Page 94 of Racing Dirty Trilogy Box Set

I reach Ashley and pull her into my arms. I kiss the top of her head as she wraps her arms around my waist and rests her head against my beating heart. We stand like this for a few moments before Harris interrupts our little bubble.

“Hey boss, I got something here,” he says pointing at the screen.

I release my hold on Ashley but keep her next to me.

Harris hits the play button and the images come to life on the screen.

I watch carefully as I see Izzy exit the house between Wrath and Switch.

Wrath as her hand wrapped around Izzy’s ropes, dragging her along.

Watching her manhandle Izzy is pissing me off.

It must be pissing Ashley off too because I can feel the tension radiating from her body.

They come to a black car idling in a parking spot out front and Wrath shoves Izzy hard into the back seat.

A man wearing a baseball hat, dark hoodie, and blue jeans approaches them and climbs into the back seat with her.

Someone says something, and he leans his head out the window.

Suddenly his hat flies off his head, like someone knocked it off, revealing his face.

Ashley sucks in a deep breath and her body trembles.

He pulls his head back into the window and the car speeds off.

“Follow that car,” Ashley says, trembling.

“I’m on it,” Harris reveals. He pulls up several smaller screens and we watch the car drive for a few blocks.

It pulls into a parking garage in Midtown and Harris pulls up the information on the garage.

“It’s at Park Here, Pay Here parking garage in the abandoned part of the business district in Manhattan. It’s about twenty blocks from here.”

“Yeah, but where did they go from there? Are there any cameras in there?” I ask, excited that we have a lead.

“Let me check,” he types codes into the laptop and suddenly the parking garage comes to life. He backtracks to when they pull in.

“Freeze it right there,” I rumble. Harris pauses the video when the car enters the garage and the driver grabs a ticket.

“Holy shit. What’s he doing?” Ashley asks as she stares at the screen.

“He’s keeping her safe. Let’s focus on that.

” I respond when Ashley sees her brother Austin on the screen.

His face appears pained and then we watch as he turns his head to the backseat.

He says something then drives off. We follow the car up to the top and watch as they get out.

Sean yanks Izzy out of the car and she falls to her knees.

Austin steps between them and helps Izzy up, gently.

He whispers something in her ear and she slightly nods her head while shooting daggers at Sean.

Austin gently cups her arm and leads her down the stairwell and out into the street.

We follow them on the cameras until they disappear into an abandoned warehouse.

“That’s it. That’s the end of the footage,” Harris says. “The warehouse is an old abandoned machine shop. Squatters and druggies take up residence there. That’s where they have Izzy and I’ll guarantee your boy Redline is there too.”

“Get the address. Ace, can you contact your men and tell them about the shipment coming in tonight? Will they stop the exchange while we go after Izzy?” I ask.

“On it,” Ace replies.

Xavier’s heavy footsteps stomp down the stairs with Mia in tow. “What did you find?”

“They have Izzy at an old machine shop,” I respond.

“So, why are we standing here with our thumbs up our ass, let’s go and get my girl.”

“We can’t go in half-cocked. We will go and get her, but we need to assess everything around us to keep her and us safe. X, let me do my job.” I growl. He’s going to get her and himself killed if he goes in guns blazing.

“I can’t just stand here and let something happen to her,” he pleads.

“You aren’t, and we won’t. We’re getting around and now we have a lead we’ll get shit done. You go in there in this state of mind won’t help her or anyone else.”

“But...”

“No, no fucking but’s. I’ve been doing this job for years. If you can’t trust me to get this done, then I’ll leave your ass here tied up under Mia’s watchful eye. You got it?” I roar.

“Yeah, I got it.” Xavier sulks.

“Good. Harris, get all the blueprints on the warehouse and see if you can find any live camera feeds. We need to know every entrance, exit, and obstacle inside.”

“On it boss.” Harris turns back to the laptop and types.

I shift my body so I’m watching Xavier. His eyes are burning into the side of my head and he’s pissed.

“Look, I get that you want to go in there and tear shit up. So do I. Here’s the thing, we need to access everything and everyone inside that building.

If we go in now, we will put Izzy in danger.

We can’t go in half-cocked. It must be thought out, planned, and executed to perfection.

My team has been doing this for years. Trust me to do my job. ”

Xavier doesn’t want to listen, but he has to. I don’t know how else to get my point across and make sure he doesn’t go in there without us.

“Xavier,” Ashley says gently. His body shifts from an attack stance to alert as she approaches him slowly.

“You and I need to have a chat. Come on.” She pushes him toward the staircase and he walks with her willingly.

She turns around and gives me a wink. “I’ll handle this, you stay here and keep working.

” They walk up the stairs together and disappear out of my site. Mia jumps up and follows them.

Christian, Ashton, Marks, and Ramirez are standing behind me. Each awaiting orders. It feels good to be back in control, back taking action. “Ashton, what do our weapons look like? Are we good to go?”

“Come on Christian let’s get them ready,” Ashton and Christian leave the room together.

“Got the blueprints, boss,” Harris says from the table.

I lean over his chair and take in the warehouse layout.

The main floor has three huge overhead doors on the east side of the building with two exit points.

The west side of the building has a smaller overhead door and one exit point.

The north and the south side have two exit points each.

They used the south side of the building for storage at one point.

The center of the main floor is a huge open space with skylights above.

The second level is a catwalk all around the building with several rooms used for office space.

“Here is where we’ll enter,” I say pointing to the top of the blueprints.

“We’ll climb up to the roof and go in through the maintenance entrances.

That way we can watch from the catwalk and see where they have Izzy and Redline.

We might get lucky and they’ll be in one of the rooms, but I doubt it.

I guess that they’re going to be in the center of the main floor.

We’ll be exposed trying to get to them, but that’s where Marks, Harris, and Ramirez’s skills will come into play.

You three will stay up top and pick off anyone trying to sneak up on us.

Ashton and Christian will be with me on the ground floor. ”

“What about Ace, Rush, and Xavier?” Marks speaks up.

“Ace, you and Rush good at covering the east side exit points? We’ll need to use your cars again. I’ll keep Xavier with me.”

“Works for me. Can I use any of my guys? They’ll kill me if I do this alone.”

“Yes, bring in three of your guys. The ones you trust with your life, not some flunky looking for a quick in. Have them guard the other exits and only act if necessary. Have them meet us on Madison Ave. We go in tonight while Switch and Wrath are busy with the drop. Are your other guys still set up to intercept?”

“Yes, they’re all ready to roll.”

“Great. Hey, Ace.”

“Yeah, Nolan,” Ace’s light brown eyes watch me carefully.

“Thanks for your help.”

“Any time brother,” An understanding passes between us. We might not have always been on the same side, but at this moment, we’re together and that means something.

“OK, team let’s get some rest. We’re going to have a long night ahead of us,” I check the time on the massive clock on the wall.

It’s already eight a.m. and the sun’s rising, promising a new day, casting a red fiery haze through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

I walk up the staircase in search of my girl, leaving the rest of my team to get their heads ready for tonight.

Right now, all I want is to feel Ashley’s soft curves against my body.