Page 53 of Toxic Revenge, Part Two (Mafia Omegas #2)

Chapter

Forty-Eight

MERCER

She was taking too long.

Our mate had yet to emerge, which meant our plan had probably gone to shit. Benjamin must have slipped past every precaution.

He has her.

The heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach had me confident. She may not be my mate for real, but it was like I could feel her emotions from a distance. Talia was terrified, and whether that was purely my paranoia talking or not, I had to take action.

She thought we’d sent her in there without a backup plan. I would never risk her life like that, but we’d decided it was better if she didn’t know about the tracking devices embedded in all the jewellery pieces we’d given her.

That way, she couldn’t accidentally give away its purpose as a lifesaving measure with a misplaced glance or by fiddling with it too much.

My packmates were as on-edge as I was in the back of this kitted-out surveillance van. “This is going bad,” West declared. “We need to go get her. Now.”

I lifted a hand to stop him from barrelling out of the van. “Wait a moment.”

He growled. “She could be in danger.”

“If there was danger, she might not even be in the building anymore.”

West went pale. “Fuck. You got a point.”

Emilia spun in her chair, pointing at a screen with three blinking dots. “She’s in the right location.” She squinted, leaning closer. “Wait, no. That’s not the hallway.”

“Pull up the cameras,” Lavinia ordered. She had her phone in her hands, tapping at the screen.

Emilia had been focused on other feeds, trying to pinpoint where Benjamin would be coming from. She had the service hallway feeds up in an instant. Talia wasn’t in the frame.

West stalked toward the door, Conrad on his heels. “I’m going to get her.”

“Rewind the footage,” I requested quietly.

She punched it back until a dark figure appeared. When she hit play again, we watched a man in black clothing grab Talia’s arm and pull her into a room, disappearing from view.

“He has her,” I growled.

I was on my packmate’s heels in an instant, jumping down from the bed of the surveillance van. “Wait!” Emilia exclaimed. “Her tracker. It’s moving, faster than a human would be. They must have gotten her into a car.”

Lavinia shoved into the driver’s seat, taking the wheel and revving the engine. We all clambered back inside, shutting the doors behind us. West was halfway to the front when the van lurched forward, speeding down and out of the alley we’d been parked in.

“Emmy, directions,” Lavinia requested tersely.

“Got it. Take a left.”

I held on to the bolted-on cupboards for dear life as she took the corner. I hadn’t missed Lavinia’s driving, that was for sure.

She careened through the streets, Emilia shouting out the directions as we watched Talia’s three dots move on the map.

Where the fuck was he taking her? Had the bastard injured her already?

I regretted not finding a way to get a heart rate monitor onto her. That way, we would know for sure that she was alive. As it was, we only had the trackers on the jewellery to go by.

Although, I was convinced I would know if she were gone. My heart would have cracked open in my chest the second she left the world, even if she was a thousand miles away.

“They’ve stopped.” Emilia gestured to the dots, now in the centre of a large building. “Must have driven her into the warehouse. I’m surprised they didn’t take her further.”

“He probably wanted to keep her somewhere controlled by his family,” I said. “But there wouldn’t be a whole lot of places that Brooks doesn’t know about.”

She tapped away at her keyboard until two camera feeds came up on screen. One was from a traffic camera across the street, with the other covering an alleyway from a neighbouring building.

“OK, these are all I’ve got,” she said as Lavinia pulled the surveillance van to a stop across the street from the warehouse. “I know it’s not much to go on, but all the other cameras in the area would take too long to hack.”

“We can make it work.” I leaned in to watch the cameras, keeping an eye out for any movement.

“There.” West spotted something first, pointing to the bottom corner of the traffic camera feed.

A man walked by with purpose in his step and a gun in his hand. The blurry footage showed him wandering through the empty lot, then banging on a metal side door with no handle on the outside. It opened, and he went in.

“His backup is coming,” I muttered. “We have to go in now. He’ll probably have more guys like that showing up soon.”

“And we can’t enter the same way he did. No doorknob,” Conrad said. “Anyone see a better door?”

Lavinia turned off the van, leaving the keys in the ignition, and climbed into the back again. She got us each an earpiece as we scoured the footage—and then the online map images—for the best door to use.

I wished we had pictures of what the inside looked like. As it was, whatever door we chose, we’d be going in blind.

With Talia’s life hanging in the balance, it was a risk, but one we needed to take.

Benjamin would realize eventually that we were tracking her. As soon as he stripped that jewellery, he would take her to a new location. One much further away and more difficult to find, I bet.

“We’ll have the best chance if we go in through two different locations, across the warehouse from each other.

” I pointed to a door near the one we’d watched the man go into, then to one off the alleyway where the other camera observed.

“Conrad, West, you two go in here. I’ll go in this other door. ”

“Shouldn’t you stick together? What if you get caught up in something and they’re too far away?” Emilia asked.

I shook my head. “Better chance of getting Talia out if we split up.”

She was what mattered most. I exchanged a glance with West, and he reached out to bump his fist against mine. If we’d had more time, he would have argued to be the one who went alone.

He knew I wouldn’t budge easily, though, and time was something we were short on.

Conrad fist bumped me next. “You better be careful, man.”

“I’m always careful,” I said.

Lavinia placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a nod. “I’ve contacted our fathers, but their guys will take some time to get here. Do your best to stay alive until then, yeah?”

The cool metal of the gun felt familiar in my hand. My footsteps were light as I rushed around the warehouse, hoping Emilia was right about it having no exterior cameras.

This area of town was quiet, even at this time of day. Only a few people walked by on the sidewalks, and none of them noticed me on the other side of the chain link fence. I kept my gun in my left hand, facing the building, so no one would have a reason to call the police.

“In position.” West’s quiet confirmation came through my earpiece.

My destination was up ahead. A recessed door that I’d probably have to jimmy open or smash through.

I glanced around, making sure I was alone, and darted to the door. “In position.”

“Jurah’s guys are five minutes out,” Lavinia said. “You guys make your move on three.”

Gun in one hand, I held the crowbar from the van in my other. If I was lucky, my alpha strength would let me slam the door open, but if I wasn’t, I would need the leverage.

“One.”

I heard a shout from within the warehouse and my hair stood on end. They were close to me, at least some of them.

“Two.”

Was I going to be overrun the second I crashed through this door? Taking a deep breath, I readjusted my grip on my gun.

“Three.”

Grabbing the door handle, I slammed my shoulder against it. The lock gave under the force, spilling me into a wide-open space.

Another crash sounded from across the warehouse—my packmates getting through their door. Perfect. We were at least all in the building.

I just also happened to be in the centre of the action, surrounded by the enemy.

My ears rang from two quick bangs of my gun, two screams of pain telling me they hit their targets. I darted to the side, sheltering behind a row of metal shelving. Through the gaps I could see Talia, slumped over on a chair across the room.

Her chest rose and fell gently.

She was unconscious, but alive.

Thank fuck.

She was closer to where Conrad and West had come in. I would have to cross an area without ample cover to get to her, but they only had to hug the wall and take out a few of the guys.

That meant I had to draw fire and give my packmates an opening.

Leaning out, I fired another shot. It missed one of the men by a hair. They were all finding cover behind crates and packed shelves, but I had to keep shooting.

I would make myself the biggest threat.

I recognized her bondmate from his photo—he stood near Talia, his expression twisted in bitter rage.

There wasn’t a gun in his hand, yet, but a small table held one just off to the side.

If he reached for it before Conrad and West could get to him, he could turn the tides and kill Talia in an instant.

“Benjamin has a gun to his right,” I whispered, hoping the earpiece picked it up.

“Got it.” West’s voice was a reassurance.

“I’ll draw them toward me. You go for her.”

“Three minutes until Jurah’s men are on scene,” Lavinia updated. “Don’t do anything rash that gets you shot.”

I was going to do something rash. It may very well get me shot, but so be it.

From the rage distorting Benjamin’s features, Talia didn’t have three minutes. He stalked over to her, slapping her across the face and crouching beside her and slightly behind.

If I was a master marksman, I would have had a clear shot.

He knew none of us were, and he knew we wouldn’t risk her life by trying to shoot him when he was that close to her.

She jolted, hazily blinking as the pain roused her. I darted forward, hiding behind a large crate, and got a shot off in the process. There was a pained grunt, so I must have hit my target.

“Should’ve known your motorcycle club dogs would come barking after you.” Benjamin grabbed Talia’s chin and lifted it, forcing her to look at him.

I was barely able to restrain my snarl.

He didn’t deserve to touch her.

And his hands wouldn’t be anywhere near her for much longer, but I had to keep it together. I had to reload my gun and keep shooting.

“So how did they…” He trailed off, grabbing the gold and ruby necklace and yanking until the clasp broke.

“Tracking devices in the jewellery, I bet. Well, if we strip you down and kill them, no one will be able to find you. I’ll use you to get whatever I damn well want from your family.

I’ll finally have everything I deserve.”

He patted her down as he went on his villain monologue, removing the bracelet with bruising force and tossing the ring to the side.

Where the fuck were Conrad and West?

They had to get him off her.

I could sense the distress radiating from her in waves, and it would only get worse as he checked her over more invasively while she was tied to the chair and couldn’t fight back.

Darting out, I sacrificed some of my cover to get closer. I’d draw more fire if they thought they had a chance to hit me.

Guns went off all around, but I could only hear Talia’s frightened whimper from all the way across the room.

If they couldn’t get to her, I had to.

She wouldn’t be safe until she was in my arms.

I abandoned shelter completely and took off in a flat sprint toward her. Shooting arbitrarily out at Benjamin’s guys, in the opposite direction of where my packmates would be, I barely paid attention to my aim.

All I could focus on was her.

And then, all I could focus on was the flaming, fiery pain in my arm as a bullet tore through my flesh.