and Nathaniel were right behind me. Neither of them spoke while letting me and my girls do what needed to be done.

“Find her. Find Fawn,” I ordered and was so thankful that I’d taken the time to train Hailey in search and rescue.

She sniffed around her nose pressed to the ground.

Please don’t head to the parking lot. If Hailey did it meant we were too late and they’d already grabbed her and drove off.

Within seconds, she picked up Fawn’s scent and thankful she turned toward the back of the property.

In a flash, she was off, the rest of the dogs following while I ran behind them into the scraggly wooded area.

It was darker in here, and I had to pull out a small flashlight to see where I was going.

The last thing we needed was me tripping over a rock or something else stupid.

We’d been running for over five minutes, the glow of the motel lights far behind us, when I heard a scream.

My heart was ripped from my chest. Fawn. I’d know her voice anywhere.

She seemed to be zig-zagging back and forth like she was running and changing directions based on the sound. She screamed again, and her terror filled me with adrenaline.

The dogs stayed just slow enough that I caught flashes of them through the trees as I picked up my pace.

“Hold her still, for fuck’s sake,” someone yelled.

“Get off of me,” Fawn screamed, and those four words were burned into my mind and my soul.

The dogs burst through what looked like a treeline. A bit of light shone through the darkness onto the path. I lost sight of them but kept running.

“Ah!” A man’s voice yelled.

Someone suddenly ran at me through the trees.

He didn’t see the danger in front of him because Bella was hot on his heels.

With a roar, I dropped my shoulder and slammed into the man.

He could’ve been ten pounds or three hundred for all it mattered.

I hit him like a battering ram, and he flew off the side of the narrow trail into the bushes.

All I saw was a flash of Bella’s teeth as she jumped on him.

Snarling mixed with screams and the sound of tearing flesh filled the night.

Bella was almost two hundred pounds of hard muscle.

Of all my dogs, she was by far the scariest.

Running into a small clearing, I took in the scene.

The dogs had stopped whatever they were trying to do to Fawn.

Hailey and Holly had two men on the ground, their teeth bared menacingly.

Daisy had another man by his leg and was steadily pulling him backward as he yelled and clawed at the dirt.

That was when I spotted her. Fawn was curled up on her side and covered in so much dirt that she blended in with the ground.

My heart jumped, and I wanted to run to her, but the man attempting to fight Daisy was digging around near his pocket. He was going for a gun or a knife. I ran at the piece of shit and recognized Neil just before I stepped on his hand.

He hollered in pain as I twisted my boot on his fingers. Neil’s terrified eyes looked up at me. In that moment, he knew…he was a dead man.

“Please, don’t kill me. This wasn’t my fault. I was trying to stop them, I swear. Please believe me.”

I didn’t believe him, and even if I did…I was still going to kill him. But I was going to do it later when I had time to savor the moment.

“Daisy, ryadom ,” I said.

Neil relaxed. Idiot. Bringing my fist down in the middle of his face, I broke his nose and knocked him out cold.

“Naji?”

“Yes, boss?”

“Take him. I want him in The Triangle with anyone else left alive,” I ordered as Nathaniel and more of our men burst onto the scene.

With the threats secure, I turned my attention to Fawn. My Little Bird was still huddled on the ground, her eyes closed tight, her hands covering her ears as she shook.

I dropped down onto my knees beside her, but didn’t dare touch her.

“Fawn? It’s me, Titus.”

Her eyes fluttered open and locked on mine.

“Titus,” she breathed, voice barely a whisper.

That was all it took for me to pull her into my arms. She clung to my neck, trembling and breath stuttering as she broke into a sob.

“I’ve got you,” I choked, holding her so tight I could feel her heartbeat against my chest. “You’re safe now. You’re safe. I swear it. He’ll never touch you again.”

Fawn buried her face into the side of my neck as she continued to cry, the sound breaking something inside of me. I’d almost lost her. She was almost taken from me.

“I prayed you’d find me, but I thought…I thought I’d never see you again,” she said.

“No,” I whispered fiercely. “I will always come for you. I’ll burn this world down before I let anyone take you from me.”

I glanced up at Nathaniel and couldn’t thank him enough for pulling whatever strings he had to get the information to find Fawn. I’d forever be in his debt.

Fawn pulled back and touched her forehead to mine.

My hands shook as I cradled her bruised face.

Even in the dark, I could see the purple marks and dried blood.

Every drop was another nail in all of their coffins.

I didn’t give a fuck who was here. If they were still alive, then they would be tortured and die by my hand.

“Did they…did they…” I tried to get the words out, but they were clogged in my throat.

She shook her head. “No, I ran, covered myself in mud and hid. But then they found me and…it doesn’t matter, you made it before they could hurt me anymore.”

“Only because you were smart enough to escape and run. It gave us more time.” I kissed her lips softly. “I love you,” I said.

“I love you, too. Thank you for coming for me,” she said.

“Always,” I said as the dogs surrounded us and began poking at Fawn and licking any bare skin they could find.

“Hi, girls. I’m happy to see you, too. Homemade biscuits for all of you,” Fawn said, smiling as the dogs pressed closer, practically pushing me out of the way. “Oh God…Sheba. Please tell me she’s alive. She tried to protect me.”

Fawn’s face instantly turned terrified all over again, but for a totally different reason. She gripped my shirt as if willing me to tell her what she wanted to hear.

“Dr. Taylor took her into surgery, and as far as I know, she’s still in there. I haven’t heard anything different, but she’s a fighter, so I’m hopeful that she’s going to pull through,” I said, and Fawn immediately pushed herself up to her feet.

“Then we need to go. We have to be there when Sheba wakes up. What about Winston? Is he okay?”

“I didn’t see Winston. I don’t know.” Fawn’s face darkened. “Fawn, you were just through something horrible, we should get you home,” I said, standing.

But Fawn rolled out her shoulders and shook her head.

“No, Sheba can’t wake up in the clinic all alone without us. She needs us, and I have to find Winston,” Fawn said firmly, and I could tell there was no changing her mind. The corner of my mouth turned up.

I really wanted to take Fawn to the hospital to be checked out so I could bring her home and wrap her up in my arms. Locking us away from the world for the rest of our lives seemed like a good plan to me, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“Okay, we’ll go to the clinic,” I said, giving in against my better judgment.

Fawn grabbed my hand and linked our fingers together. My heart started beating again for the first time since Matt called to say she’d been taken.

I would get to the bottom of this because my gut told me there was more going on, and whoever was behind this was going to feel my wrath.