Page 48 of Like An Animal

THE GHOST

“ G o,” Massimo pushes firmly as Tobias and Alex stand beside him, slowly backing up toward the front door of the mansion.

My pulse pounds so hard in my ears I can barely breathe.

“What?” Massimo turns to me and takes my face in his hands, his eyes full of panic.

“Go. Remember where I told you to run to. Once you’re safe, call Jeremy for backup. We’ll hold them off.” He pulls out his gun as Tobias and Alex do the same.

“What about you?”

I don’t think my heart could take it if something happened to him while I was hidden away.

“Don’t worry about anyone but yourself, sokrovishche. Go now!”

My brain says for me to run, but my heart begs me to stay. I know what the smart thing is, though. It just hurts to do it.

Turning on my heels, I run inside to see a woman dusting and she looks confused.

“Hide!” I demand before following the directions Massimo gave me.

I dart to the first hall I come to before running down to the last room.

It’s a massive bedroom made up exactly like mine and Jeremy’s room at the compound.

Massimo said the panic room was in the closet.

Closet.

I run for the double door that must lead to the closet but I just see a wall of clothes. What? Massimo said it was in here.

I push the clothes to the side and see a metal door hidden behind them. I let out a relieved breath before I hear the sound of a gunshot. I search for the keypad and find it behind a bunch of suits.

I put in my birthday and the door opens on its own, swinging into the room. I slip under the clothes before finding myself in a small room with fiberglass floors and walls. I quickly close the door and make sure the locking mechanism engages before pulling out Massimo’s phone from my pocket.

The next thing he told me to do was to call Jeremy.

I find his contact and click the call button before putting it to my ear.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” I whisper to myself hurriedly.

“What’s the update, Max?” My husband answers and I sigh.

“Jer.”

He’s silent for a moment before he seems to understand why I would be calling him from Massimo’s phone.

“Baby, what’s going on?”

Tears fall down my face as I try to remain calm. Getting hysterical right now won’t help anyone.

“Dimitri betrayed us. He called The Fathers and they’re here. Max sent me into the panic room. Him, Tobias, and Alex are trying to hold them off.”

“God-fucking-dammit!” Jeremy curses. “Where’s Charlotte?”

“She’s at the house with Silva. I only brought three people with me. I didn’t think I would need any more than that. I’m so sorry, Jer. I knew he was up to something, but I didn’t think it was this .”

“This isn’t your fault, Bron. This is on him.” Then he grunts through the phone before saying, “Xavi, put out a red alert. Send everyone to…where are you at?”

“Your house, but I don’t know how long they can hold them off anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter if they hold them off. As long as you stay in the panic room, they can’t get to you. Even if they blew up the house, they wouldn’t be able to get in and you would be safe. Whatever you do, don’t open those doors. We’re coming, baby.”

I nod even though he can’t see me.

“Hang on tight, Bron. I’ll break every speed limit to get to you,” Xavi’s voice comes through the phone.

“What about Max? He’s out there!”

“Max will be fine, little ghost. Back up is ten minutes out. I know you’re scared and I wish I could fix that, but I need you to trust me here. My grandfather won’t let anything happen to Max because Nikolai Aronin would destroy him if anything happened to his son.”

Even Jeremy doesn’t understand. There is no controlling The Fathers. Dimitri might think he has the upper hand over us, but he won’t be able to stop them if Massimo stands in their way.

And he will.

That’s the problem.

“What I need you to do is go to the desk next to the door and fire up the computer. That will give you access to the security cameras all over the property.” I struggle to stay on my feet as I move over to the desk. I collapse in the chair as I follow his instruction.

“I’m doing it.” In a few seconds, the screen lights up with a dozen camera feeds. Most show nothing but the surroundings. However, one catches the shootout.

Massimo and Tobias take cover behind the pillars near the front door, but I see Alex injured on the ground, barely moving.

“Okay. I see it. Max is good and so is Tobias. Alex is down, but he’s not dead.”

“Good. Now count how many of Dimitri’s guards and how many of The Father’s mercenaries are there?” My eyes race across the screen as I count.

“Fifteen guards… twenty-two of The Father’s men. The guards aren’t fighting and neither is Dimitri. They’re just taking cover behind the cars.”

Jeremy groans. “That’s because he’s acting as a delivery boy. How many of The Father’s people are down?”

“Seven and…three seem to be wounded.”

I know why he’s having me count. It’s not because he needs any information. It’s to calm my anxiety and it’s working…until…

A bullet slams into Massimo’s shoulder and he falls to the ground.

“Max!” I scream as tears pour down my face.

“What happened!”

“It’s Max. He’s been shot!”

“Is he just wounded or dead?”

More tears fill my eyes as a sob falls from my lips. “Come on, Max. Get up!” Then, Massimo uses one arm to push himself up and a loud breath leaves me. “He’s okay, but he’s injured. It doesn’t look like he can use one of his arms.”

“Good, good. Now, take a deep breath. It will be over soon.”

I keep my eyes glued to the screen, hoping that having a visual will help me not spiral, but then everything goes wrong.

Bullets keep flying and one zooms by and hits Tobias in the neck. He falls to the ground clutching his throat, choking on his own blood.

My heart twists.

“Tobias is down and dying. He was shot in the neck. Max is alone now.”

“They’re five minutes out. Breathe.”

A lot can happen in five minutes. Five minutes can be the difference between life and death. Five minutes alone with seven opponents is a guaranteed defeat.

“Is there no one closer? He’s all alone, dammit!” More tears fill my eyes as Massimo refills his clip, but before he can lock it in place, a bullet is shot at him…specifically at his hands. It pierces both of them and he drops his gun.

“No, no, no. No, no!”

“What the fuck is happening!” Xavi yells through the phone as they charge for Massimo, pinning his body to the ground. He tries to fight them off but it's futile. One starts kicking him as the others force his hands behind his back, binding them.

“Leave him alone!” I scream, even though I know no one can hear me except Jer and Xavi.

“Focus, Bron! Is Max okay?”

“No,” I whimper. “They got him. He can’t fight.”

My heart aches as they pull him to his feet and one of the men in all black, including their masks, pushes him through the front door.

I change the camera to follow them. I can tell Massimo is yelling and trying to stop them from forcing him to go where they want him to but there’s too many of them. There’s seven of them, not including Dimitri trailing behind, and only one of Massimo.

“They’re taking him into the house and down the hall.”

I keep switching the cameras to follow them, but they head straight for the bedroom the panic room is attached to.

“They’re on the other side of the door.”

I switch to the camera above the closet doors and one of them walks right over to the closet, yanking out all the clothes blocking the door.

A small gasp falls from my lips. “They knew where the panic room was. How? I know Max didn’t tell them,” I ask, hoping Jeremy might have an answer.

“Because Dimitri was involved in the build. He knew where it was.”

One of the men kicks the back of Massimo’s legs, forcing him to his knees. Seeing him in this light shows how badly his shoulder is bleeding and how bad the bruises are on his face.

“He’s in bad shape, Jer,” I say as fresh tears flood my tear ducts.

“They’re only a few minutes away, baby. He’ll be fine. Just breathe.”

One of the men walks up to the panic room door and presses the button on the wall above the keypad.

“Mary Elizabeth, I know you’re in there. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” Isaac’s sickening voice fills the room.

“Do you recognize the voice?” Jeremy asks.

“It’s Isaac. If I don’t go out there right now, he’s going to kill Max.”

“Don’t think about it. He’ll be fine. Help will be there soon,” Jeremy’s smooth voice comes through the phone.

“I can’t just let him die, Jeremy! You don’t know Isaac but I do. If it was anyone else, maybe he would be okay, but Isaac is sadistic. If I hadn’t made the deal I did when I did, he was going to have your brains splattered all over Xavi’s face!”

Isaac is vindictive.

I’m the only one that can save Massimo’s life.

“Mary Elizabeth, you know I’m not a patient man. I’ll tell you what. If you come out in the next thirty seconds, I won’t put a bullet in this tool’s heart.” Isaac holds up a gun with a silencer screwed on the end to accentuate his point.

“Don’t you dare fucking do it, sokrovishche!” Massimo yells which earns him a punch across the face from one of the masked men. “You gave me your word so don’t you dare open that door!” Another one punches him in the stomach and the pain across his face is impossible to ignore.

“Max.” A sob falls from my lips before I say, “He told me about the tracker you put on me. I’m going to need you to start following it as soon as the call drops.”

“Baby, just wait a minute?—“

“Max doesn’t have a fucking minute!” I take a breath to calm myself before speaking calmly.

“Listen, they are going to take me. The compound is states away so if you’re fast enough, you’ll be able to catch up before they reach it.

The compound will block any signal once I enter it.

Make sure that location stays pinged if you don’t catch up in time. ”

“Don’t do this. Please.”