Page 117 of The Devil's Pawn

“I promise, I wouldn’t hurt your friends.”

She licks her cracked lips.

“Elsie and Kayla,” she finally answers.

My brows shoot up.

Oh, damn. Joelle’s friends.

“I’ll help you,” I reassure her. “We’ll find them.”

“Thanks.”

“We need help over here!” one of our guys shouts.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell her as I jog all the way to the end to see what’s going on, with Enzo following me.

I find two of my men huddled on the floor with a woman who appears just as disheveled and scared as Serena kneeling beside them. All of them have their attention on someone on the floor, who I don’t yet see.

As I near, my man, Trevor, turns and shakes his head, and I finally notice the little boy with blond hair coated to his forehead.

“Boss, he’s in bad shape. Hardly breathing. We’ve gotta get him in the van right the fuck now.”

“All right. Take him!”

Trevor lifts up the emaciated child, who looks barely seven.

“Do we know his name?” I ask.

“Yeah,” the woman says, getting to her feet. “His name is Robby. He’s been sick, and they haven’t com—”

“What did you say?” Enzo walks up to her as Trevor starts for the stairs. “Did you say Robby?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “Why? Do you know him?”

It’s then that Enzo stares hard at me.

“Go,” I tell him.

He’s already on his way, taking the boy from Trevor. But suddenly, he stops short.

“Fuck!”

The way he shouts, I know something bad is coming.

“There’s no pulse, Dante. He’s not breathing!”

THE END

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