Page 17 of Taking Over the Dark

Are we walking into an army of Albanian men?

Have the Albanians beaten and abused their bodies so badly that they’re already dead?

What if one of them is alive and the other isn’t?

And what if they don’t want to put themselves in danger being around me anymore?

Pulling myself out of the spiral, I do the tried and true thing I know works to calm my brain… plan and take control. I send a quick text to Doc, letting him know what we’re about to walk into and that he and Haisley will be needed at the warehouse, prepped and ready for the worst.

I question, “Z, what do we know about this place?”

The coordinates that came through from Alex are in the middle of the Valley of Fire, which happens to be a national park. A shiver racks my body. Why they would be in the park has even more worry coursing through me.

According to Alex’s text updates, the dads are supposedly already there and have been for over an hour. As Alex can hear us, Zamir starts to read the most recent text out loud, “Your dad is on the move again. Looks to be heading back toward Vegas. My dad is still showing at the coordinates.” He’s thinking hard, in silence, before he adds, “I don’t like how this is looking. My dad is looking guiltier and guiltier by the minute.”

We follow the trail of blood-covered sand to what seems to be a huge rock with holes in the front of it—big enough for us to walk into. The coordinates are this rock formation. I’m leading, Zamir’s in the middle, and Vin’s in the back as we scan the area, guns drawn, ready for anything and everything.

I clear the outside of the formation, and we don’t hear anything out of the ordinary. The bone-reaching chill from the late hours of the night in the middle of the desert isn’t ideal for any of us either. Especially if this is what Nash and Ellie have been dealing with since being held captive.

Alex said he had heard Agron and Vito talking about the Albanians taking captives here. How far out from the city it ismakes it ideal, and the desert environment does all the nasty work for them.

I might be a sick fuck, but at least I don’t make my victims suffer like this. And they all deserve it. Nash and Ellie did absolutely nothing besides be associated with Zamir and me.

Still following the blood-soaked sand, I enter the first hole in the rock formation and immediately get hit with a metallic scent. After scanning the little cave, I look down and see a middle-aged man lying on the ground. All of his blood out of his body from what seems to be multiple knife wounds and cuts covering his body.

Whoever killed this man wanted him to suffer. Bleeding out slowly is at the bottom of the list of how I would want to be taken out of this world. Zamir rounds the corner and spots the body, then gasps, “Fuck!”

Vin rounds the corner last, asking, “What?” He takes in what’s in front of him, too, and asks another question, “Oh shit… who’s that?” He sees the distress on Zamir’s face, and it’s hitting me now.

“That’s Vito… Alex’s dad. My uncle.”

They’re playing us in my favorite game… the mental game.

And I’m about to go all in.

* Bad Things - I Prevail

FOURTEEN

ZAMIR

I’m staring at my uncle’s lifeless body on the ground, but the following command that comes from my mouth is even shocking to me. “This one is clear. Let’s move. We’ve got to find them!” I hope to fuck my stupid-ass dad didn’t take them with him. I know at this point he’s the only one that had reason to take Ellie. Anyone else would’ve been scared shitless of Marcello.

?*With all of our guns drawn, we head to the next cutout in the rock formation. Marcello is leading again. Vin wraps around the back side, ensuring it’s clear back there, and I follow Marcello in. I’m listening for anything, but it’s eerily quiet…

I don’t see anything unusual in this one, so we head back out and into the next. My brain is working on autopilot as we move through the motions that I know will keep us alive. This is the part that I miss—shutting my brain off and getting the mission done. I wouldn’t say I like how I’ve come to be reintroduced, but once I have Ellie and Nash back in my hands, there won’t be any stopping me from diving headfirst into this life again. And it’s looking more and more like I’m going to be putting a bullet in my dad’s skull.

The third and final cutout is the only place Nash and Ellie could be. They would’ve been here long enough for theremissness of their being here to be obvious to the eye, even if he took them with him. I see Vin step up to my side behind Cello’s other shoulder, and he tells us, “All clear in the back.”

Cello gives him a nod, and we start in, clearing the small area quickly and successfully. “Fuck!” Marcello’s yell echoes off the rock walls.

Vin’s voice breaks through the echoes, “Hold on, I think there might be something under us.” He proceeds to stomp on what I thought was just sand, but it has a more hollow sound when Vin’s boot lands each time.

Before I can think anymore, I tuck my gun in the back of my pants, crouch down, and start moving sand around, feeling for a handle or anything that would lead me to some kind of underground bunker. Marcello and Vin are doing the same. Sand is flying everywhere, and we’re all in a panic, knowing this might finally reveal where they are. But also trying to prepare myself mentally for what we could be about to see.

My hand hits what feels like a metal bracket or handle, and I yell to the guys, “I found it!” I’m dusting all the sand off that I can, trying to see which way it opens, and clearing as much as possible so it doesn’t fall onto whatever is under here.

Why, and how, did my fucking father know about this place? The bigger question being, why did he kill my uncle and run? I mentally note to check the cars and apartment for tracking devices because all this shit has been way too coincidental.

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