Page 21 of Caught in the Crossfire

Max’s gray eyes appraised me. “I’ll lift you up? And you grab the jammer?”

“Yeah.” The camera wasn’t too far away from the cell bars, but even with Max carrying me, I still wasn’t positive that I could reach it. We’d just have to try. “How’s your arm?”

“It was just dislocated,” he responded, avoiding my gaze. “I popped it back into place when you were passed out.”

I paused. “That would have hurt.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been through worse. Come on. Let’s get this over with. When they come back, we should fight back to distract them.”

Dread pitted in my stomach, but we had to take this risk.

I had to get back to my men.

That thought fueled me as I let Max lift me onto his back. I repeated it over and over as I shimmied my way onto his shoulders. And I tried to ignore that my arch-enemy’s head was currently between my legs as I reached through the bars.

“Hurry,” Max urged.

“Too weak to hold me up, Max?” I said through clenched teethas I reached toward the camera. The red light flashed, and I was positive the Albanians were watching. “You need to hit the gym more.”

Max’s hands squeezed my thighs. “You know very well that’s not true. Hurry before they see you messing with thecamera.”

I glanced down, eyebrow raised. He raised both his eyebrows in some sort of message.

“Yeah…I’ve gotta get thiscameradown.”

I stretched as far as possible, and my fingers wrapped around the jammer’s antenna. With a hiss, I yanked on them. The first stick broke off easily. “Shit.”

I slid the antenna into my bra and then reached again. This time I got my hand around the box. It detached from the wall with a gentle pull. “Got it.”

Max slid my body down his, anchoring his hands around my waist to spin me away from the camera and lower me to the floor at the same time. I flinched at the pain of his grip on my ribs, but I knew he wasn’t trying to hurt me.

“Break it, and give it to me,” he murmured. We still didn’t know about the audio, and we couldn’t take any chances.

I yanked the rest of the antenna out and handed him the pieces. He shoved them in his pockets, then grabbed the box and ripped off the back panel before plucking out a bunch of wires.

My heart swelled with hope. I prayed Ciel would get a signal now. And I prayed that they’d find me before Buzz Cut broke me.

Footsteps echoed outside. Max and I locked eyes. The door to our room screeched open just as he was sliding the box into his other pocket.

“I thought you’d learned your lesson last time. Looks like we need to be more clear.”

That voice would haunt my nightmares.

8

CASPIAN

She had to be alive.

There was no other fucking alternative.

It had been almost two days since Ciel had woken us all up with the worst news I’d ever received in my entire life.Nothingcompared to the realization that she was taken, and we had no idea where she was.

But there was a flame of hope blazing inside my chest.

We’d get her back.

The four of us had been turning over every brick in the city. We would search every corner of the fucking world, whatever it took to bring her back.