Page 80 of Tico

A second later, he pulls us behind him and we continue until we get to the breeding room. Dozens of women cower in their bunks, under them, or in corners. It takes me a moment before I realize they’re all chained to the bunk beds.

The Shadow hands me a keyring and I realize he must have taken it from Scooter before. Holstering the gun, I run to the first woman I see.

“Wait, Ember, is that you?” the woman asks and I realize it’s Jezebel, the woman who stitched me up years ago.

“Yes, it’s me, and we’re going to get you out of here.” I sink to her feet and unlock her chain as she sobs in relief at being free. I hand her another keyring and she heads in the opposite direction of me, working quickly to free the others.

Halfway through, a commotion sounds behind me, but I keep working. Suddenly, concrete explodes beside me and I can’t stop my yelp before I spin on my heel.

Standing in front of me is my dead-beat father, Jerry.

Wait. If what The Shadow told me is true, then he isn’t my father.

But then my thoughts screech to a halt when he raises his gun, aiming it at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Lena ishuddled with the other women in a corner but now there are three men pointing guns at them and her gun is now on the floor by their feet. Nearby, another two men are fighting with The Shadow.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Shadow,” Jerry says in a sing-song voice as he continues pointing his gun at me.

The Shadow’s head snaps up and his eyes turn murderous when he sees Jerry holding me at gunpoint. He grunts as the two men get him down on his knees and a moment later, I hear them zip tying his hands behind his back.

“Leave her out of this, Jerry,” he seethes.

Jerry snarls. “You’ve taken everything from me!” he yells before he turns back to me. “You cost me so much money, you stupid fucking bitch! I’m going to get what I’m owed one way or another and you’re going to help me whether you want to or not.”

The Shadow struggles against his captors at his words and I try to look around, seeing if there’s any way I can get out of this.

Jerry grins and I know what he’s going to do before he does it. I lunge out of the way right as he pulls the trigger, but I’m not fast enough. Pain blooms along my arm as we both collide on the ground, rolling around as we fight. I try to pry the gun out of his hands but his anger and hate have completely consumed him. He hits my face with the gun and then another searing pain rips along the same arm as the gun slips a bit in his hand. I grit my teeth against the pain as I continue to fight him. Jerry manages to slip a hand free and he backhands me, hard, before I can block it. A metallic taste coats my tongue, and I see stars for a couple of seconds. Unfortunately, he takes advantage of those seconds, and I freeze when I feel the barrel of his gun press against my forehead.

“You should have fucking obeyed me, bitch. Now you’re going to pay.”

I close my eyes, sending up a prayer that Pyper and Tico are safe. Regret fills me that I never got to tell Tico that I loved him. I just hope that he knows that I did.

Chapter 38

Tico

Thepastthreedayshave been the longest of my life. We drove up here the same day Ember was taken and have been planning and executing said plan ever since. The only thing I don’t like is that we’re going to have to hand over almost everyone we capture once we trigger the plan.

With three exceptions.

Scooter, Drone, and Kane are mine.

Thankfully, all three of them are low men on the totem pole for who the Feds are going after so Lucian was able to finagle that arrangement. I had wanted to move in right away, but Lucian made a good point. That if we waited till today, we might be able to bring down The Collector as well.

And he was right.

Half an hour ago, Lucian messaged us that The Collector would be here soon. As I watch Lucian through the binoculars, I can tell it’s killing him to wait. All around him, the Chrome Vipers and Oasis people are celebrating having Ember back in their grasp. And since Lucian is wearing a wire, I can hear everything that those sick fucks want to do to my Ol’ Lady.

“Easy, T,”Lucian says quietly over the line, as if he can sense I’m reaching my limit for listening to their shit.

“I just wish we could handle this our way,”I grumble and I can see him slightly nodding in agreement. From the talks we’ve had, I know he wants everyone here to feel the pain they’ve caused.

“That’s his car,”Lucian says and I lower the binoculars, watching a black SUV approach with a fucking three-car entourage.

The SUV comes to a stop and thecabrón(fucker) even has a fucker open his fucking car door for him. The Collector steps out and I scoff at the fucking expensive suit he’s wearing. He even has a fucking cane.

The Collector, who Weber told us his real name is Earl Andrews, steps forward towards Scooter. Even with my binoculars, I can see the fat fuck sweating.

“So, you finally managed to capture my merchandise. Especially since I’d already paid you in full.” The Collector steps forward a few steps. “Your inability to detain my merchandise doesn’t look very good on our partnership, Scooter.”