Page 216 of The Monster and the Masochist

My Beretta was tucked away in its usual pocket, and I forced myself to take the time to ensure it was loaded and the safety was on before I slipped into my Pumas.

Hopping into my Audi, I punched Theo’s contact card and listened as her phone rang on a loop before going to voicemail.

‘Hey. You’ve reached Theo. You know what to do.’

“Pick up!” I screeched before sending several voice-to-text messages, hoping she would read them and see how urgent it was that she answered the fucking phone.

‘Calm down. They want to make it look like a casualty. It is unlikely they will harm her before the fight.’

“You don’t know that! They put a fucking hit out on her, for Christ’s sake! Do you really want to trust that they’re going to be smart about it? What if the Russian just walks into Jerry’s office and fucking shoots her?! It would be a hell of a lot easier!”

My monster didn’t have an answer to that. It just flicked its tail in agitation and growled softly.

‘Then I suppose you’d better hurry up,’ it finally said, and I gritted my teeth in frustration, punching Theo’s contact card again on the screen of my Audi.

‘Hey. You’ve reached Theo. You know what to do.’

Again.

‘Hey. You’ve reached Theo. You know what to do.’

Again!

‘Hey. You’ve reached Theo. You know what to do.’

I screamed in fear and rage as her phone went to voicemail over and over again, and I tried to convince myself that she wasn’t already fucking dead as I sped through the streets of Silent Hollow.

My tires screeched as I drifted to a stop in the nearly empty lot of the arena. I was leaping out of the driver’s side before the car had even come to a complete stop. My feet pounded on the pavement as I sprinted full tilt for the front doors.

I had a moment of blind panic when I thought the arena was locked, but after slamming a little harder on the crash bar, the doors swung inward, and I was off again.

Breathing through my nose, I pumped my arms at my sides as I gunned it through the main entrance way and down the side stairs that I knew led to Jerry’s office.

My thighs were burning, and I was slicked with sweat by the time I reached his door, but I only allowed myself a brief moment of reprieve to snatch my gun out of my bag before I burst through the door.

Holy fuck! I was right! She’s fucking here!

But… wait…

Four heads turned to face me as I made my explosive entrance. I panted as I tried to keep my gun pointed at the woman I assumed was the Russian, while taking in the rest of the scene.

“Cass?” Theo asked, sounding confused. She and Cal were sitting in the folding chairs Jerry normally had facing his desk. They’d set them up in a semicircle before the ratty old leather loveseat that the Russian was sprawled out on.

Jerry was leaning against his desk and had clearly been involved in whatever conversation they’d been having before I’d interrupted.

“What are you doing here?” Theo asked. “Why do you look like you’re about to shoot Svetlana in the head?”

Svetlana was eyeing me up and down, but she didn’t look worried about the fact that I was holding her at gunpoint. She just looked entertained.

“You have good woman,” she said, smirking at Theo, who shot her a sly grin back.

“You have no fucking idea.”

“What the fuck is going on here? Why weren’t any of you answering your damn phones?” I gasped, still out of breath from my mad dash from the car.

“No phones allowed during fight strategy. Jerry makes me put it on silent and locks it in his desk.”

Cal chuckled, nodding. “He even made me do it, and it’s not even my fight.”