by Max Monroe
“Did you go down and check Alex’s apartment?”
“Not yet.”
“Then fucking go,” I ordered, feeling myself already turning into the meanest version of myself. If she wasn’t all right, I’d fucking tear the whole world apart. “Call me back.”
I hung up the phone and immediately dialed Alex’s number. It went straight to voice mail.
“Fuck!” I shouted. Jack Knave smiled for the onlookers as he stepped closer to me, but he asked me quietly, “Is there a problem?”
My scowl was lethal. “Not for you.”
Defensively, he held up a hand and then smartly moved on. As much as his business was now mine, mine wasn’t fucking his. John Hadder said Hadder business was no one’s but their own. I’d always agreed with him, and now was no different.
My phone rang again, Cal calling back, so I didn’t waste time putting the device to my ear.
“Well?”
“Cat food bagged up and on the counter, no Alex.”
“Pull the recordings—”
“I hate to be the one to tell you this, Matt, but you had them stop recording her apartment. Remember?”
Goddammit! Nausea clawed at my stomach.
“Fuck! Then fucking call Hare, find out if he knows anything. I’ll call Damien. This fucking reeks of Eric Queen and the two fucking imbeciles he’s convinced to do his dirty work.”
“What do we know if it’s them?” he asked, his voice like gritty sandpaper.
“We know they’re motherfucking dead,” I said, every syllable equally as poisonous.
“I’ll check back.”
“Cal,” I called, straining for patience and calm, and trying to keep my heart from beating out of my chest.
“Yeah, boss?”
“Fucking find her.”
I’d worked hard to make sure this meant nearly as much to him as it did to me, letting him know her, letting him like her.
“Yes, sir.” At the solemnity in his tone, I knew sacrificing just a little part of my Alex to him was worth it.
My movements were clipped but no less efficient as I dialed Damien. He didn’t answer until the third ring, so by the time he did, I was fucking pissed.
“Hello?”
“Dame, Eric and those other fucks have Alex. What do you know about locations they might take her?”
“What the fuck? How do you know they have her?”
“She went down from my apartment to get something from her own without Cal as guard. She didn’t come back up.”
His voice was hesitant. “Matt, you know I respect you, but how can you be sure she didn’t just run? She was still getting used to everything around here. It can be a lot for an outsider to take in. Maybe—”
“Do. Not. Fucking question me. Do you understand me? Not when it’s this fucking important. I know she didn’t run.”
“I’m sorry, Matt,” he apologized immediately. “I’ll start looking into safe houses Eric, Mickey, or Jaybird might have off the grid.”
“Don’t start looking, fucking find them. This is her life we’re talking about, Damien, and none of us is going to be the reason it gets pissed away.”
I ended the call before he could waste my time with anything else and scrubbed at my hair. I hated feeling fucking powerless, and I suspected Eric knew that all too well. He’d love that I was away and unable to handle any of this shit myself.
And my Alex. God. I’d unwittingly made her vulnerable. She knew everything. And now they were going to use it against her.
I took off at a run for my car. I needed to get to the airport. I needed to get home. I needed to find my Alex before it was too fucking late.
I AWOKE TO A POUNDING headache. No. It was worse than that. It was a fucking skull ache. Hell, my entire face felt like it was ten seconds away from exploding.
“Fuck,” I muttered and attempted to lift my hand to my head, but something prevented me. I fluttered my eyelashes open and found myself inside of an empty warehouse. Dark, damp walls, the musty smell of mold and mildew assaulting my nostrils, and I grimaced.
My vision blurred, and I blinked several times to regain focus, while simultaneously gritting my teeth from the excruciating pain even that slight movement of my eyelids had caused.
The giant warehouse came back into clear view. I didn’t know this place. I’d never been to this place. Hell, I didn’t even know how I’d gotten to this place. My eyes grew wide, and like a fucking kick drum, my heart pounded relentlessly inside of my chest.
I moved my gaze around the room and then down my body. I was sitting in a chair, my hands were somehow tied behind my back, and handcuffs linked my ankles together. Once I spotted the dried blood clinging to my white tank top, I inhaled a shaky breath.
What in the fuck had happened?
How had I gotten here?
I searched my memories. Over and over, I combed through my thoughts, recollections, trying to find the reasons.
When I stared down at my flip-flop-covered feet, a visual of the Queen of Hearts playing card stuck to the bottom of my sandal filled my mind. And then, my faucet of memories opened up, flowing fast and relentless. Matt’s apartment. Deena meowing. The elevator. The Queen of Hearts. My apartment. Deena’s food. White-hot pain to the back of my skull. And then, two words. “Goodnight, Alex.”
Had I been kidnapped?
Fear urged me to fight the constraints of my handcuffs, but it useless. I was bound, restrained, and completely helpless. Fuck.
A door creaked open, and footsteps echoed inside the bare and spacious room.
“Look who’s awake.”
I looked over my shoulder to find Eric Queen walking toward me, an evil smile on his face. He walked toward me in easy strides until he stared down at me with a sinister grin cresting the corners of his lips. “Sleep well?”
“What in the fuck is going on?” I spat, but my anger only amused him.
He laughed. Hard. Dramatic. Directly in my face. “Now is that any way to talk to the man holding your life in his hands?”
God, this wasn’t good. Tears threatened to prick my eyes, and I swallowed against the thickness creeping up my throat. Stay strong, Alex. No matter what, you have to stay strong.
The door creaked open again, and more footsteps followed.
Moments later, I was surrounded by Eric and five other men—Jaybird, Pidge, Spade, Bobby Hart, and Diamond. All dressed in sophisticated, classic suits. All Wonderland associates. Well, at least, they were Wonderland associates. It was safe to say after this standoff, no matter the outcome, their names would never be associated with Wonderland again.
“See,” Eric started and rubbed at his chin as if in deep thought. “Matt Hadder has become a problem. We’re not happy with the direction he’s taking our organization. He’s making decisions with his cock instead of his head. Mostly thanks to you, Alex.”
“So you kidnapped me to prove a point?”
Eric looked at Jaybird, and both of them chuckled. “No, you little cunt, we kidnapped you to get back at Matt for all of the bullshit he’s put us through over the past six months. Consider yourself a sacrifice, so to speak. For a greater cause. And in this case, you’re dying in the name of fucking over Matt Hadder.”
I blinked past the wetness in my eyes.
God, how had everything gotten so fucked?
Eric Queen wanted revenge. For what, I wasn’t sure, but deep down, I knew it was bullshit, most likely stemming from greed, envy, his own selfish motives. This was a power trip taken to the fucking extreme.
Queen had taken notice of Matt’s and my relationship. He knew we were strong together, a package deal, if you will. Hell, love made you strong. It made you weak, vulnerable. Love exposed your soul.
And Eric had just played his strongest hand against Matt’s weakness. His version of the Queen of Hearts, kidnapping what Matt Hadder loved—me.
Jaybird leaned forward, hijacking my personal space. The scent of whiskey and smoke emanated from his breath
. “How does it feel knowing that, in a roundabout way, Matt is the one that ended your life?”
“It’s not him. It’s you,” I spat. “You’re the ones who fucking kidnapped me. Matt won’t be pulling the trigger. You will.”
“Who says we’re gonna merely pull a trigger?” Pidge asked with a raise of his brow. “I prefer to prolong the pain, drag it out, make it last.”
Eric grinned. “And, if we’re discussing the finer details, Matt will be the one who takes the fall for your death. I can assure you of that, baby,” he whispered into my ear and ran a slimy, vile hand between my breasts.
I fought against my restraints. “Don’t fucking call me baby, you piece of shit.”
“Oh, she’s feisty,” Pidge chimed in. “I guess I can see why Matt keeps her around. I bet she catches fire when she’s riding a cock.”
“Fuck you.”
“Oh, is that an offer?” He grinned, and I wanted to vomit.
Pidge started to move toward me, but Bobby Hart grabbed his attention. “It’s time,” he announced and set his laptop on an abandoned, wooden table toward the left of the room. The men circled it, all of their attention focused on the screen.
I looked around at my surroundings, desperate for a way out of the death sentence that was my current situation. I noted a large, rusty clock hanging on the wall to the right of me. 6:00 p.m., it read, but the second hand didn’t budge a centimeter. Fucking hell. That thing had probably ticked its last minute decades ago.
I had no idea what time it was, but from the dark hints of twilight peeking through the large windows of the warehouse, I knew night was upon us. I just didn’t know how late it was or how long I’d been here.
Hell, with the way my skull ached, this could’ve been day two for all I knew.
“Turn it up,” Eric muttered.
Moments later, the sounds of a newscaster talking about an election echoed inside the warehouse.
“This race for the presidential nomination was close,” the newscaster said. “Knave and King have been neck and neck, but we’re ready to announce the winner.”
“Here we go,” Eric said and rubbed his palms together. “First, King with the nomination, and then Matt in the fucking grave.”
The men laughed and chattered over his words, but when the newscaster announced, “Jack Knave has won the presidential nomination,” the room went deadly silent.
“We’re so fucked,” Diamond spat and ran two frustrated hands through his hair.
“What the fuck, Queen?” Jaybird questioned through gritted teeth. “How in the fuck did this happen?”
With his back to me, Eric stood frozen in his spot, seemingly without any answers.
But I knew the answer: Matt Hadder.
He’d pulled through. And most likely, he’d been one step ahead of Queen the entire time. Although, I doubted he predicted they’d planned on offing me, but my intuition said my man knew what he was doing. My mouth turned up into the smallest of smiles at the thought.
“Are you smiling?” Queen shouted toward me. “Are you fucking smiling, you cunt?”
“I doubt it.” I shrugged. “I mean, it’d be an odd situation for me to be smiling about. Kidnapping and death aren’t usually my choice in happy thoughts.”
He stalked toward me. “So not only do we have a cunt, but a sarcastic, mouthy cunt at that.”
I didn’t respond.
“He threw it, didn’t he?” he questioned. “He made a deal with Knave and switched teams.”
Still, I didn’t respond.
“I know you know.” He got in my face. “So, either you can just tell me what you know now, or I can make fucking sure you tell me.”
His threats of torture had my heart racing beneath my ribs. This wasn’t bingo at the church with Aunt Delores, and a knuckle sandwich wasn’t going to be my punishment.
I shut my eyes tightly and let Matt’s voice play in my mind. I need my weakness to be strong.
I focused my thoughts toward my Matt. I thought about the way he looked at me. I thought about his smile and his teasing comments. I thought about the way he cared for me, protected me. He was my talisman, and somehow, someway, I’d found my strength—his strength—in this awful situation.
I wasn’t going to give Eric Queen anything. This man deserved nothing, not from me and certainly not from Matt. My lips were sealed, even if it meant I had to suffer through my silence.
Steadfast, I stared into the eyes of this pathetic man and remained mute.
And I kept my gaze resolute. Hard. Determined.
It was like a vexing of my soul, for what I felt in that moment wasn’t human. It was twisted and grotesque, but it was something strong. It burned hot like fire, lacing my veins and creeping up my spine. All I could feel was the desire to hate.
I hated Eric Queen. I hated him for being a coward. I hated him for his misguided ideas of being a savage. And most of all, I hated him for what he was trying to do to the one person who meant the most to me. I’d rather die than give this wretched excuse for a man anything but my disdain.
The bitterness of it resided in my stomach, waiting to be spat out of my mouth in foul and vulgar words. But I wasn’t going to say them. I was going to screech them with every ounce of my breath that resided in my lungs.
“Fuck you, you motherfucking pathetic piece of shit!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs. “You can go fuck yourself!”
Eric started laughing maniacally at my outburst, and while his eyes stayed locked with mine, he slowly, so fucking slowly, lifted his gun to my head, pressing it harshly into the temple of my skull.
“Last chance, cunt,” he whispered into my ear.
Tears filled my eyes and streamed down my cheeks, but I embraced them. Even this sadness, because of my resilience, was life.
“Last fucking chance,” he repeated. “It’s now or never, little bitch.”
“Never,” I whispered fiercely. He nudged the gun into my skin harshly.
“What was that?”
“I said, never,” I repeated, raising my voice high enough that it bounced off the walls of the warehouse.
Queen moved his face directly in front of mine, his harsh gaze as black as a desolate night’s sky.
“I hope he kills you,” I muttered and purposely spat in his face.
My saliva dripped down his cheek and onto his shirt, coating the collar unceremoniously and sending a thrill down my spine.
Eric’s glare was murderous, and I shut my eyes tightly in response, anticipating the last moments of my life. And then, the darkness fled in.
Tick, tock, tick, tock, is there any time left on the clock?
EVEN THOUGH THE PAPER SHOULD have been smooth as silk in my hands, it felt razor-sharp against my skin. Aside from Eric and whatever fucking ridiculous drugs he was on to think a cutesy note like this one was the way to go, the meaning was still serious. They had my Alex, and they didn’t just have her as a bargaining chip—not that I suspected they would. They’d seen me be ruthless too many times, cried at the hands of my savagery themselves on too many occasions, and they didn’t mean to maim. They meant to kill.
I only hoped their stupidity and need for show would give me enough time to alter Alex’s foretold fate.
I’d been in touch with Cal several times since boarding my plane back from DC, but he hadn’t given me much information. I hoped desperately that it was because he didn’t have it—and not for some bullshit reason about me keeping my cool. When the only woman you’ve ever loved was with men who hated you, hated her, and were too stupid to be afraid to act on it, it wasn’t the time to keep your cool.
You raged, you plundered, you killed and threatened, anything you had to do to make sure she came out of it alive.
Nonetheless, we were finally on our way to my Alex. Harrison and Damien had followed every lead on every safe house we had and had come up with nothing.
It was only when Cal finally went back to my apartment, set to retrace her steps and do his be
st to trail her, that he noticed the package he’d gone down to get sitting on the counter.
I didn’t often receive packages at my home because I made it a point not to divulge my address. But neither Cal nor I had been clearheaded enough during our first conversation to realize what an anomaly it was. Now, the package opened and nothing more than a clock with an address on the back and this note inside, we barreled toward our destination at high speed.
And thanks to friends in high places, we even had a police escort—the police chief, at that.
He probably wouldn’t appreciate what I planned to do when I got there, though.
“Easy,” Cal murmured as I crumpled the note into a ball so tight I expected it to spontaneously combust.
“Fuck easy,” I said back. “They’re going to fucking suffer.”
“Come on, Matt. I know they’re going to fucking suffer. I’ll help you make them suffer. I might even exhume their bodies and make them suffer again. I’m just reminding you to be smart about it.”
“You think you have to remind me?” I snapped.
“I think Alex is the kind of woman that you lose your head over, and with good reason. I think she’s the kind of woman you feel about rather than think. And I think I care enough about both of you to watch your fucking back.”
I sighed. “Fine. If you’re going to be all fucking poetic about it, I’ll be smart. Jesus.”
“Good. Now get ready. We’re only two minutes out. Chief Kerik is set to pull off in thirty seconds, and from there, we’re on our own.”
“Good. He’s not going to want to see this part anyway.”
“Yeah, I think he understood that after one look at your face. If I didn’t know you, I’d be pissing myself just looking at you.”
“Enough telling me you love me, Cal. Just drive.”
“I don’t have to.”
“What? Why?”
“Because we’re here.”
I looked out the window immediately, the big, run-down warehouse dark on the outside with lights shining brightly from inside. It’d be time for sunrise in a few hours, and part of me wished with its arrival, the sun would wash away everything that had transpired in its absence.