Page 34 of Golden Knight

“Goddammit,” I yell.

I hung up. I can’t talk about this anymore. I need to do something. I need to hit something, someone. That’s when I unleash on the empty apartment, letting out all my rage wishing it was every person who has kept my sunshine away from me.

Chapter twenty-three

Jake

“Jake!”

But I can’t respond, I just keep hitting anything and everything. Suddenly I’m tackled to the ground and Zeev is hovering over me yelling in my face. “Jake. Now is not the time.”

I look around at the devastation I’ve created, from my spot on the ground. Nothing was safe, and I hope this guy hadn’t gotten his deposit back yet. A tiny bit of guilt toward the landlord starts to creep up, but I’ll just send him some money to fix up what I’ve destroyed. I look back up at Zeev and nod. He gets up off of me, putting out his hand as he helps me up off the ground.

Zeev keeps his face neutral the whole time while he glances around and assesses the damage. When he finally looks at me, he crosses his arms. “You feel better?”

I mirror his body language, but I’m just trying to keep myself under control because all I want to do is destroy everything in this city till I find my sunshine. I lash out at him, yelling, ”No.”

I then punch my hand into the drywall next to me. I look back at Zeev who is just standing there watching me. I hang my head and murmur, “I won’t be better till she’s back in my arms and Paul is dead. I won’t survive it this time if I can’t find her. I won’t.”

“I know, man. We’ll get her back. I have Blanche going back through what we know about Paul, seeing if she can find something.”

“Did she find anything yet?”

He draws his phone out of his pocket and pulls up a picture. “Blanche sent me this while I was on my way here,” he says holding it up. I snatch his phone from his hand to get a better look. I zoom in on the picture and it looks like a deed of some kind. I see the location out in the middle of nowhere. If he was going to take her somewhere, this would be the perfect place.

“What is this place?” I ask.

“It looks like a cabin that Paul’s parents owned. The Wolves confiscated it from his family along with him. But with Blanche taking over from her grandmother, it got pushed to the wayside.”

He whistles, “Let me tell you. Paul’s family owed The Wolves a lot of money. We didn’t find it initially because the paperwork was misplaced after the raid of the warehouse four years ago.”

“We need to check out this place. If he has her, then this will be where he’s holding her.”

”I agree. I’ve called Frank and he’s already on his way to meet us out there with everyone.”

With one last look around the apartment, Zeev shakes his head. “Let's go. I’m driving and you need to keep yourself in check, man. I'm taking point on this one.”

After he says his piece, he heads out the door, leaving me no choice but to follow him. I climb into his car following his directions because I don’t have time to argue. The only thing I care about is getting to my sunshine.

Neither of us speaks most of the drive, both deep in our thoughts. When we’re about fifteen minutes out, Zeev breaks the silence first, “The men have surrounded the house, they’re waiting for our signal. We’ll park a few yards out and then make our way to the front with the cover of darkness. He won’t see us coming.”

“How many exits are there?”

“One in the front and one in the back. Then the balcony on the second floor.”

“We need to have someone posted right at each exit.”

“Already thought of it. I have a man for each one. If Paul is holding Amber, he is not getting out.”

We finished talking about the plan. He turns off the headlights as we approach so as not to bring any attention to us. We’re in the middle of a forest right outside of Rose Valley, the town that Amber and I grew up in. The place where she was kidnapped. The place where it all started. It seems to be a coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidences.

I knew this prick was bad news.

We get out of the car and head to the trunk to load up on guns.

We both quietly stalk through the dark into the front of the house. We see Frank standing by the trees a few yards away from the front door, giving the men orders. Approaching him, I ask, “What have you found?”

“We just got here fifteen minutes ago, but haven’t seen anyone coming or going. The place has been dark this whole time too. I have a man at each exit and one posted in the back waiting for anyone who might try to escape from the balcony. The rest of the men are about 100 yards out in a circle surrounding the cabin. Once you go in, we will start to close in on the property.”

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