Page 12 of Run, Little Rabbit (Blood & Bonds #1)

Chapter Eleven

Veon

“ V eon! Code red! Code—”

She screams, and the phone hits the floor. “Echo!”

Sounds of scuffles, grunts and groans travel down the line, and my heart lurches in my chest. I’ve never felt so powerless in my life.

She’s in trouble, and I’m not there. I knew I should have stayed closer, but I trusted that she could take care of herself.

She’s always been able to make her way out of any situation she’d found herself in and now…

Dammit! Why did I choose that moment to go on a perimeter walk? She’d been dancing with Verity when I left. What had made her leave Verity?

Fuck, it doesn’t matter now. I’ll figure all that out later. Right now, I need to know where she is.

I pull up the phone tracker app and see she’s still in the building. Good. That’s good.

I head in that direction and hope she’s still there when I get to her. “Echo, if you can hear me, I’m coming. Echo—”

A man’s voice hits my eardrums, and I stop. “I’m sorry, but your girl can’t come to the phone right now. She’s a little tied up.”

It’s a deep voice, calm and quiet, and I can hear the threat lacing each word. The hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention, and I know I’m listening to someone dangerous.

“I don’t know who you are; I don’t care, but if you harm one hair on her head, I will make you fucking pay.”

A rumble of a laugh echoes down the phone, and I’ve never wanted to punch someone in the face more than I have this man. I really hope I get the chance.

“Bye now,” he says, and he ends the call.

Fuck. The little red dot showing where the phone is disappears from the map.

Double fuck!

I run around the back of the building and see a fire exit propped open while one of the barmen takes a drag from a cigarette.

I push him out of the way, ignoring his protests, and head deeper into the back of the building. He follows me, but I don’t give a shit.

“Echo!” I shout. “Echo!”

“Hey!” the barman calls, “You can’t be back here.”

I turn on my heel, and he flinches when he sees my face.

“Whoa,” he breathes, his brown eyes wide with concern. “You okay, man?”

No. I was very far from okay. “I’m looking for my friend. Red hair, glitzy dress.”

“Sorry, no one has been back here since the boss left.”

“Boss?” My heart sank.

“Yeah, Mr Volkov.”

Fuck. “Did he leave with anyone?”

The guy shrugs his shoulders. “Sorry, man, I didn’t see. I know Nikita left with him, but—”

I’ve heard enough. I run out of the building and back into the cool night, but there’s no one here. Nothing. No trace of her.

Wait. What is that?

Something glitters on the ground, caught in the light of the moon.

I crouch down and see a teardrop diamond sitting on the tarmac. Exactly like the ones sewn all over that ridiculous dress she was wearing. I pick it up and turn over the small gem in my hand.

“Echo…” I breathe. “Where are you?”

I trail my gaze across the dark gravel, and I see something that has my heart crawling up my throat. Drops of blood.

I have to stop my thoughts spiralling like a runaway freight train; otherwise, I will be hitting full panic mode, and I need to keep it together. I have to if I want to find my girl.

I stand up and run my fingers through my hair as another unsettling thought churns my stomach.

How the hell am I going to tell Rory Quinn his only daughter has been kidnapped by the head of the Volkovs?

Best get it over with.

I dial Jace’s number, knowing he’s always with Rory, and he picks up on the third ring.

“What’s the problem?”

Jace is straight to the point. I rarely ring the guy, and we don't chitchat.

“Is Rory there?”

“Yes, but occupied.”

I can hear a man screaming in the background, and my hands turn clammy. Is that going to be me later? Fuck, I’m going to lose a hand. I stare at my left hand, at all the creases and scars that make up the history of that hand. Is this the last day I’ll get to see it?

“Veon. What’s the problem?”

Jace’s voice snaps me back to attention, but I can’t get the words out.

Just say it quickly. Like ripping off a band-aid. “Echo has been kidnapped.”

“Get back to the house. I’ll tell Rory.”

Then he disconnects the call, and I obey my orders like a good soldier.

“How could you let this happen?” Rory says, his voice laced with a deadly calmness that has me squirming in my seat. “Why was she even there? ”

“Her friend, Verity, had VIP tickets to the grand opening,” I reply. “It would be thought odd if she didn’t attend when the others did.”

Rory raises his eyebrows. “Oh, it would, would it?”

“Veon is right, Dad,” Conor says with a sigh, and I could have kissed the guy. As much as I dislike the twins, I’m glad they’re on my side here.

“And you know Echo will do what she wants,” Cillian adds. Again, he’s right. Echo was not the kind of woman to be told what to do. It was one of the things I both admired and found incredibly frustrating.

“Do we know it was the Volkovs?” Rory asks, his pale blue eyes holding mine fiercely.

“I believe so. Maxim and Nikita had left just moments before.” I choose to leave out the bit about finding fresh blood. I can’t be sure it’s hers, and I don’t want to add fuel to the fire. Rory looks like he’s one step away from shooting me point-blank.

“It’s my fault,” Kai says, and everyone in the room turns to look at him.

Jace hits him with a cold stare. “What?”

“She’d gone to find a quiet spot to talk to me. Verity had posted a picture of them in the club, and I was asking her what she was doing there.” Kai’s face has lost all its colour, and he looks like he’s going to be sick.

“And how’d that go for you?” Cillian asks, a smirk curling his mouth.

“Oh, she ripped me a new one,” Kai replies with a breathy chuckle.

“Good,” Conor says as Cillian whispers something in his ear before they both turn their attention towards me.

Those terror twins are fucking creepy. Doing shit in unison like some weird dolls out of a horror film.

They could be, with their pale skin, perfectly groomed strawberry-blonde hair and matching black three-piece suits.

There’s no doubt they make a striking pair.

Beautiful, but seriously fucking deadly.

“Why weren’t you with her?” Conor asks as Cillian leans across the table.

“That’s a very good question,” Rory adds as he strokes those long fingers over his beard. I can’t help but watch his hand, hypnotised by the slow, steady way it moves across his face.

“She was dancing with Verity, so I went on a perimeter check outside.”

“And left her out of your sight.” Cillian tuts, and I have to hold myself back from stabbing him. Is being frustratingly annoying in the Quinn DNA?

“My intention was to be back inside within five minutes.” I lean closer towards them. “And besides, we both know how capable she is of looking after herself.”

Their eyes narrow, no doubt recalling the numerous times Echo has beaten them in hand-to-hand combat.

“Enough!” Rory barks. “The fact still remains that Echo is missing. Where would they take her? Anyone?”

They start dissolving into squabbles and shouting matches, but I tune it out. It’s not until my phone buzzes in my pocket that the noise filters back in.

Sphinx:

Need Echo. Have news.

Great. As if things couldn’t get worse, the guy cracking into the most notorious phone on the planet has fucking news.

I cough loudly to get Rory’s attention. The guy looks one second away from having a stroke.

“What? Is there more incompetency I need to witness?”

His words cut deep. I already feel like a failure for not protecting Echo when she needed it the most, and now my boss is calling me out on it.

The twins snigger, and again, I have to resist the urge not to skewer them.

“I’m going to speak to someone, see if I can do a deep dive on the Volkovs and their property portfolio.”

“Can you trust them?” he asks, and for the first time I sense a hint of fear lurking in his eyes.

I give him a solemn nod. “With Echo, yes.”

There’s no doubt in my mind that Sphinx would do anything for Echo. He might grumble about it, but he’d do it for her.

“Then go.” Rory jerks his head towards the door, and I don’t wait around for him to change his mind. My ass is out of that room faster than a snow cone melting in hell.

I text Sphinx as I head to my car.

Me:

I need help.

Sphinx:

I’ll put the kettle on