Page 67 of Ruthless

“Fiona?” I gasp out and run over to my friend sitting on the floor. Some black zip ties tie her wrists and ankles together, and a piece of duct tape covers her mouth. Her brown hair is a matted mess, and there’s a small cut on her head. Her hazel eyes are red and puffy as if she’s been crying.

I kneel and tug on the zip ties, but they don’t give. Time isn’t on our side, and it takes everything in me to keep calm. Silently, I thank my brother for being an overbearing ass and slip the knife from the waistband of my leggings.

“I’m going to get you free, and then we’ll get the hell out of here.” She nods as I suck in a deep breath and slide the knife between her wrists and the zip ties. I tug, but before I can break them, she starts screaming behind her gag and looks behind me. My shoulders tighten, but I force myself to turn around, and that’s when pain explodes along the back of my head. The next thing I know, everything goes black.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

Zane

Asher chased after the shooter, but whoever they were disappeared into the crowd before he could find them. It was only a matter of time before someone came and found Admiral Wallace, so I called in a family favor. When Finn’s cleaning crew arrived a short time later, we got the hell out of there. If my mind wasn’t preoccupied with thousands of other shit, then I would have stopped and questioned why it only took them seconds to find us.

The silence in the truck weighs us all down. Wallace didn’t tell us shit, and we’re still stuck at square one with who the fuck is behind all of this. Our only improvement is that we now have a name to go on. There has to be a bigger piece of the puzzle we’re missing, and my gut tells me it’s closer to home than we’d like.

More than halfway into our drive, Axel’s phone vibrates, cutting into the heavy silence that fills the cab. “I swear to you, Wildcat, I didn’t look.” The smile on his face drops the longer he listens to Kelsey speak. There’s a slight shift in the air of the cab as Asher and me both zone in on that subtle change in his body language. Isaac wouldn’t notice because he doesn’t know our baby brother or his tells like we do. Then his eyes meet mine, and every one of my muscles tenses up. “I’ll handle it. Thanks. I love you.”

He ends the call and rubs his thumb along his bottom lip but doesn’t say anything. Time seems to slow as I watch and wait for him to say something, anything. Instead, he remains silent until I’m left with no choice but to get it out of him.

“What did she say?” My eyes narrow as I follow the movement of his thumb.

Still no answer. It’s like he’s stalling on purpose, and it’s starting to piss me off. “Axel?”

“Promise me that you won’t freak the fuck out, Z.” He keeps his voice smooth and even like he’s talking to a wounded animal, and I don’t like that one fucking bit.

I twist further in my seat, ready to jump into the back seat and beat his ass if he doesn’t start talking. “What. Did. Kelsey. Say?” Each word comes out slow and controlled, but inside, the storm is building. I make no promises on freaking the fuck out because my mind is already racing with possibilities after being shot at again, and none of them are good.

“Ax, if you know something, you need to fucking spill it now,” Asher warns from the driver’s seat, never taking his eyes off the road.

My little brother sighs and drops his thumb from his mouth. “Kennedy’s friend Fiona showed up at her apartment and called her all freaked out, so Rory took her to pick her up.”

“That all?” My muscles loosen a fraction. That doesn’t sound too bad, but I’m still on edge because something tells me there’s more to it.

“No.” A muscle jerks his cheek as he holds my stare. “That was an hour ago, and nobody can get ahold of them. Both of their phones are going straight to voice mail.”

The vein on the side of my neck throbs as what he’s saying sinks in. I shift my gaze over to Asher as I clench my fists together. “Ash—”

“On it.” My big brother nods, slamming his foot down on the gas and hauling ass to Kennedy’s apartment complex.

He gets us there in record time, but my stomach has been in knots since Kelsey’s call. The truck pulls right up to the curb by the entrance, and he kills the ignition. He’s in a loading zone and will more than likely be towed, but none of us give a shit. The only thing that matters is finding out what the fuck is going on and where my wife is.

The four of us swarm into the elevator and count the floors in silence, with our guns out and ready. Someone may see us when we enter the hall, but it’s a risk we’re willing to take. After what happened at the club, we’re not taking any chances of being caught off guard again tonight.

When we reach Kennedy’s apartment, the door is closed. I could take out the key I had made, but it’ll waste too much time. I’ve got a much faster solution in mind. I lift my foot and kick her door down with the heel of my boot. With our guns out in front, we rush inside Kennedy’s place. It doesn’t take long for us to clear it. It’s tiny as fuck. Nothing looks out of place since the last time we were here, but that makes no sense.

Asher and Axel are in the back bedroom and bathroom, but Isaac is heading toward me.

“Anything?” I watch his body language for any sign he’s lying to me, but he’s rock solid.

“Not a fucking thing.” Isaac shakes his head with his gun draped at his side.

Asher and Axel come back into the living room soon after, offering me the same empty answer.

“Fuck!” I fist my hair, doing a piss poor attempt at reigning in my temper, and glance around the space. Her place is still trashed, but there has to be a clue that we aren’t seeing. “And there was no bag or something telling us that they’ve been here?”

“We looked, brother.” Asher shakes his head. “There’s nothing.”

“It’s like they were never even here, Z.” Axel grits his teeth, mirroring my frustration at this clusterfuck of a situation.

“There has to be something that we aren’t seeing.” I tug on the end of my beard and refuse to believe there’s not a clue or anything telling us that they made it inside the apartment.

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