Page 7 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Six

Levi

My boots echo against the concrete as I pace the length of the basement. Each step matches the thundering of my heart, the rage that pulses beneath my skin. The dim overhead light casts long shadows, turning the empty space into a cage that barely contains the monster I can feel surfacing.

I flex my fingers, feeling the sting of split skin, the ache of bruised bone. How many faces have I destroyed in the past few days? I've lost count. Each one blends into the next—just vessels of information I needed to crack open.

"You're wearing a path in the floor." Colt's voice drifts down the stairs.

I don't bother responding. My mind is a black void, consumed by images of Sunny. Sunny bleeding. Sunny screaming. Sunny alone with that bastard who's haunted us both.

"The guard will be here in twenty." Zane this time, his tone careful. Like he's approaching a rabid animal. Maybe he is.

I roll my shoulders, feeling the familiar weight of the anticipation of violence settling over me like a second skin. "Good."

"We need him coherent enough to talk."

A bitter laugh escapes my throat. "He'll talk."

My reflection catches in a broken piece of mirror propped against the wall. I barely recognize myself anymore. The boy who loved Sunny died the night I left her. What's left now is something dark. A man carved out of the guilt and rage I live with every day.

"Whatever it takes," I mutter to my reflection. "Whatever it fucking takes."

Twenty minutes later, the basement door creaks open again. Wolf's heavy footsteps descend. He pauses when he sees my face.

"Boss." His voice is gruff. "You sure you should handle this one?"

I raise my eyes, meeting his concerned gaze. "You think I can't?"

"I know you can . I was asking if you should ."

"I'm exactly what we need." The darkness in my mind spreads, consuming everything but the singular purpose of finding her. "I'm the one thing he should fear the most."

Because that's what I've become—everyone's worst nightmare. The monster under the bed. The shadow in the dark. My father would be proud, if he weren't rotting in the shallow grave I buried him in.

My knuckles crack as I clench my fists. The pain grounds me, gives shape and form to everything I'm feeling. I can use this. Channel it. Break this guard into pieces until he gives us what we need.

"Set up the chair," I order, voice hollow.

Because when I start, I won't stop. Not until I have answers. Until I know where she is. Until I can tear Garrett apart with my bare hands. I told him once that I would slit his throat if he touched her again. I intend on fulfilling that promise.

I am my father's son after all. The very thing I swore I'd never become. But for Sunny? For her, there's nothing I won't become, nothing I won't do if it means I get her back.

The wait stretches, pulling my nerves tight. Each second she's missing is another failure, another betrayal. The guilt feeds the rage, and the rage feeds the monster, and the monster...

The monster's all I have right now.

The door above opens. Multiple sets of boots on the stairs. They got him.

"Clear the room." Colt's voice carries the authority I can't muster right now. Our men file out, leaving just the inner circle.

They drag in the security guard from New Dawn. Young guy, looks barely old enough to drink. Already sporting a split lip and black eye. It's a good start.

"Where do you want him?" Z asks, voice flat. Clinical.

I gesture to the chair bolted to the floor. "Tie him."

While they secure him, I cross to the workbench. The irony hits as I grab the case Z found when we first moved in. These tools belonged to my father once. It’s his monogram that’s engraved on the leather.

"Please," the guard whimpers. "I just work security. I don't know anything."

"Everyone knows something." I select a pair of pliers. They feel so right in my hand. "The question is how much pain you're willing to endure before sharing."

Z moves to the corner, arms crossed. Watching? Judging? No, assessing. Making sure I don't go too far before we get what we need.

"Tell me about the basement." I drag another chair over, metal legs scraping concrete and take a seat beside him. "The real one. Not the one in the blueprints."

His eyes widen. "I—I don't..."

The pliers snap shut on his pinky and twist. He screams as the bone snaps out of place.

"Wrong answer." I lean in close. "Let's try again. The basement. Where they keep the girls. Where is it?"

I have to give the guy credit for his loyalty. He managed to keep his secrets through all ten fingers and the loss of five teeth. The left canine was his breaking point.

"There's... there's a sub-level." He pants through the pain and blood. "Elevator... behind the supply closet on the first floor. Keycard access."

"How many guards?"

"Four... four per shift. Armed."

I twist the pliers and pull. Another scream, another tooth gone. "And Garrett? When was the last time you saw him?"

"Yesterday!" Tears stream down his face. "He... he came through with a girl. Blonde. Real pretty. She was unconscious."

My vision goes red. The pliers clatter to the floor as I grab his throat. "Where did he take her?"

"Levi." Z's voice cuts through the rage. "We need him breathing."

I release my grip. The guard gasps, sucking in mouthfuls of air.

Blood drips from my fingers and the tool in my hand, pattering against the concrete. One drop. Two. Three. How much more will I spill before I find her? Cities could drown in the stuff and it wouldn't matter. Nothing matters except getting her back.

"There's... there's a private wing." His words tumble out. "Basement level. Only Coleman has access. Please... that's all I know."

I step back, hands trembling. Not from fear or regret. From the need to hurt. To destroy. To tear apart everyone between me and her.

"Z." My voice sounds foreign to my own ears. "Get what else you need. I need air."

I take the stairs two at a time, leaving the guard's screams behind. They blend with the ones in my head. Sunny's screams. Past and present colliding until I can't tell which wounds are fresh and which are scars.

Once upstairs, I collapse on the couch in the living room. I press my fingers to my temples, trying to keep myself anchored to the here and now. To find some semblance of control again. But all I can see is her face. All I can hear is her voice.

The screams from below get louder. Z must be working now. Good. Let him get the details. The security rotations. The access codes. Everything we need to tear New Dawn apart.

I'll be ready. And this time, Garrett won't walk away.

This time, I'll finish what I should have seven years ago.

Zane

I wipe my hands on the rag, but the blood refuses to come off. My knuckles ache. The metallic scent clings to my clothes, a reminder of what we've become in our desperation to find Sunny.

Levi's head snaps up from his place on the couch when I finally make my way up from the basement. His eyes are wild with a mix of hope and dread. Colt lounges against the wall, deceptively casual, but I catch the tension in his shoulders.

"She's not there anymore." The words taste bitter. "Garrett moved her yesterday morning. Early. Before sunrise."

Levi's fist connects with the wall. "Fuck!"

"The guard gave up everything else though." I sink into a chair, my body heavy with exhaustion. "Three other locations, all with the same setup. Underground rooms, private quarters for that piece of shit."

"And Sunny?" Colt's voice carries an edge I rarely hear.

"He said she wasn't in good shape when Garrett took her out." My jaw clenches, remembering the guard's description. Asshole had smiled while telling me that part. His smile didn't last long.

"What did you do with him?" Levi asks, though his tone tells me he already knows.

"He won't be talking to anyone else." I meet his gaze. "Chase and Ty are handling disposal."

Colt pushes off the wall, pulling out his phone. "We need to move fast. If we hit all three locations—"

"He'll know we're coming," I cut in. "The guard mentioned they rotate staff between facilities every other day and switch shifts. The minute we show up at one, word will get back to him."

"Then we do it simultaneously," Levi suggests, pacing like a caged animal. "Split up, hit them all at once."

I shake my head. "Too risky. We don't have the manpower to hit them all sufficiently. We'd have to make choices, sacrifices. It would be a guess as to which one he has her at, if any. And if we guess wrong or go in undermanned..."

The unspoken truth hangs heavy in the air. If we guess wrong, Garrett will have time to move her again. Or worse.

"What about surveillance?" Colt suggests. "We could watch all three, track movements."

"That could take days—weeks," Levi growls. "She might not have that time."

An image of Sunny standing in the kitchen wearing one of my shirts flashes through my mind—her small smile, her laugh. The thought of her back in Garrett's hands for possibly weeks makes my stomach turn.

"We need more intel," I say finally. "Someone higher up than a security guard. Someone who knows Garrett's movements."

"The hospital connection," Colt snaps his fingers. "New Dawn has to have someone coordinating with the medical staff."

"Start there," I agree. "But we need to be smart about this. No more beating down doors and terrorizing street dealers." I look pointedly at Levi.

Levi's jaw works, but he nods. The rage still burns in his eyes, but there's something else there now—fear. The same fear that's been eating at me since she disappeared.

"Wolf's running backgrounds on the hospital staff," I continue. "We focus on anyone with financial ties to New Dawn or unusual deposits. Find the weak links."

"And then?" Colt asks.

I stand, my muscles protesting. "Then we make them talk. But this time, we do it clean. No mess, no bodies, nothing that could get back to Garrett."

"Time's running out," Levi says quietly.

"I know." I head for the door, needing to breathe air that doesn't smell like blood and death. "But we do this right, or we might as well give up now."