Page 38 of Branches of Betrayal

“Pinche puta madre,” she muttered, growling. Peyton laughed as Hadina dramatically threw the covers off her, rolling over to answer the call.

“WHAT?” Hadina barked into the receiver.

Adrian Harris’ voice was gruff in her ear. “Good morning to you too, sunshine. I thought you’d like to know that we’ve eliminated almost everyone on the list. I’m on my way to get Eddie Poplar.”

“It’s only been a few days,” Hadina replied. “You sure Demi’s started to get the message?”

Harris tutted. “You know she has. I’ve made sure of it.”

“Fine. Text me the address and I’ll meet you there.”

The line disconnected and Hadina turned to Peyton. She was surprised to see an excited smile on her face. “You heard?”

Peyton nodded. “Every word. One step closer to ending Demi Treyva’s reign of terror and torture.”

Both women changed their clothes quickly and headed down to the kitchen. Two cups of coffee later, they were in the car and on the way to the abandoned warehouse location that Adrian had text.

Neither of them spoke during the drive, though everything they wanted to say hung in the air. This was a huge step to getting what they wanted, but it didn’t make what they were about to do any easier.

Hadina parked the car outside one of the loading docks. The rusting overhead door was rolled slightly, spilling light on the ground beneath. They didn’t normally do anything in the daylight but the regular rules were out the window. Hadina wanted to end this—fast.

Using the chain at the side of the door, Hadina pulled until there was enough space for her and Peyton to duck under. Once they were inside, she nodded to her team who stood, weapons at the ready, in various places around the empty room.

In the center, Eddie Poplar was strapped to a chair using zip ties. His face, which Hadina recognized from the photos, was untouched, though there was blood seeped onto his shirt from somewhere. A little stab wound on the torso, if Hadina was to guess.

Adrian stood behind him, hands on Poplar’s shoulders and fingers digging in. “Boss, meet Eddie Poplar.”

Hadina looked at him for a moment, silent and contemplative. There was fear in his wide eyes, his mouth quivering as he cried silently. Hadina gave him props for not crying out, begging for his life.

She walked forward, her heels clicking and echoing loudly against the concrete flooring. She stopped in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest. Hadina looked down at him, making her face as expressionless as possible.

“Nice to meet you, Mr Poplar. Do you know why you’re here?”

The body nodded, sweat trickling down his forehead. “B-b-because I’ve been selling in your t-t-terrority.”

Hadina laughed. “Little boy, I don’t sellanything.That shit your boss pushes is poison and I would never sell that to anyone.”

Poplar shook his head, his breaths coming in panting heaves. “I d-d-don’t understand.”

“You will.” Motioning Peyton forward, Hadina held out her hand. Peyton took it, stepping up beside her. “This is my woman, Peyton. And that piece of shit you work for took her, beat her, almost killed her. And that is theleastof what she did.”

“I didn’t have nothing to do with that. I s-swear!”

“No shit!” Hadina scoffed. “You’re nothing but one of her little street rats. But you’ll be useful to us, anyway.”

Turning to Peyton, Hadina moved her dress to the side, grabbing the dagger she had strapped to her thigh. She handed it to her woman, taking satisfaction in the way Peyton’s grip on it tightened immediately.

“This can go super easy for you.” Peyton flipped the handle of the knife over in her hand. Hadina noticed the dark, menacing lilt to her voice. “Tell us what we want to know, and maybe you’ll survive it. But keep your mouth shut, and what we do to you won’t be pretty.”

She wasn’t sure whether Peyton would actually go through with it, but it made Hadina’s insides twist in pleasure at the thought of Peyton committing such acts of violence as retribution for what was done to her.

Eddie Poplar dropped his head, sobbing. “What do you want to know? I’ll tell you a-anything, I swear!”

Hadina rolled her eyes, her lip curling in disgust at the ease of how quickly he gave in. If one ofherteam was so weak and willing to betray them, she wouldwantthem to show up dead. The dead didn’t speak, and they sure as fuck didn’t snitch.

“We want to know where to find Hernandez.”

At the mention of his contact’s name, Poplar’s head shot up. The fear on his face was palpable. “He’ll kill me! Ask me for anybody else, I’ll give you them. But he’s a freaking psycho and he’ll kill me.”

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