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Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them away.

She wouldn’t die like this. Wouldn’t die screaming and begging for her life. She’d fight them until they killed her.

She swiveled her face toward the window. She wouldn’t give Silas the satisfaction of seeing her rattled. The area turned desolate. The streetlights were spaced out, and there were no buildings to offer illumination. Just overgrown brush, grass, and the odd speckling of houses.

If Dallas was alive, he’d find a way to come for her. But the odds of him being alive weren’t great. And if Cole hadn’t been killed in the shoot-out inside the club, he surely wouldn’t think to come looking for her.

She was on her own.

Even if they were both alive, how could they find her?

Ash shifted and pulled out his phone. “I can’t get a hold of Perry,” he said to Silas. “Have you heard from him?”

Her stomach bottomed out. Had they not found his body? She’d struck him when he was in the doorway, so he’d fallen into the hall. They had to have taken her out a different exit. Silas would be more pissed and cruel to her if he knew she killed one of his men.

Silas scrunched his lip. “No. But I need him. I lost three men tonight from those fucking shooters and”—he shot his gaze to her—“your stupid boyfriend.”

Gemma’s muscles tensed as she jerked her attention from the window. Did that mean Dallas lived? Hope inflated her chest and a tingling sensation fired through her limbs. It wasn’t over.

Dallas had been alive when they left the bar. After the shooting on the street. He had to be looking for her. Just had to.

The vehicle slowed and ice filled her veins. She snapped her head back toward the window, but it was too dark to see anything. The driver parked the SUV and pushed open his door. He came around and opened the side door for Silas, who slid out. The man seated next to Gemma grabbed her elbow and towed her out of the vehicle, her purse in his meaty fist.

She staggered on the gravel parking lot in her high heels, and if it weren’t for the brute holding her arm, she would have fallen on her face. Ash pulled her arm close to his belly, twisting her joint and making pain shoot into her shoulder.

She lifted her gaze to her surroundings. They stood on a narrow driveway. A small bungalow-style house was cut out of the greenery and shrubs around the property. A sensor light flicked on, and she shrunk her face away from the sharp, yellow glow.

The wooden front porch slanted away from the house, looking as if it wanted to run from what was inside. The wood siding was a dark green, and a matching garage sat at the end of the driveway.

“Get her set up,” Silas commanded. He held his arm across his abdomen. Something dark and shiny coated his fingers. Blood. He stalked past them and climbed the stairs of the porch.

Ash shoved her forward. “Move.” His cold instruction made the hairs on the back of her neck shoot up.

Rather than lead her to the small house, he pushed her forward down the driveway toward the garage. Her breath hissed in and out through her nose, but panic had also heated the tape at her mouth. The adhesive loosened around her lips. Not enough that she could get out a scream, but enough that she might be able to push it off with her tongue if she had a minute alone. Her teeth were her only weapon at this point. And the only way of getting through the duct tape around her wrists.

Ash moved her swiftly through the pool of light and into the darkness near the garage. Trees swayed in the warm night breeze, casting ominous shadows over the backyard that was more like a jungle. Tall grass surrounded the garage. Only the driveway and a two-foot-wide walkway were clear.

The grass moved, stirred by the wind, and if she didn’t have a torturous death staring at her, she’d be terrified of the creatures lurking in the foliage.

Ash pulled out a keychain. He turned to hold the keys near the light and cursed, unable to reach the glow. A minute and two key tries later, he kicked open the wooden door.

He forced her ahead of him, and she bumped her feet slowly over the threshold. Terror closed in around her as quickly as the dust swirling in the air. Her nostrils tickled, but she bit back a sneeze.

Ash hit the wall and a click sounded. A light came on overhead, illuminating the single-car garage.

Gemma stared at the scene before her. A chair sat in the middle of the floor with plastic around it.

“Sit.” He gave her a little shove.

Her legs wobbled, but she took a few steps forward and did as he’d instructed. She dropped her gaze to the plastic sheeting at her feet then swept her attention around the room. Boxes and other junk filled the space. Everything was covered in an inch-thick layer of dust.

Her tongue burned to ask questions. Not that she’d get any helpful answers, but Ash seemed to be slightly less vindictive than Perry.

She had to try something. “Mmm . . . mmm.”

He looked up from his phone and frowned. “What?”

She jerked her head. He exhaled an exasperated grunt and ripped the tape from her mouth. She gasped as hot, stale air rushed out.

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