Page 179 of Mile High Ruin

He says nothing.

I walk toward the gate. The security booth is empty. That is wrong. “Where is the guard?” I ask.

Anton turns toward one of the perimeter men. “Where is Petru?”

The man looks toward the booth. “He was here.”

“Was?”

Nobody answers.

Anton opens the booth door. Blood is smeared along the inside wall. The guard is on the floor. He’s alive, barely.

My phone vibrates, and I answer without looking. “What?”

“Sir, east team has two bodies. Neither is ours.”

“Identities?”

“Not yet.”

“Sloane?”

“No sign.”

I end the call.

No sign. The words are becoming unbearable.

I turn toward Anton. “Lock every exit.”

“They already are.”

“Nobody leaves.”

“Nobody is.”

“Search every vehicle.”

“Yes.”

“Basement. Staff quarters. Garages. Storage. Roof access. Every fucking room.”

“We are.”

I step closer. “If she is not inside this compound, I want every road sealed before whoever took her gets five kilometers from this house.”

Anton holds my gaze. “It’s being done.”

My chest feels too tight. I force air into it.

The last time I felt this kind of fear, I was a boy in a cellar listening to rats move behind the walls.

That fear had been simple. I had been afraid for myself. But this is different, because I can’t control what they do to her. Because I can imagine what someone might do to Sloane.

I know exactly how men like Petrov think because I have spent my life surrounded by them. If he has her, he won’t simply kill her.

I grip the shoe in my hand until the edge digs into my palm.