Page 144 of The Saviors: Part One

He backhands me across the face before I can blink. “You don’t make demands. Now sit.” He jerks me into the room by the front of my shirt and shoves me into a chair. “Do what I told you. And don’t do anything stupid.”

“This is going to take time—”

“You have twenty-four hours, or Axel and Kai die. Sean was already dead at the scene, Cole was well on his way, and Chelsea will be soon if Brady can’t keep his temper in check. I’m making a move on Ari and his team now. When that clock runs out,” he stabs a finger at a countdown on one of the monitors, “and I don’t have what I want? They’ll be gone too.”

He walks out and slams the door behind him, but I know he still has eyes on me. I can feel the cameras on me at all angles. What the fuck am I supposed to do? I’m good, but Holden’s better, and I know he’s the one who set up all their security measures against hackers.Think, Nolan, think.

My hands shake when I set them on the keyboard, and my palms are sweaty. My brain is like mush from whatever drug they used to knock me out. That picture of Axel flashes through my head, and I swallow bile. Is Charlie telling the truth about Sean and Cole? They can’t be dead. We’ve gotten so close that I think I’dfeelthat loss. And Chelsea? Jesus Christ. She can’t be back with Brady. She’s so fucking strong, but I don’t know if she’d survive that again.

With a plan in mind that’s probably going to get my ass killed, I start typing faster than I ever have. I go after Les first, trying and failing to even bypass the first part of the security. I just need to slip in, and I can take it all the way back to her resources. Running through everything Holden taught me, I finally find the weak spot I need and have to refrain from pumping my fist in the air. I might be the weakest link in the Saviors, but I’m not fucking stupid. Charlie isn’t going to take me down that easy. I wipe everything else from my mind and push harder.

Axel’s screams rip through the air, I jump out of my skin, and my eyes flash to the clock. More than three hours have passed, and I didn’t even notice.Please, stop hurting him!It’s getting harder and harder to tune out Axel and Kai’s screams. It’s getting harder to forget that Sean and Cole are probably dead and that Brady is doing unspeakable things to Chelsea. I justneedin! The burning in my neck already told me that they cut my tracker out, and Charlie’s too smart not to take my phone. But I’msmarter.

My heart starts pounding in my ears, my fingers typing faster and faster.There!The loophole into Holden’s security to take me into what Holden called the red alert zone. The zone where he’ll know I was here. I glance at the clock. Nine hours have passed. One of the other monitors flickers to life, and Axel fills the screen. I choke off a sob at how bad he looks. He’s in nothing but boxer briefs. His thigh is ripped open and pouring blood. His chest is cut to ribbons, and the guy in front of him comes at him again. This time when he screams, I hear it and see the pain on his face.

“Fuck!” I yell, slamming my hands on the desk. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” The video goes black, and it flashes to Kai stuck in that goddamn cage. His eyes are screwed shut, and his lips are moving like he’s repeating something. “I promise, no matter what, I’ll get us out of this.”Or at least you guys.Axel and Kai’s videos are now a split screen which means I have to watch them be tortured as I try to save them.

I conjure up Chelsea’s beautiful green eyes and the feel of her lips on mine and move faster. Sweat is pouring down my face, and my eyes are burning. I will save them. I’ll sacrifice myself if I have to. Sixteen hours have passed. I have eight hours left before Charlie follows through on his threat, and I know he will. He set me up for failure from the very beginning. I can’t get into Les’ systems in twenty-four hours, much less all of them.

Four hours left.

Kai screams this time, and he sounds like a wounded animal. I can’t stop it this time. I lean over the side of the chair, dry heaving. Every hour on the hour, they start screaming for help, and I can’t help them. Swiping a hand across my mouth, I go back to the keyboard.

Two hours left.

“I am one hundred percent sure that I’m okay with you being a man. I want to see your face so that I know that I’m making you feel good.”

“You’re more to me than just a fun time booty call, Nolan. And I’ll spend however long it takes to wipe that doubt from your face.”

“Nobody ever stays in it with me for the long haul. My own family didn’t even stick around.”

“That’s because they aren’t worth shit and didn’t know what they were missing out on,” Cole argues. “Fuck them. You have us now, and we aren’t going anywhere. And trust me when I say that Axel isn’t going to just use you. If he were, he wouldn’t have given you the trust to do what you just did to him.”

Axel nods. “I want to kill every motherfucker who made you feel that way.”

“Same,” Cole agrees. “Let us show you what it feels like to be wanted.”

“We gave you the trust, you have to give it back.”

“Okay,” I say quietly. They each take turns kissing me and tuck me back between them.

I shake those thoughts from my head. I finally find people who actually want me, that actually want to stick around, and this fucking happens.

Twenty-four seconds left.

I stab the last button, and the file I need fills the screen. I click it open and want to scream from the rooftops that I did it. I click on the secure chat screen and type out a message that I hope helps them find us.

Nolan

Charlie has us. Brady has Chelsea. No trackers. Safeguard is hopefully in place on Kai. Help.

I hit send, and the door screeches open. I turn around to face Charlie with a grin. “Fuck you.” He isn’t going to kill any of us until he gets what he wants, and I hope like hell the tracker we hid in the metal in Kai’s leg is still there.

Charlie swings the gun up and pulls the trigger.

I love you, Axel.