Page 155 of Raven

I grab my bike keys and rush out of the house.

Ali is on his day off. I am about to call him when another text comes in from the unknown number—it’s the coordinates.

I forward the message to Archer then call him. “They got Maddy.”

“Who?”

“I think Skiba picked her up from work. I can’t get ahold of Maddy. Nilanski missed her. I’m going right now. I sent you the coordinates. It’s somewhere between us and Butcher’s territories. But get every camera, every tracker, every guard. Track my bracelet. Get Bishop on the Divide to track his cameras. Now, Archer! And remember one fucking thing—Maddy’s safety is the priority. No one else’s, got it? No matter what.”

“Wait for others?—”

I cut the call, unlock the storage on my bike, pull out a gun, tuck it under my belt, and rev up the engine.

They won’t do anything to Maddy. They are not stupid. They want me. But I can’t let anything happen to her. Me going there alone is walking into a slaughter. But it can’t be any different.

So, I hold my phone with the GPS coordinates in front of me and speed toward the Ayana entrance.

59

MADDY

I know I’m in the forest, though I can’t see anything through the black bag still over my head. The smell of dust clogs my nostrils. My hands are bound with a zip tie behind my back.

“One move, and I shoot,” his voice next to me says.

Skiba. Fucking traitor.

There are others. Footsteps and voices are all around as soon as Skiba turns off the engine of the four-wheeler and yanks me off it onto the ground. While I struggle to get up with my hands tied behind my back, I listen to the conversations, catching bits and pieces.

“We got this covered with cameras. Other guys are waiting behind in case he does something stupid and brings reinforcement.”

“He knows better.”

“He will bring someone.”

“I’m not worried. She is our shield. Once we trade, he is fucking ours.”

A chuckle. “Until he’s dead.”

Cold shivers run across my skin. “I can pay you,” I say loudly.

Someone grabs the hair at the back of my head through the bag and fists it, setting my scalp on fire.

“You say another word, I will strip you naked so your boyfriend has his favorite view once he gets here.”

He pushes me away.

We are just enough inward into Butcher’s territory, as far as I understand. During the hurricane, his men crippled all the surveillance cameras in town as well as the nearby territory. So now the jungles between Ayana and Port Mrei have a new invisible “buffer strip.” It’s patrolled by Butcher’s men. Raven will jeopardize his life stepping in here. I doubt that any of the guards will venture in.

Guns are being loaded. I think there are four men. There is the sound of radios beeping in the distance, closer to town.

When the sound of the approaching Yamaha motorcycle hits my ears, I instantly tense, ready for what’s to come.

I am praying, I don’t even know for what.

There is a shot in the air, and I flinch and duck, my heart instantly thudding against my chest. I want to scream, but the motorcycle starts slowing down evenly—that means Raven wasn’t shot, it was just a warning. I know it’s him.

And then there are more sounds—ATVs, several of them, coming from the same direction. The multiple sounds of small engines start humming in the air like giant electric bees—drones. The noise is getting louder.

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