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Chapter Forty-Four
Julian
“Drive faster,” I commanded, leaning across Faith’s BMW to look at the speedometer. “Eighty? That’s the best you can do?”
“Stop side-seat driving, Jag,” Zane grumbled, pressing the gas pedal further into the floor. “We can’t help her if we’re pulled over.”
I couldn’t help it. I fidgeted, I pulled at my hair, I went over the plan again in my head—nothing kept my mind off what we’d find once we got there. I’d already lost Phoebe. If the only part of her I had left had been hurt in any way, I didn’t think I’d survive it.
“Here! Turn here!” Chloe called from the backseat. “My GPS says to take this right.”
I glanced back at her. “There’s nothing up there but an overgrown dirt road. What the fuck kind of GPS do you have?”
“My friend at the tip line said the caller saw a man matching my father’s description drove this road at least four times. And he wasn’t alone.”
“She waited four times to call? What the hell’s wrong with this bitch?”
Chloe stiffened in the backseat. “Nothing is wrong with her. There was no Predator Confidential interview to connect it to until the other day because you had your head stuck up your ass.”
“Enough!” All eyes turned toward the woman sitting beside her. Faith’s eyes gleamed with ferocity. “Stop arguing, both of you! It’s not helping Iris, and it’s making me fucking crazy.” Lowering her chin to her chest, she sighed heavily. “I don’t know how she put up with you two.”
She. Phoebe.
That effectively ended the conversation.
We pulled up to an abandoned warehouse. Worn by weather and left to rot, the boarded-up windows and overgrown weeds confirmed it had been abandoned for a long time. I could probably stand on the front steps and scream until my lungs bled, and no one would hear me.
It was the perfect setting for torture.
“They’re in there.” I threw open the car door and cursed as I fumbled with my seatbelt.
Zane grasped my arm. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to get my kid,” I bit out between clenched teeth.
He lifted both eyebrows. “You just gonna storm in there and demand he hand Iris over? The man has held her for weeks, and Phoebe…” My eyes closed, and his voice trailed off. “The point is, he’s dangerous. We have to be more dangerous.”
“How?” The words were more of a statement than a question.
“Well, for starters, we don’t all barge through the front door. We might as well blow an air horn on our way in.” He nodded behind him. “Faith and I will go around the side of the building. You and Chloe see if you can get through a window in the front.” He glanced again at the decrepit building. “I highly doubt there’s a security system.”
All in agreement on our assignments, he handed us all Glocks, then loaded his chamber, pulling back and releasing the slide. “You all know how to handle guns, right? I don’t have time for firearm safety speeches.”
Chloe snorted, tucking her piece in her pants. “I grew up with that man. What do you think?”
I glanced at Faith, and she rolled her eyes. “I’m a senator’s daughter. I’ve had security guards since I was ten, and dated three of them. They taught me.”
“Extra chambers?” I asked, noting the weight of the gun in my hands.
He glanced at my hand. “No need if you hit it right the first time. Extra rounds cause extra mistakes. Trust me on this, Jag. If you have a shot, steady your aim and take it. Don’t wave that shit around and fire out of anger. You’ll miss, and we’ll all die.”
We split up as instructed. Faith and Zane disappeared around the east end of the building as Chloe and I searched for an alternate way in through the front. After coming up empty, I balled my fist, ready to break a window.
“Julian?” Her hushed voice hissed through the quiet night air.
“What?”
“The door…it’s unlocked.”
