Page 138 of Stand: Part One

Between that time, my men swept the room, checking for anything else that might indicate who else Natasha had collaborated with, if at all. Scott went through her phone while Jackson checked her laptop, cleaning anything that might need scrubbing.

Her things were removed from her suitcase to be placed back around the room, appearing as if she had no intention of leaving so quickly.

But a notification from Scott’s phone stopped him in his place, his eyes sharpening as he studied the screen.

“What now?” I asked as I stood from my seat at the small kitchen table.

He smirked. “Matt’s been sighted again.”

Fucking finally.

Dean and his team had somehow lost Matt last night, having no idea how he managed to disappear on him. Matt was very familiar with Chicago, so it didn’t surprise me that he managed to somehow slip away. Regardless, Dean’s failure would not go unpunished, especially now that there was zero knowledge that Matt was even still in the city.

The timing was becoming aggravating though. The fucker wanted me out here, and here I was, ready and willing to grant his death wish, and he was nowhere to be seen. He had no problem showing up uninvited to a business deal at another club, but hid when I actually tried to draw him out at another.

Come on, Matt. I’m right here.

“Where?” I asked, moving closer to see the image on Scott’s phone. It wasn’t a very clear one, the darkness shadowing much of his features, but the hair and body shape looked right. He stood with three other men next to a building, the surrounding area looking like an old shipping yard. “Where the hell is that?”

“Apparently, it’s off the Calumet River. On the other side of the city,” he answered with a groan, the distance not exactly convenient.

“Who sent you this?”

“Your boy. Dean’s waiting for your orders.”

About time.

“Get a team out there now. Dean is not to let Matt leave while they’ve secured the area,” I ordered, ready to finally finish this. “Let’s go get him.”

With Natasha’s pulse practically nonexistent, we left the room as if we’d never been there and quickly headed to the underground garage.

Scott phoned in the order for the nearest team to secure the area while two armored Escalades pulled up just outside the elevator doors. The driver of the second one got out, Scott replacing him as I slipped into the front passenger seat. The rest of my men took the first SUV, leading the way as we barreled out of the garage and down to the docks.

It took us nearly thirty minutes to get there, my team having only beaten us by fifteen minutes, but the area already looked more than contained. It looked like a fucking ghost town, not a single sign of conflict anywhere. It couldn’t have been that easy.

Exiting the car, we were met by the squadron leader and his second, their rifles and uniforms looking barely scuffed or used.

“Sir,” Russel said as he greeted me with a nod. “We’ve swept and secured the area, but the place is empty.”

I immediately scowled. “What? I told Dean not to let them leave. Where the fuck is he?”

I may just beat the man to death for failing me twice in twelve hours.

Russel exhaled as he glanced down at the ground. “You’re going to want to see this, sir,” he replied gravely.

I almost rolled my eyes.

Fucking great.

I shook my head with agitation as we followed him around the corner to another building closer to the canal, a rusty black door barely clinging to its hinges. Three of Russel’s men stood guard outside the door, nodding to me as we passed through and into more darkness.

The smell of mold, dust, and rot saturated the air, my eyes catching the five other men standing around the room before they landed on the five others lying still on the floor. Stepping closer, recognition filled my chest with enraged disappointment.

Dean and the four other members of his team were lined up next to each other on the floor, their bodies so riddled with bullets that it was a miracle their faces were still intact.

“What the fuck,” Scott muttered under his breath, but when I glanced at him, he wasn’t looking at the bodies.

When I followed his line of vision, fury seethed through my muscles as I caught sight of a familiar message written on the wall.