Page 84

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kai

We all stand around the conference table, with the blueprints of the building sprawled in front of us as Brennan assigns us our roles. “Kai—you and Case will take the lead. We need you to find what level they are on. Laughn, Creed, and Chester—you will rappel from the top of the building and enter through the windows. Boston and Davis—you both will go in the back door and make sure no one escapes through the stairwell. Trace and I will take the front. Marlow—you and Jimmie will work from the van. You will be our eyes and ears.”

“What about me?” Jolie asks, and we all whip our heads in her direction. What does she fucking mean?!

“What about you?” Boston throws back.

“I’m coming,” she demands.

“No,” Chester states firmly as we all watch on. We wait for him to cross the line, and for one of us to have to step in.

“Try and stop me, but I will just follow you. These are my children too. I’m coming.”

Chester takes three large steps and looks down at her, his eyes full of fiery anger. He should know by now that his size doesn’t intimidate her, nor does his attempt at subduing her.

“I will lock you up right next to that cunt I call a mother. Do. Not. Try me, Jolie,” he spits. It might be sick, but I love watching these two argue. It’s like foreplay and totally the wrong time to have a fucking semi.

“Do that, and we are done,” she snaps, glaring at him, daring him to keep arguing with her.

He takes a step back as if she punched him in the heart. She points a finger at his chest.

“You. Do. Not. Get to tell me I can’t help save my children, not you.” She turns her attention to everyone else. “Or any of you. Do you understand me?” I nod my head at her, knowing we really have no choice.

Brennan sighs. “Fine, but we need you to stay in the van with Marlow. You have to understand, it’s not that we don’t want you with us. It’s just...”

“Fuck, spit it out already. It’s that if shit goes down, we will save you... it’s always going to be fucking you. So, if you get in the way, it’s your own damn fault we will prioritise you over them,” Chester booms, holding nothing back.

Exasperated, she grits her teeth and nods. “Let’s go.”

The entire drive, I’m a wreck, and my knee bobs up and down at an alarming speed. Creed cuts me a glare and Jolie places her hand on my leg, which helps calm my damn nerves. I know they want me to look through the building, but only once since she’s been back have I been able to use my ability. I haven’t exactly had time to practise.

Creed, Laughn, and Chester are all dressed in black, and as soon as the car stops, they fling backpacks over their shoulders and race around the side of the building. Everyone leaves and moves to their spots, radioing in when they’re in position. Including me and Case, and we run across the street so I can get a good view of the entire building. I stare blankly and nothing happens.

“What do you see?” Marlow asks through the small earpiece.

“I can’t fucking see anything,” I snap. “I can’t do it.”

I don’t know what they expect from me. Case can see forms in the dark, similar to infrared, but that isn’t helpful now, as the sun is only starting to set.

“You can do it. I believe in you,” Jolie encourages. “Just focus and think back to when we were kids. You said it would work then.”

Doing just that, I picture the first time I figured out what my ability was. I was only a few years old, and it was with an older lady, which freaked me the fuck out. Closing my eyes, I even my breathing. Her words of encouragement ground and centre me, and when I open my eyes, a small gasp leaves my lips in astonishment that it worked. It finally worked—I can see it! Scanning up and down the building, I try not to miss anything.

“I fucking did it! Seventh floor, four or five people. It doesn’t look like there is any movement anywhere else.”

“Could you see the babies?” she asks hopefully.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t get a long enough look,” I reply.

“Chester, are you in position?” Marlow asks, now that he has confirmation of where the people are in the building. Case motions he is going around the back. I stand and wait, keeping my eyes open and making sure the guys coming down the building get in safely.

“Dropping now, see you all on the flip side. Love you, Little Angel.”

Looking up, I see three black figures rappel down the side of the building, and Chester uses something to shatter the window. Once they’re inside, I move into the building to catch up to everyone.

Knowing they would have taken the stairs, I follow the signs for the lift. The moment I find it, I push the button at least ten times as if that will hurry the damn thing up. It finally opens and I step inside, the doors sliding closed behind me. I push the button for the seventh floor. If anyone tries to escape this way, at least I’m ready. I grip the hilt of my knife and slide it out of my pocket. Chester always tells me I’m an idiot for bringing a knife to a gunfight, but I highly doubt these rich pricks carry weapons. They have too much money to be afraid.

The lift stops on the seventh floor, and the doors slide open. Boston has his gun aimed in my direction and lowers it when he realises it’s just me.

“Miss me?” I ask, tilting my lips up in a smirk, and he shakes his head.

I gaze around the room quickly, and my eyes snag on Brennan. He has four men and one woman lying face down on the floor with their hands on their heads.

“All clear back here,” Trace says, coming out from a door to my left.

“All clear over here too,” Davis announces.

Creed pulls plastic from the pocket of his black cargo pants and uses cable ties to secure everyone’s hands together.

“What is this about?” one of the men asks.

“You already know the answer to that,” Chester barks, pushing the man down further with his foot. “We want our fucking children back, and I’m going to start shooting body parts off until someone tells me something useful. I think I might start with you, beautiful.”

“Hot damn, I’m so telling Jolie you called another woman beautiful,” I call out, loving that I have something over him.

He turns, eyes deadly and glare feral, as he whips his gun in my direction and fires off a shot towards my feet. I jump and look down, checking they are still attached.

“What the fuck was that?” Marlow demands over our coms. “You’re fucking wasting time. Bring them down so we can get some answers. We don’t need dead bodies in the building. Jimmie is looping the security cameras, so you have five minutes to get your asses down here.”

Trace, Laughn, Creed, Chester, and Brennan each reach down and lift someone to their feet and guide them downstairs. Marlow tells us he has moved the van down to the basement to load up our passengers.

Once we reach the foyer, we take the stairs down to the basement. The van door slides open, and Jolie jumps out, fear and hope warring on her face as she races towards us.

“Did you find the babies? Please tell me you found them.”

Brennan shakes his head, and a sob rips from her lips that breaks my heart and has me holding back tears. Trace pushes the woman towards Boston, and he takes Jolie into his arms and guides her over to his car. I jump into the van while the five people are loaded in like sardines, and Chester squeezes his large body in and slams the door closed.

Brennan knocks on the driver’s side window, and Marlow rolls it down. “We will meet you at Olympia.”

Marlow nods and rolls the window back up.

The drive back is uneventful, especially with Chester holding a gun in their general direction. They know better than to plead for their lives, especially with the fury radiating off Chester.

As soon as we arrive at Olympia, we usher them towards the basement—a place set up just for this kind of thing. I’m sure there have been many torture sessions down here, if the lack in décor is anything to go by. The rooms are tiled in plain white and have drains on the floor, perfect for washing away the blood. I wouldn’t know the first thing about clean-up. We have teams for that, thank fuck. Their job is to make sure there is no trace of blood or bodily fluids left at the end of the day. I wonder how much you had to fuck up to get that job.

All the businessmen and woman are led straight into interrogation rooms, but I notice Chester has taken the low-grade criminal into the fun room.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Case asks me.

“To watch Chester fuck that guy up, that’s the fun room,” I reply, pointing in the direction Chester went. I’m not exactly sure why he cares. “Maybe make sure Jolie doesn’t come in for a while.”

Case agrees, and I watch as he walks into the room that runs behind the interrogation ones. Each room is fitted with two-way glass, and Jolie and Davis will be sitting in there to watch this shitshow go down.

I move across the hall and push the door open, letting myself in. Chester doesn’t even look my way. He has cut the kid free, and the poor guy squares up to Chester as if he has a chance against the beast. I lean against the wall and watch as Chester lets him get a hit in and smirks.

“You made a huge mistake. You upset my girl.”

“Oh no! I upset your little girlfriend. I’m so sad... Who gives a fuck?” The kid has one massive set of balls to talk back to him that way.

“I do!” Chester roars. “What you fail to get is I would kill someone just for making her food wrong. Now, we all know you had a hand in our children being taken.”

“Your children,” he spits. “That dark-haired bitch who’s old enough to be my moth—” He doesn’t get a chance to say anything else. Chester’s fist flies out and connects with his temple, and the kid stumbles back, landing on his ass. Oh shit, that had to have hurt. This is getting good. I have to give it to the kid, he has fire in him, especially to get back up and keep going.

Chester’s balled up hand goes straight into the man’s face, and the sound of crunching as bones break is music to my ears. “Tell me where my fucking babies are!” he roars.

The man laughs and spits blood in Chester’s direction. “You’re all fucking idiots if you think anyone knows anything. Why would he tell us shit that could lead you to him?”

Businessmen and criminals respond in different ways. Businessmen talk money, criminals prefer violence.

I push off from my spot on the wall. “But you know something,” I say, eyeing the prick. He looks in my direction, startled that someone else is in the room.

“I don’t know anything,” he throws back. “I just told your friend he didn’t tell us shit.”

“He didn’t tell you, but you’re a smart man. He didn’t take you seriously, did he? Probably sprouting crap about the kids, and how they are more intelligent now as babies than you. You know why they picked you, right?”

“Because I’m the best.”

“Unfortunately not. If he wanted the best, that would be Marlow, or even Jimmie, but they couldn’t be bought. Which made me wonder. Why not bribe any one of the hundreds of other people within Olympia who have exceptional computer skills or whatever skills it is you claim to have?”

“Why me then, since you’re so smart?”

“Because for whatever reason, he is still following the Olympia code of conduct. Which means if he were to use someone from within Olympia, he couldn’t easily dispose of them. You see, we all have tracking devices. Remove someone’s, and our systems are notified.”

“He was going to kill me?” he asks, and I nod.

“Yep. The other men, he needs them. They have money and connections in the right fields, but you have nothing to offer him long-term. You’re replaceable once he has money in his pocket, and believe me, those babies are special. He will hire someone trained to protect them. But you can walk out of here alive today by telling me what you know.”

“And how do I know you’re not just saying that, and once I talk, you’ll kill me?”

I shrug. “You don’t, but we have a drug that can erase a little of your memory, so you won’t remember being here at all. I don’t take you for a snitch, but this is literally down to your life or his.”

“Can you get rid of the ape, and then I will talk?”

I look at Chester, and he nods, completely surprising me. I expected a bigger fight from him. “Send Davis in.” He just nods at me again.

I gesture for the kid to take a seat when Davis walks in, and we both sit opposite him. “Okay, so I don’t know much—he only hired me a few weeks ago. I didn’t have to do much, just set up some security here and there. He moved the lady a couple of times, and then we would have to set up all over again. He made me make some signal blockers, which I thought was weird, but he said what he was doing was top secret. I didn’t care honestly, as long as he paid me upfront, and the cash was good. He barely spoke to me, but told me his wife had recently given birth and the babies were coming home soon. Which again I thought was weird since she had never left the house. I mean, wouldn’t a mother want to visit their baby? But with what he paid me, it wasn’t my business. The last time we had to leave quickly, it started as a regular day, but he got a visit from a lady—she looked rich, the fancy housewife type.” I snort, that’s one way to explain Elizabeth. “He told us he had to leave, but to pack up and be ready when he got back. That he had to go get his children as they were in danger from the weapons his dead brother created. That he needed to move one last time.

“We were dropped off near the outer city. He told the woman he was taking the babies somewhere safe where no one would ever find them. He also told the men he would be in contact with us soon for his part of the plan, then you guys showed up. I don’t think he planned to go far because the woman with him said the babies were hungry. His reply was, ‘They can wait ten minutes,’ if that helps at all.”

“Stay with him,” I tell Davis, and I push my chair back to go update the others.

I walk out into the dimly lit hall and move across to where Brennan is. I knock on the door and motion for him to come outside.

“Did your guy talk?” I ask, and he shakes his head.

“They claim he hasn’t asked them to do anything yet, but we know they’re lying. We are just trying to figure out a way to convince them.”

“No need. They won’t know where he is now. We already have an idea of why he needs them, but our little criminal, while not knowing much, told me a lot.”

“I’m listening.”

“He said when they were dropped at the building, Melinda mentioned the babies being hungry and Ziyon said that they could wait ten minutes. So, he is within a ten-minute radius of the city, which makes sense if they were going to be working out of that building. I don’t know why he was staying so close, but nothing he or Mr Z have done ever makes any fucking sense.”

“Let’s lock these guys up for a bit then,” Brennan announces. “We don’t want to erase their memories yet or have them make calls if we let them go. I will gather everyone and then take Jolie home. We will all meet there, go over everything, and narrow down anywhere he could have taken Melinda and the babies. I will get Marlow and Jimmie on it right away.”

Jolie steps out into the hall.

“We have a lead, but we are going home to make a plan of attack and you will need to pump again soon,” I explain to her.

She nods at me and doesn’t put up a fight like I was expecting. Jolie is pulling away, and it breaks my heart to see her like this. But she doesn’t need to worry—none of us will give up, no matter what. We will keep hunting him down until we find him, or he kills us all.