Page 128 of Crimson Tears

I will myself to sprint faster, but it’s no use. The man bear hugs me before putting my ass on the counter and tickling me until I can’t freaking breathe.

“O-okay. O-okay!”

He keeps going, and I swear I might actually pee my pants if he doesn’t stop. “Boris!”

In less than a second, Boris has Cillian in a headlock, pulling him back. Cillian tries to get free, thrusting his elbow back, but that’s when I go in for my revenge.

Boris holds him still while I tickle him right back. We don’t stop until we’re all breathless, a stupid grin stuck on my face.

“There’s our girl,” Cillian says as he stands and Boris helps him up.

I hold out a finger to both of them.

“No, no, no. Tickle fights do not fix everything.” I literally cannot stop grinning and it makes Cillian doubt my words.Bastard.

My phone rings at the same moment I’m ready to rant about the fact that just because I’m laughing, does not mean it’s funny.

All of us glance at each other before I dart across the room. There are very few people my phone will ring for in the middle of the night. This is either an emergency or someone has news.

“What is it?” I answer with urgency in my tone.

“You need to get here now, we’ve got information,” Evie says over the line.

I’m already moving, running to throw on clothes and grabbing my go bag. The guys don’t hesitate to do the same, and in less than five minutes, we’re all in Boris’ car headed to Evie.

We make it to the tower in record time and jump in the elevator. Evie wastes no time letting us in, the door opens before I can even step through the elevator.

“We need to move. Now.”

Evie greets us at the door, holding it open with a video chat on a computer in her hand. Each of her men throw their bags over their shoulders as Evie directs us to another elevator, one that will take us to their helicopter on the roof.

“If I would have known, I would’ve told you to meet us at the airstrip, but this guy,” she gestures to the man on the screen that gives a solemn wave, “just gave us what we needed.”

I narrow my eyes on him. I haven’t seen him before, but we have been tricked once already.

“How do we know he can be trusted?” I ask.

“I vetted him,” Lev answers as Damien picks up their dog, Azazel, and puts him in a large harness for the flight. “Full background check. Besides, he’s a cousin to one of our contacts. He breached protocol by getting family involved, but ultimately, it might save lives.”

I nod, trusting him as we race up the stairs. Thankfully, we brought our bags with us too, so we toss them in the center of the chopper and take our seats. As soon as we’re up in the air, the man begins to explain.

“I work for a trucking company here in Norway. I was at a stop earlier today when I heard a man talking about live cargo. That isn’t all too unusual because some of us transfer cattle and such. However, what caught my attention was when he said some of the cargo talked back to him and that was how he split his knuckles.”

Knowing one of the kids was hurt makes me internally cringe. I cannot imagine what kind of grown man hits a child, but then again, I can’t imagine who does any of this anyway.

“He kept talking and ended up saying a bit too much. I wear a hearing aid most of the time, and today I happened to have it turned up because the waitress here speaks so softly. It was by chance I overheard him.”

I can’t believe we actually got this lucky. It was a one in a million chance. “So you know where they are?”

He nods. “I was able to put a tracker on his truck. I hope you make him pay.”

“Oh, we will,” Cillian says, and everyone around us makes sounds or grunts of agreement.

Anxiety and anticipation thrum through my veins as we head to the airstrip. Just before we arrive, rain begins to fall. I can’t help but think this is a sign. But for what, I don’t know. All I do know is that I have to save these kids, just like I should have saved my sister.

Fourteen years ago

I wake in the night with a horrible feeling in my chest. It shouldn’t be there. In fact, I should be sleeping like a baby after how hard I’ve worked today.

---