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THIRTY

B ryce slowly opened his eyes. His whole body ached. He lay on a cold slab of cement and slowly pushed his way to sitting, waiting for the room to right itself. This whole getting-knocked-out thing was getting old.

“It’s about time. Are you okay?” Jason Woods sat against a pole in the middle of the room. Bryce looked around. The spider webs in the corners, the dank air, the tiny transom window at ground level…they were definitely in some kind of basement. Good thing Penny wasn’t here.

“I’d be better if people would stop knocking me upside the head.” He felt the back of his head. A big bump was there, a scab where he must’ve bled. “How long was I out? And how did you get here?”

His vision blurred for a moment and then cleared.

“How should I know? One minute I was at my car. The next I’m waking up here.”

“Where are we? Any sign of the Nobles?” And where was his partner, Zack?

“I haven’t seen anything.”

Besides the loosened tie, Jason had lost the suit jacket, but he didn’t look too worse for wear. Bryce stood, using another pole, when dizziness and nausea almost overtook him. “We need to find a way out.”

Voices and footsteps sounded above their heads. “Do you know who they are?” Bryce pointed at the ceiling.

Jason shook his head. “You were the one who said you knew where the wife and kid were. How did you know?”

“You sent the cops, right?”

“Crawford, how did you know? Who told you?”

Was Jason actually angry with him? Why would he be mad?

On closer inspection, he didn’t look too beat up either. No signs of pain or soreness. Heck, the man’s hair still looked gelled to perfection.

“Why do you want to know?” Bryce walked over to him.

Jason stood up. “We should know if your intel was good. Because I get the feeling you led us straight into a trap. So how did you know the Nobles were here?”

“The intel was good. Besides, if you sent the cops like you said, they’ll be here any second.” Bryce studied Jason’s facial features. “Why are you here?”

“I told you. Someone jumped me from behind.” Jason’s brows furrowed.

“Yeah, but why do they want you? I was poking around, so I get why they have me. But why did they go out of their way to find you?”

“How am I supposed to know? Now, for the last time, how did you figure out where they took the Nobles?”

Something was off. Jason was way too fixated on that when it didn’t really matter. Or maybe it was the natural instinct to protect, but no way would Bryce expose Martín and Gloria. “I, uh, followed Sosa.”

“You followed him?”

“Yeah.” Bryce left it at that.

Jason rolled his eyes and turned. He climbed the wooden plank staircase.

“Where are you going?”

Instead of answering, Jason pounded on the door. “Let me out.”

Seriously? He thought they would just let him?—

The door opened. A man that looked familiar stuck his head in. “What does he know?”

“Nothing. Clear out and burn the place down.”

“Not until I’m through with him,” another voice said.

The door swung completely open, and the man let Jason pass.

“Hey, wait!” Bryce rushed for the stairs, tripping on the bottom step when a wave of dizziness hit him again. He held the railing.

“Wish I could say nice knowing ya, Crawford, but that would be a lie.” The man at the door laughed.

Bryce remembered that laugh. Conner Reynolds. He’d played football with Woods back in the day. Now, apparently, they had a different kind of team.

The militia. Conner’s had been one of the names on the list Olivia and Bryce had tried tracking down a few days ago.

The door opened wider, and Alonzo Sosa appeared with three different men. Men Bryce didn’t know, hadn’t seen before. But he knew from their glowers this wouldn’t end well. They moved down the steps like an army.

“Why don’t you make this fair, Sosa? You and me.” Bryce fought to clear his vision as he stood tall and balled his hands into fists.

“I’m not interested in fair. I’m interested in information. And if you don’t want to give it to me, then you’ll no longer be useful to me, and I’ll move on to your sister. Maybe your mother next. Your father I’ll kill just for fun though. He won’t know anything useful.”

Bryce lunged at Sosa, but the three bodyguards ganged up on him, wrestled him to the ground. Two men held him down while the other kicked him. Breath whooshed out of him. The hits came, one after the other to the face, the ribs, the side. It was all he could do to hold back screams of pain. He didn’t want to give Sosa the satisfaction.

“That’s enough. Pull him up.” Alonzo watched as the men yanked him off the ground. He stepped closer.

Bryce stared him down. As soon as Alonzo was close enough, Bryce spat in his face. “You think you’re something because you can have your lackeys beat me up? You’re a coward. Do what you want to me, but leave my family alone. I guarantee you will regret it if you mess with them.”

“You don’t like it when someone messes with your family? I know how you feel.” Sosa removed a pure white handkerchief from a jacket pocket and wiped the blood-tinted spittle off his face. “But everyone here will learn. You don’t mess with my family either. You killed my uncle. Stole his money, my birthright. And one by one, I will take you down. The question is, are you going to tell me what I need to know and die quickly, or will you drag this out and make me take my time with the rest of the Brookses and Crawfords?”

“I ain’t telling you squat.”

“I knew you’d pick the hard way.” Sosa came closer, patted Bryce on the cheek. “All the more fun for me.”

With a grunt, Bryce strained against the hold on him, ready to pound the man into the ground and never let him rise. But the men restraining him didn’t break.

“Smile.” Sosa held up a phone and took a picture. “Don’t worry. I have a feeling you won’t be here alone for very long.” He tilted his head toward the pole to the right of them.

The men dragged Bryce to it. They duct-taped his feet together, then his hands behind his back and around the pole. No biggie. As soon as they were gone Bryce could break through—then they pulled out zip ties. Over the duct tape, the heavy-duty plastic restraints were zipped tight.

That was bad. One or the other he could handle. Not both.

Sosa and his men marched back up the stairs and shut the door. Once the sound of it clicking reached his ears, Bryce leaned his head back and sagged against the pole holding him up.

What do I do here, Lord?

The more Sosa focused on him, the more time Jude and the others had to figure out where they were. It kept his family and Penny safe. Gave them time to find the governor’s family.

And Zack must still be out there somewhere. Hopefully he’d sent for the cavalry, because obviously Jason Woods was a low-down sleaze who was in bed with Sosa. There’s no way he’d actually done what he’d said and called the cops.

Bryce strained to listen to the voices above him. He had to figure out what was going on and how to get out of here. They had to have the Nobles nearby, right?

The voices all mumbled together. There was a group of them, though. That much Bryce could tell.

“Are you sure he doesn’t know anything about the Nobles?”

That was Sosa.

“He has no clue where they were moved to. Now tell me, why didn’t you stick to the plan?” Woods sounded furious.

Bryce stilled his ragged breath, trying to hear Sosa’s response.

“ You want to tell me what to do? Let’s remember our deal. I provide the weapons and the explosives. We get you into office. You need me so you don’t get your little hands dirty!”

Jason was in on this for his own political career? The creep.

“If you would’ve stuck to the plan, we would’ve been fine. You were supposed to wait on the kidnapping until yesterday. You made no mention of the bomb at the hotel. If you hadn’t given me the heads-up, I would’ve been there. Caught in the blast. You?—”

Bomb? But Penny was at the hotel! Bryce pulled against his restraints. He had to get out of here.

“You’re lucky I gave you any warning. You told me the man would fold and have Emma released. You lied. There are consequences. And the governor needs to pay. He needs to know I’m serious.”

“He will pay. If you would?—”

“He has no intention of releasing Emma, or he would’ve done so already. I held up my end of the bargain. Our deal is off, and apparently, I have to take matters into my own hands.” A pause. “Don’t worry. If he didn’t die in the blast, he’ll be dead by tomorrow and the office will be yours. But so you know just how serious I am?—”

A gunshot sounded, followed by a thump, like a body falling to the floor.

“Reynolds!” Woods screamed. “That’s my friend!”

“ Was your friend. You’re lucky it wasn’t you.”

Their voices faded away and were lost in a shuffle of noise.

Bryce leaned against the pole. A bomb at the hotel. That maniac Sosa walking free. His body didn’t hurt nearly as much as not knowing if Penny was okay.

Lord, please let her be okay. Keep her far away from here.