Page 109 of Broken Halo

One we do not need to be in the middle of.

33

Half-Cocked

If I’m witness to anything, it’s that timing can be life-changing.

Trig

From the timestamp on the video surveillance, I should only be fifteen minutes behind them.

“You’re sure there’s no movement on my father’s property?” I ask, speeding down a highway faster than I should be on this dark, quiet Sunday night.

“Nothing. I’ve got one of my men on their way now, but I’m telling you, Trig, it’s quiet and I trust my technology. Nothing has happened on that property in hours.”

Watching my fucking father and his shithead of a brother through the surveillance video toss Ellie and Quinn into the back of that car like they were nothing more than sacks of potatoes, was almost enough for me to break through my own skin. My Ellie, she gave them a hell of a fight but Quinn was shocked and scared. I called nine-one-one right before dialing Pettit.

“They wouldn’t go to that shitty bar he spends all his time at, too many people there on any given night. The only other place he’s been in the last few days is Logan’s.”

“I’ve got all my men out and a couple are on their way to the bar to ask questions, just in case. I’m a few minutes behind you. What’s this place like?”

I make the turn as fast as I can onto the dark two-lane road. “It’s not big—a couple acres. If I see activity, I’ll park off the road, go in by foot. He’s only about a quarter of a mile off pavement.”

“You prepared?”

I let my fingers flex around my steering wheel in a way I wish it was my fucking father’s neck. “No one knows my father and uncle better than me. Yeah, I’m prepared.”

He pauses a beat before adding, “If you get an eye on them, hang tight. I’ll be there soon to back you up.”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“There could be three of them, maybe more. Wait for me or the police.”

“If Ellie’s there, I’m going in. History is not going to repeat itself tonight. I won’t fucking let it.”

“Shit,” he mutters over my Bluetooth. “At least let me know what you find when you get there.”

“I can tell you now,” I say as I flip off my headlights before I come up to Logan’s property. “Lights are flooding the space in front of the old house. I can’t see any more than that.”

I pull over and kill my engine, grabbing my phone and gun on my way out of the car.

It’s a full moon. I can see my footing clearly in the brush but that’s not what I’m looking at.

“Where are you?” Pettit demands.

I hear men shouting and a woman crying in the background.

Fuck.

I lower my voice to a whisper. “They’re here.”

“Do not go in. I’m calling the police now on my other phone and I’ll be there in less than five.”

Ellie and Quinn are huddling to the side of the standoff and Ellie is slowly inching them backward.

As I stoop in the trees and brush to watch, Logan raises his voice. “I covered for you—that was our deal but I won’t do it again, not that I could if I had the chance. You go off half-cocked, losin’ what little brain you got rattling around in that stupid head of yours, and kidnapped not just one, but two, women. The last time this happened, it was Silvie and I had a murder on my hands—a fuckin’ ugly one, at that. I don’t appreciate you dragging this shit to my land again. I don’t give a damn what you need, you’re not getting it from me. Like I need Kipp Montgomery on my back about his girl.”

“I’ll give ya a cut. My baby, she’s gotta be worth a fuckin’ lot. By the looks of it, way more than this Montgomery bitch that my boy can’t seem to work out of his system. It’s a bonus they were together because I have a score to settle with the blonde.”

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