Page 89 of Racing Dirty Trilogy Box Set

Nolan

Ashley shifts gears and weaves again, passing people left and right. Headlights directly behind us, tell me Ace and Ashton are right on our tail as we fly through the streets of Manhattan.

“Nolan, are you with me?” Ashley asks.

“Yes,” I answer with a raised brow.

“There’s something you’re not telling me. You’ve left out some details back at Ace’s house. Now it’s just the two of us and your chance to come out with it.” She sneaks a glance in my direction and smirks. My face must have shown my thoughts. “Thought so.”

“I overheard Marcus, Switch, and Wrath when they assumed I was unconscious. Wrath was yelling at them, begging them not to use someone named Sherwood as bait. She acted like she honestly cared for whoever it is.” Ashley swallows hard and I realize she’s hiding something. “Ashley, what is it?”

“I don’t know how to explain this, but I’m just going to rip the band-aid off. Brace yourself because you’re going to be pissed.” She takes a deep breath and continues. “Sherwood is her ten-year-old son.”

The world falls away at my feet. My stomach is churning and I’m going to be sick. “What?” I whisper. “She has a son?”

“I just found out and haven’t had time to tell you.

That little boy you’ve been chasing around the city is Wrath’s son.

” Ashley rests her palm on my thigh and gives it a gentle squeeze.

Images of the little boy with similar brown eyes and light brown hair flash in my mind.

His little hand reaching for me after being dragged away by Wrath’s sister.

He was trying to get my attention and I ignored his pleas.

Breathing deeply, I control my mind and push it down.

“Nolan are you all right?” Ashley quietly asks.

“I’m good,” I answer, clearing my head. “I’ll deal with that later. Right now, I want to get Xavier back and find out where they took Izzy.”

“Good because we’re a few minutes away and I need you at one hundred percent,” Ashley says.

I cover my hand with hers and give it a gentle squeeze.

We’re in this together, no matter what happens, the two of us will get through this and come out on the other side.

I must believe that, or all of this is for nothing.

Ashley steers the car to a curb right in front of the apartment building where it all started.

I fight to keep the rage and hate tamped down looking at the place.

Memories of a past I don’t want to remember flip through my mind.

I get out of the car and stare up at the building.

My eyes narrow on a single window I remember exceptionally well crawling out of many times.

The fire escape is rusted, and the black paint is peeling withstanding the weather.

Ashley stands next to me, shoulder to shoulder.

She’s ready to do whatever is necessary inside this building with me, by my side.

Ashton gets out of the car and stands next to my other side, he’s ready to go.

Ace stands next to him and Rush is next to Ashley.

Shadows move from the side of the building and approach us quickly.

Marks, Ramirez, Harris, and Christian come into the light flickering down from the street lamp.

They’re all here with me, too. A sense of belonging rushes my body and a weight is lifted off my shoulders.

My team is back together and I’m proud of the way they stayed by my side even though I’ve pushed them away.

“Boss,” Harris speaks, breaking me out of my moment. “You ready?”

“I’m ready. This is what we do. No matter what happens inside this building, you get Xavier out.

I will not guarantee I won’t lose my head, but I need you all to promise me you’ll put his safety first and get him out.

Then we’ll scour this city for Izzy. I won’t stop until she’s back and neither should any of you.

Same with Redline, he’s missing too. If we can get them all back in one piece, safely, I’ll consider it a job well done. ”

We’re ready, we’re a team and we’re going in.

Marks, Harris, and Ramirez draw their guns and lead the way up the concrete step toward the building, followed by Rush and Ace, then Ashley and me.

Bringing up the rear is Ashton and Christian.

We quietly make our way inside, moving like a well-trained machine.

Each of our movements is coordinated with each other and no one makes a sound.

No heavy breathing or clomping footsteps.

Once we’re inside the building, we walk down a long, dirty hallway toward the rickety old elevator.

We bypass the elevator and opt for the stairwell.

It’s going to be a long trek to the apartment, but we can handle it.

Several minutes later we reach the point of no return. Standing outside the door that’ll lead us to Xavier, we all check our weapons, making sure they’re ready and I give Harris a slight nod.

“Ok, listen up,” Harris whispers. “There’s a camera outside this door, pointing right at us as soon as we step into the hallway. If they have anyone set up around the apartment, it will alert them. We need to go in fast and fiercely. Everyone ready?”

“Oh, I’m ready. Let’s do this.” I respond.

My heart is beating hard in my chest and adrenaline floods my body.

I close my eyes and steady my breathing, calming my heart rate down.

I must maintain control before we go in.

Opening my eyes, everyone is watching me, waiting to see which side of me emerges.

I’ve tamped the beast down and sealed it off.

I’m in control, not the other way around.

I narrow my eyes on the door and give the go ahead.

“On the count of three,” Marks quietly says. He holds up a hand, “One.” He rests one hand on the door, ready to push it open. “Two,” he makes eye contact with each of us. “Three.” He shoves the heavy metal door open.

We rush down the dirty hallway fast and low, guns drawn, fingers on the trigger ready to take anyone down.

No one comes out of the other apartment doors.

We reach the door of my teenage years and I try the knob.

It’s not locked and swings open with an eerie screech.

Harris turns on the light switch and fills the room with a soft glow.

Memories of my mother getting high and doped up flow into my mind as I stare into the small living room. The many backhands and punches I took growing up, trying to get her to stop. The many boyfriends or dealers, it’s all too much and I bend over, gagging and coughing.

Ashley’s gentle hands rest on my back and her soft voice breaks through the dreadful memories. “Nolan, I’m here, stay with me. You’re safe. You’re not a teenager anymore. She can’t hurt you again. You’re strong, independent and don’t need her approval, her fucked up ways. I’ve got you, we all do.”

Standing up tall, I take another look around.

Christian and Ashton have Xavier uncuffed from the radiator and are helping him up.

He’s worn down, and beaten, and his bright blue eyes are dull.

He’s feeling helpless and I need to push him past this.

I walk toward him, my best friend, my brother.

Xavier watches me approach and swallows hard.

“They took her, Nolan. We have to get her back,” he pleads.

“We will. I won’t stop until Izzy is back with us and safe,” I reassure.

“Xavier, I’m sorry they dragged you into the middle of my mess.

Now you’re hurt and Izzy’s missing.” My voice cracks on the last part and I push my emotions down deeply.

I need to focus, not get caught up in the pity party.

There’ll be time for that later. Staring at Xavier I ask him the hardest question I don’t want an answer to, but I need to know. “Did anyone hurt her or you?”

He shakes his head as Christian hands him water from the refrigerator.

He takes a long drink and answers. “Just knocked us around and starved me. They fed Izzy occasionally. Anytime that fuckhead, Switch, had a hair up his ass, a tall man with short blonde hair stopped him. There was one time he told Switch he’d fucking kill him if he laid an inappropriate hand on her.

I don’t know who he was, but he saved her quite a few times. ” Tears are falling down Xavier’s face.

“Does he look like this?” Ashley asks, holding out her phone.

Xavier takes it with trembling hands and stares at the picture.

His eyes flash to hers and his bottom lip quivers as he nods his head.

Ashley breaks eye contact and takes her phone back.

I get a glimpse of the picture on her phone.

It’s a selfie she took of her and Austin.

“That’s why he’s here. He must have caught word from Diablo about what’s happening and came here to protect them. ”

“Who is it?” Xavier asks.

“My brother I thought was dead. I’ll explain later. Right now, we need to get out of here and find Izzy. If he isn’t with her, there’s no telling what they’ll do to her.” Ashley says.

The rest of my team is searching the apartment and Marks comes back with a notepad in his hands.

“Boss, I found this. You’re going to want to read it.

” He hands me the notebook and I open it up.

Inside are details of each operation Switch, Marcus, and Wrath have going on.

Names, numbers, and addresses. There’s one that stands out to me and I close the notebook.

“Come on, I know what they’re doing and where they took Izzy. We’ve got to hurry though. According to this, a shipment of guns are coming into The Graveyard on Staten Island tonight.”

“Are you sure?” Ace asks. “That place isn’t ideal for a large ship. Any coming in will sink. It’s too shallow to maneuver a vessel that big.”

“Not if you have a small boat and know the path. When I was in their gang, we did many drops there.” I respond.

“What are we waiting for? Come on let’s go,” Christian speaks up.