“They don’t know it’s you. They don’t recognize this car and this road goes to other parcels. They won’t do anything if you keep going.”
“But that’s them. We need to go that direction.”
“We’ll go on foot. The longer they don’t know we’re here the better. You alert them now they might kill Adrienne and split.”
Kaia’s chest seized at the thought. She continued straight, forcing herself to keep an even pace as if she hadn’t seen anything. It countered every urge in her body to drive away. She spotted a small clearing ahead.
“Here?”
“Not yet.”
“We have to walk back. If we go too far you’re not going to be able to do it.”
“If they spot us it’s game over,” Reid said. “I will figure out how to do what I need to do.”
Kaia consented and continued around the bend. She felt like she was going to explode. All she wanted to do was run straight for Adrienne, destroying anything and everything that tried to stop her. She knew she had to trust Reid’s judgment. She was too emotionally invested to think clearly.
“All right, up here,” he said. Kaia parked the car and hurried to the trunk. She loaded herself down with as much as she could carry, putting a pistol in her waistband, slinging a rifle over her shoulder, tucking a knife away, shoving extra magazines in every spare pocket, and carrying another pistol. Reid grabbed a pistol, the shotgun, and the sniper rifle.
“You any good with that?”
“Yeah, I’m all right actually.”
Kaia nodded. She no longer had any concerns he didn’t understand the full implications of her plan. He reached out for a hug. “Let’s go get your girl.”
They headed into the trees, cutting deep before turning back the way they had come. The air was ruthless, biting the skin, eating at her fingers. Kaia slowed more than once for Reid, but every time she looked back he was right there. She knew he must be in pain, that he was pushing himself too hard, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him to slow down. A few seconds could be the difference between finding Adrienne dead or alive. She could also be long dead already, but Kaia couldn’t let herself think about that.
She listened for footsteps, all too aware she might end up running smack into a Wild AK. They were running around out here for some reason. Had they alerted the others a car passed by? Or had Reid’s plan successfully made them ignore it?
“God, it’s nothing but trees,” Kaia whispered. “Where did they take her?”
“Maybe just a clearing.”
Kaia hoped not. With the temperature what it was she knew if they were outside the whole process would go faster. She desperately tried to pierce the darkness with her eyes, seeking any signs of a building or maybe a fire. She heard a rush of footsteps and crouched down. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Reid had done the same and was mostly hidden behind a tree trunk. Kaia didn’t dare rustle the leaves trying to find better cover. She scanned the horizon for shadows, ears clawing at the air for signs of anyone.
She spotted someone running in the opposite direction. They must be trying to get back to the others.
“Reid,” she whispered.
“Got him.” He already had his rifle raised. She heard the muted pulse of the suppressor and the person went down. Kaia lost her breath, all of this now made real. The silence between them as they watched to see if the Wild AK would rise was excruciating. He didn’t move.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I’m good. That must be the way.”
Kaia nodded and crept forward again. She finally spotted a narrow clearing they must have driven through. It swerved up a hill. “I don’t like this,” she said.
“Me either,” Reid said. “Let’s go around.”
Reid took the lead, again surprising her with the speed he managed. They hustled around and up the hill until they had a straight look at a barn. It was long and rectangular, fairly large. Reid looked through the scope on his rifle.
“How many did you say there were?”
“Five.”
“Yeah, not anymore.”
“What? How many?”
“I’m seeing at least eight. Four out front and four more through the windows. And I don’t even see Anna or Christina, so that puts us at ten or more.”
“Shit. Where did they all come from?”
“Don’t know, but they’re all armed. This is going to be nasty, Kai.”
“Can you pick them off?”
“One for sure, but if they run for cover that may be a wrap on that approach and there will still be a ton of them left.”
“Follow me.” Kaia crouched and led him to a boulder. She lay on her stomach. “Here, they won’t know where you are. The one on the left is alone. They won’t even see him fall.”
Reid looked through the scope and nodded. “I see what you’re saying. That’s if I can manage a perfect shot. He gets out a yell and—”
“You’ll make it.”
“Okay, this one on the left, then the one far right. Then whoever is still dumb enough to be around.”
“And I got anyone who tries to come this way.”
Reid looked through the scope again. It felt like forever waiting for him to line up the shot. The muted shot fired and the body dropped. She held her breath waiting for someone to notice, but no one was the wiser. Reid panned the rifle to the right without a break, aimed, and fired again. Another body dropped.
“You’re a beast, Reid.” She felt strange congratulating him on taking his third life in a matter of minutes, but she couldn’t fight the excitement that they were inching closer to Adrienne.
“This one’s going to tip them off,” he said. “I’ll take the big guy in front so we don’t end up having to fight him, but they’ll see. They might run inside, but they might charge out here too. You ready?”
She traded the pistol for the rifle. “Ready.”
Reid aimed again and fired. It hit center mass. It would probably end up fatal, but it wasn’t instant. The guy hollered in shock and touched the pool of blood forming on his shirt.
“Someone’s shooting!” he yelled and spun for the barn. Reid fired again and hit him in the back, taking him down.
“The five that took us had vests,” Kaia said.
“Got it. Kidnapping crew has body armor, new guys don’t.”
The last person out front ran inside. Reid sent another round through the window, but she couldn’t tell if he’d hit anyone.
“Looks like panic in there,” Reid said. “They’re going to hunker down.”
“Damn. All right, time for me to get down there.”
“There’s still too many.”
“I’ll have to be sneaky.”
“I’m going with you.”
“No, stay here. Do what you’re doing.”
“Kaia, wait,” Reid hissed, but she took off in a low crouch, cutting to the side of the barn.
Chapter Thirty-three
Adrienne woke up in a chair in the middle of a bare room. The walls were thin, silver metal, and the floor was dirt. There was thick rope looped around each arm several times, strapping them to the chair’s arms. Her ankles were similarly wrapped so that her movement was almost entirely restricted.
“Well, good morning.”
Adrienne had a hard time placing the voice. Her head was pounding. She finally spotted Anna in the corner, straddling a chair like the one Adrienne was tied to. The pain in Adrienne’s head and face was excruciating. Trying to breathe sent jabbing pains down her spine and sides. She felt dried blood cracking on her skin as she moved.
“You missed some of the fun,” Anna said. “Christina knocked you clean out.”
“So they beat me while I was unconscious?”
“It wasn’t ideal, but we don’t have all damn week.”
“I thought you did. Isn’t that the point of bringing me to the middle of nowhere?”
“No one’s finding you, if that’s what you mean. We still have lif
e to live though, deadlines to meet, drugs to sell.”
“Big shot like you has deadlines, huh?”
“I take it you heard about Marco.”
“Of course I did,” Adrienne said. “That was you?”
“None other.”
“Why?”
“For Gianna.”
“You thought he killed her?” There was a time that would have made her feel guilty, but her hatred for anyone who wore a WAK tattoo ran so deep now she didn’t care anymore.
“I did for a spell,” Anna said. “Turned out not to be true, but he was still lying, scheming. He wanted Gianna out of the way. He paid.” Anna stood up and approached her. Adrienne’s heart jumped in anticipation, but she forced her face still.
“Now what?”
Anna took the knife she borrowed from her pocket. “Now it’s your turn.” She flipped the knife open and put the blade to Adrienne’s throat. “You want to beg for your life?”
“What for?”
“You know I never understood what Gianna saw in you. It never made sense. I guess she was blinded by the sex, the cute face.”
“You know we weren’t just sex. I loved her.”
“How can you say that to me when you killed her?”
“She tried to kill me,” Adrienne said. “All I wanted was to not be beaten. All I wanted was to be treated like a human, like she loved me a fraction of how I loved her. And when she couldn’t do that, all I wanted was out. I was not the betrayer, she was.”
Anna hauled off and punched her in the face. “She was the most loyal person on this planet.”
“Right, loyal. Do you have any idea how much shit she talked about you?”
A flash of doubt crinkled Anna’s face. She shook her head and punched Adrienne again. “Shut up. Don’t say another word about her. How dare you.”
“You want to talk to me about how great she was and how I destroyed and betrayed that? That’s not what happened. You’re fucking delusional. Even she didn’t think that about herself. She knew what she was.”
Anna punched her again. “It really was you, wasn’t it? You did kill her.”
“It doesn’t matter, Anna. She’s dead and she did it to herself. If she would have treated me right it wouldn’t have happened. If she had let me go like she should have it wouldn’t have happened. She brought us to this.”
Anna punched her again. Adrienne’s head snapped back and the dizziness swirled around her head again. Anna grabbed the collar of her shirt and forced her head upright again.
“You always had it out for me,” Adrienne said. “Even Gianna knew she was wrong sometimes. When I had to call the police because she was choking me to death she understood. She let it go. But you, you wanted her to beat me for it. You wanted to label me a snitch. What is your problem with me, Anna? Were you jealous?”
“Of course not. I saw what she couldn’t. Yes, I thought you were a snitch way back then and I was right. Look at you now.”
“Because I had to! It would have never happened that way if I’d had another choice.”
“Bull,” Anna snapped. “You would have gone for that cop no matter what, your little high school sweetheart.”
“I wouldn’t have snitched. I never wanted anyone to get in trouble. I didn’t want any of you in jail, and I certainly didn’t want you dead.”
“Yeah, well, we are. We’re all fucking in trouble or dead, Adrienne. Now it’s time to pay.”
Anna cut away Adrienne’s sleeve the same way she’d done to Kaia. “You want a matching scar?”
“Yes, I do.” Adrienne wanted to know what Kaia had felt. She wanted to be close to her in any way she could. She felt the cold metal touch her skin, the edge dug in. At first, the blade was sharp enough it didn’t hurt, but as it went deep, as it turned horizontal and separated her skin it became unbearable. She couldn’t stop herself from screaming. She didn’t want to give Anna the satisfaction, but she couldn’t bear it. As she gave in, screaming became the best feeling in the world. Anna pulled the skin away and held it in front of Adrienne’s face.
“That’s just a taste,” she said. “I’m taking it all, piece by piece.”
The door opened and Christina stuck her head in. “Anna?”
“What?”
Christina gestured for her to come over, but Anna rolled her eyes in frustration. “What? I’m busy.”
“We have a problem. There’s someone here.”
“What do you mean someone here?”
Christina asked Anna again to come over with an insistent nod, but Anna wouldn’t budge. Christina finally relented, obviously annoyed. “We have three people down, probably a fourth in the woods.”
“What?” Anna whipped around.
“Jimmy, Jamal, and Lynn are dead. Carlos was in the woods keeping watch and hasn’t come back.”
“This story better end with we have another prisoner to torture.”
“Not yet. It’s a sniper. We can’t find them, and they’re all afraid to go outside.”
“A sniper?”
Anna looked at Adrienne, seeming to mull over her options. “Who the fuck?”
Christina stepped into the room. “Los Hijos de la Santa Muerte.”
“What? No.”
Christina lowered her voice. “It was a sniper that took out Kendra. It’s a sniper here.”
“But why? We had a deal. Why work so hard to make peace if they just wanted to battle? We could have done that from the get-go. They have no reason to do this.”
“Maybe they’re pissed we handled their cashier.”
“So they hit four of my people? No. It’s not them.”
“Who then?” Christina’s eyes were wide. Adrienne could see she was having a hard time staying composed. “Cops?”
“They’d be raiding us.”
“Well, whoever it is they killed four of us. We need you out here.”
“I’m a little busy.”
“Anna, there’re four members down.”
“Fuck.” Anna returned the knife to her pocket. “Have to do everything around here. Get Celeste in here. I want Adrienne watched at all times. If this fucker is here for her I need eyes on her.”
Christina nodded and left the room. Seconds later, Celeste came in.
“You have one job and one job only,” Anna told her. “Keep watch on Adrienne. If she tries to get away, put one in her kneecap. If someone tries to rescue her, put one in her forehead. Don’t wait. She does not leave alive.”
Celeste nodded and took the gun from her waistband. She sat on the extra chair in similar fashion to Anna moments before, straddling it with her arms and chin rested on the back. Anna left the room and the door closed with a cold click.
Adrienne’s eyes were swollen from the beating, and she could barely see out the narrow slits left to her. Celeste looked uncomfortable.
“Sniper, huh?” Adrienne asked.
Celeste shifted her weight and didn’t answer.
“Who’d they get?”
“Newbies.”
“You scared?”
“Not as scared as you should be.”
Adrienne had no idea who could be doing this, but she had to admit, she was less afraid now. It was comforting someone was fighting back whether they meant to rescue her or kill her too. Her heart was yearning, hoping for Kaia, but her mind wouldn’t let her entertain it. The way Kaia had been left, there was no way. But who else could it be? Had the cops found Kaia’s body and figured out she must have been taken? But Anna was right. This was not the approach she would expect from the police force.
“Celeste, you don’t have to do this,” Adrienne said. “This was never you. Do you really want to kill me?”
Celeste met her eyes. “You’re right, I never wanted this for you, but you did this to yourself. How could you kill Gianna? How could you snitch? What did you expect? What am I supposed to do now?”
“Just let me go.”
Celeste laughed. “Right, then they’ll kill me.”
“Come with me.”
“No, Adrienne. I’m not a traitor like you.”
“This isn’t you.”
“Shut up, Adrienne. Just stop. It’s over.”
“It’s not over. Look around you. All of your friends have warrants or death threats hanging over them. There’s someone coming after you right now. Half the people you know will be dead or in jail in a year. You can still get out. You’re not in trouble yet. Help me and I will help you.”
“You can’t just walk away from being Wild. You weren’t even a member and this still happened to you. You have any idea what they’ll do to me if I help you? If I bail on them? We won’t even make it off the land. There are nineteen of them out there.”
“Fifteen.”
“What?”
“There were nineteen besides you. Now there’s fifteen. And there’s at least one more person out there on our side.”
“You don’t know that they’re on your side. They might kill you too. It’s probably the Hijos.”
“Celeste, just think about what you’re doing.”
“Fuck you, Adrienne.” Anger flashed across Celeste’s face. “You were down with this life too. You only flipped because you wanted to bang the cop, now you’re acting like you’re better than all this. You turned your back on your family and now you’re getting what’s coming to you. I cared about you. I told Gianna to take it easy on you. I recommended you as a member. I tried to help you, and you turned your back on all of it. You don’t get to ask for my help now.”
A symphony of gunshots rang out in the next room. Adrienne and Celeste both stared at the door, waiting, listening. She heard frantic whispering but couldn’t decipher the words. More gunshots sounded, pangs of metal got closer, and Adrienne saw holes punching through the wall. She tipped her chair and let herself fall to the ground, hitting hard, making herself as small as possible. Celeste dove to the ground and pointed her gun, but had nothing to shoot. She crawled on her stomach closer to the window. She slowly raised herself up and peered out.
“Who is it?” Adrienne asked.
“Shut the fuck up,” she hissed. Her head swiveled back and forth as she searched desperately for the mark. Suddenly, Celeste’s head jerked back; a mist of blood sprayed through the air. Adrienne jumped in shock, and Celeste fell to her back. A drop of blood rolled slowly down Celeste’s face and into her open, glassy eye.
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