Page 47 of The Question of Us (Fisher & Church #2)
Marty sighed. “No doubt. Which is why we got his car off the property.” He indicated Gazza.
“No car. No Carey. No... you. They all left, officer. It was a large party. Can’t expect me to keep an eye on everyone.
My men will vouch for me. My guests as well.
That’ll slow them down and give me time to figure out how to solve this mess. ”
“That wouldn’t be smart,” I said. “The police will be here any minute.”
Marty shot me a slightly disappointed look like I’d let him down.
“Somehow, I doubt that. You are all adults, which means the police aren’t going to leap up to look for you.
They’ll give you at least until the morning to turn up.
Plus, you, Nick Fisher, are trespassing on my property.
Something frowned upon by the local police, an organisation I like to support whenever I get the opportunity. ”
Marty didn’t need to clarify, but he also didn’t know about Angela, our ace in the hole. Or so I hoped. Instead, he clapped his hands and Lee and I both jumped.
“So, here’s what’s going to happen.” He looked between us. “Freddie is going to take you all somewhere safe until I decide what’s to be done with you.”
“What about Aaron?” Lee demanded, his desperation showing for the first time.
Marty’s lips met in a thin line, his anger apparent. “Aaron too... for now.” He glanced Freddie’s way. “Clean this one up in case anyone sees you and get them out of here.”
Freddie raised a brow. “The hydro shed? We could run them out the back way from there.”
Marty nodded. “Do it.” He spun on his heels and headed back to his office.
Not sure what was going on, I chanced a sideways glance at Lee to find him staring back at me. Like really staring. His gaze flicked to Gazza, then back to me like he was willing me to understand. But understand what?
Before I had time to work it out, Freddie whistled and my attention shot to the door and the three armed men coming through it—Clarence and Jack, the man who’d been guarding the door in the hallway, plus another man I didn’t know.
“Jack, get some cuffs on Gray. The other is done.” Freddie crossed the room and reached behind a bookcase to emerge with a shotgun in his hand, sending my heart thumping against my ribs. Meanwhile, the man from the hallway, Jack, cuffed Lee.
Clarence indicated Gazza. “What about him. Can he walk?”
Freddie studied Gazza for a second. “Don’t know.
Jack and Ronnie can carry him if he can’t.
Either way, he’s not running away anytime soon.
” He nudged me with the gun. “And in case you’re thinking of trying to get someone’s attention, Clarence will make a few holes in your friend as punishment. Understand?”
Clarence flashed some kind of switchblade, and the thin vicious knife made me want to puke. He’d made his point and Freddie nodded, seemingly satisfied at whatever he saw on my face.
“Besides,” Freddie added, “no one pays attention to a little screaming at Marty’s parties, right, Gray? It’s kind of expected.” There was something in the way Freddie looked at Lee like he wasn’t making a general point. Like it was personal... for Lee at least.
Lee ignored the taunt, but for the first time, I saw real fear flicker in those blue depths. Something had happened to Lee at a party just like this one, and it hadn’t been good. Lee swallowed hard and said to me, “Marty’s parties have a reputation of being... intense.”
And I really, really didn’t want to know what that meant.
Freddie snorted. “That’s one way of putting it. Now get going.”
Jack and the guard I didn’t know, presumably Ronnie, set about getting Gazza upright and sandwiched between them. They repeatedly slapped his face to bring him around enough to take some of his own weight, then half walked, half dragged him out of the room.
Clarence drew his gun and indicated for Lee and me to follow. Not like we had a choice. Freddie brought up the rear, the shotgun slung over his arm and at the ready. “Take the back way,” he ordered.
The men in front grunted and headed for the narrow stairs.
That’s when the impact of what was happening truly hit me.
We were being taken from the house to wherever the hell the hydro shed was.
And what the fuck was that anyway? Regardless, it meant that we wouldn’t be where Mads expected us to be when he came looking.
When, not if, because if there was one thing I knew about Madigan Church, the man was as stubborn as an ox with zero concern for his own safety.
If someone he—the word caught in my brain—someone he cared for was in trouble, nothing would stop him trying to find them.
And Mads cared for me. I knew that. In fact, I was pretty sure he felt a lot more for me, just as I did for him.
Something I should have fucking told him. Something we should’ve told each other.
A cold shiver ran through my belly. I’d almost lost Mads once. I wasn’t about to have it happen again. I needed a plan to get us out of this mess and I needed it fast.