Page 65 of To Catch A Rook

“Thanks!” I grabbed the phone and hung up without explanation. Grabbing my keys on the hook by my desk, I raced out the door.

No Joey this time. My Jaguar was parked in the garage below in case I needed to get somewhere in a hurry.

This qualified.

I took the concrete stairs in the emergency stairwell two at a time, urgency licking at my heels like a broiling fire. I couldn’t explain the fear making my heart pound nearly out of my chest, but it was there, thrumming like a war drum before the final battle.

The night was eerily dark, cloud cover erasing all evidence of a moon and stars above. I barreled through our city streets with no thought for traffic rules; fortunately, this part of Carlisle completely shut down after eight pm, so I had little competition as I changed lanes like I belonged in a street race.

It took far too long to get to my destination. When I pulled into the parking lot, I caught sight of Aaron’s black Mercedes—the car he drove when Jacques wasn’t around. Another vehicle, a blue Jeep I didn’t recognize, was parked alongside it.

I parked on its opposite side and took one brief moment to catch my bearings. I had no idea who might be in there, what they were doing, or how armed they were. It would be stupid for me to run in empty-handed.

I pulled the dainty handgun out of my glove department. I despised guns, but taking a knife to a gunfight was a stupid move, bound to get me killed. I was a skilled fighter, but I wasn’t faster than a bullet.

My phone vibrated against my stomach; I hurriedly pulled it out of my pocket in case it was Blackbird with more information, but it was only Lucky.

He had been trying to get hold of me all evening, but I’d ignored him. I left him on read, again. Our game wasn’t important tonight–not when the tangible fear of something amiss was slicing through my insides.

With an impatient sense of caution, I slipped out of the vehicle and pressed myself against the wall of the building. I shuffled along to the large metal entrance door. It hung ajar the tiniest sliver, allowing me to peek into the inside.

Two men circled each other like wary prey, blood trickling from their knuckles, grim determination on their faces.

Mytwo men. Aaron took Kellan’s punch, and blood sprayed from his face along with an echoing grunt of pain.

I couldn’t see anyone else from my vantage point, and I couldn’t stand by while these insufferable asshats beat each other to death.

I kicked in the door with a flourish, raised my gun in front of my face, and conducted a quick perimeter check.

We were alone. Neither man turned to look at me, too lost in their caveman dance to notice my presence.

I watched in horror as Aaron got in a hit; Kellan grunted and fell to his knees at the gut punch, but then, he caught Aaron right in the solar plexus, dropping him to the ground. He rolled on top of Aaron’s wheezing form, and raised a fist to pound his face.

I couldn’t think—couldn’t breathe—so I shot instead.

The crack of the bullet rocketed through the empty space like a sonic boom and it wedged into a steel beam on the other side of the room. Two haunted gazes turned to look at me in shock.

“What in the ever-lovingfuckare you doing here?”

The first to recover his voice, Kellan’s icy gaze was furious as he stared at the gun in my hand. An angled gash bled over his right eyelid, leaving a streak of blood down his cheek that clumped into the light hair of his beard. The raw skin of his fists was a stark contrast to his black clothing.

“You should not be here,Mi Reina,” Aaron said from his battered position on the ground. “We have not settled this dispute yet.”

I stared at him in frustrated disbelief before leveling my gun on Kellan’s wrathful face. “Excuse me? What the fuck areyoudoing here? Why thefuckare you trying to kill each other?”

My voice escalated from delivering a simple question to an incensed shriek. In any other circumstance, I would pride myself on staying calm and kept my emotions beneath the surface, disallowing any vulnerability to show. I’d bury any sign of weakness to maintain my powerful persona.

Allof my training and hard-won skill at negotiation had escaped through the crack in the metal door.

Watching the two of them intentionally trying to destroy each other broke something in me. I wasn’t leaving here without the two of them intact, or they could put me in a body bag too.

I had no suicidal impulses, so that definitely wouldn’t be happening tonight.

“How did you know we were here?” Aaron’s ragged voice posed the question, but Kellan answered it.

“She tracks us.” His grunt held the severe tone of displeasure. “You have some serious control issues, Killer.”

I cocked the gun and gestured for Kellan to move away from Aaron’s limp body. “Get away from him. And somebody better fucking tell me what this is about.Now.”

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