Page 55 of Vail

“Don’t move, you two,” Sheldon said. The sound of something big and heavy landing in the back reached me but I didn’t look to see what it was. The hatch closed. Sheldon got into the driver seat. “Don’t get up. Stay where you are.”

“Fuck,” Oleander bit out.

“Put pressure on it.”

“What?” I yelled and sat up as the other door closed.

Oleander clutched his arm as blood seeped through his jacket. “I’m okay, Vail.”

“You’re fucking bleeding.”

“Hold on.” Sheldon put the SUV in reverse then in drive. He hit the gas and flew down the road. Pressing a button on the steering wheel, he told it to call Jordan. The sound of a phone ringing came through the speakers.

“What happened?” Jordan asked, his tone biting.

“Staged accident with two other vehicles and shots fired.”

“Where’s Vail?” he yelled.

“I’m okay,” I told him. “We were all wearing our seat belts. Ollie’s bleeding though.”

“Safehouse, Sheldon. Now.” The line disconnected.

“I’m already on my way,” he muttered to himself.

We flew down a country road, well over the speed limit. Something rolled around the back that I guessed was a body. Sheldon took the corners with practiced ease, the SUV hardly swaying even on the slick road.

“Is whoever back there dead?” Forest asked.

“Nope, but he’s going to wish he was.”

I didn’t look, didn’t want to. I hated violence but couldn’t blame Sheldon and Oleander for firing back at whoever was after us. This had to do with Gil. My guess was they thought they could kidnap me and take me to him. They were wrong. They’d severely underestimated Jordan’s men.

“How bad are you hurt?” I asked Oleander.

“I think it went clean through. Could have been a lot worse.”

“Sheldon, will Jordan call Alton?”

“I’m sure they’re both on their way.”

“Good.”

For the rest of the ride, all I could do was face forward and help find another rag for Oleander’s arm. I didn’t need to know about anything behind my seat.

24

JORDAN

I was going to kill them. Whoever was still alive would be dead shortly.

My body was eerily still as I sat in the back seat of the Maserati. Albert drove and we’d picked up Hartley. I’d be damned if I let him out of my sight after this shit. Telling him what happened, what I knew, was like ripping my fucking heart out. Vail wasn’t hurt, but the idea that he could have been was too much for Hartley. He cried in my arms then I held him while his tears dried. He clutched to me just as desperately as I did to him.

The safe house was located on the outskirts of the city in a home I’d purchased with a lot of land under another name. It was in the name of the author I had on my payroll. He also lived there. The home was a quiet location for him to craft his stories, whether they were for me or for him to publish. Sylvan was an introvert who preferred to be alone rather than out and about with others. He was also a vault when it came to secrets. Nothing left his lips that wasn’t supposed to. When I called to inform him we had incoming, he went to work ensuring there was a clear path from the garage to the door Alton would need to patch up Oleander behind. Irene came out to the house every two weeks to do a thorough cleaning, and in between Sylvan handled it.

No one knew of my connection to Sylvan, except a handful of people in my organization, my son, and Dexen. I worried one day I’d need the safe house for my son, so it was beneficial for him to be aware it was there. And if my son was hurt or the threats to his life became too much, Dexen could get him there. But Jordan would fight tooth and nail. He’d told me he never wanted to have to go to the safe house and would rather stand in the street and fight. He was a lot like me.

Land spread out before us as we sped down the road. Albert finally turned into the driveway, stopping at a tall iron gate with an intricate E on the front of it for Sylvan’s last name, Ellery. Albert entered a code and the gates opened so we could drive through. The entire property was fenced. It wasn’t cheap but necessary. There was also a solid security system here. Sylvan forgot to arm it more times than not, but we hardly came here so the danger to him was minimal.

---