Page 83 of Hot for Hostage

“You mean the same police who helped you get your dog back from the Skulls?” Vince shot back. “Oh, wait. Or did they ignore you and you had to come to us for help?”

I paused, snapping my mouth shut. It was true—Officer Murdock hadn’t been much help when Bear was taken. Even before that, he’d dismissed all our concerns about the teenage thugs.

“The police don’t do shit in this town,” Vince continued. “That’s why families like Davian’s exist.”

I focused on hitting the lock again. “It’s still not up to you to decide whether a man lives or dies.”

He chuckled like I’d said something cute. “No one’s going to kill him.”

“Liar!” the man wailed, before a fresh round of sobs took over.

I brought the rock down on the padlock again. And again.

…It didn’t even scuff the metal.

After a dozen more futile tries that left me panting and growing more desperate, Vince heaved a sigh. “It won’t work. That lock is top of the line. Only a key can open it. You’re just wearing yourself out.”

But I didn’t give up. This man was counting on me. If anything, I swung the rock harder, and it…didn’t even make a dent.

Sheesh.

“That’s enough,” Vince said gruffly. He plucked the rock out of my hands and tossed it aside before I could stop him, then wrapped his giant mitt around my arm.

“What the?—?”

He dragged me toward the edge of the clearing, and I fought with everything I had against his hold. He didn’t budge.

“Stop! We can’t just leave him?—”

Vince yanked me forward, making me stumble. “Either start walking, or I’ll carry you over my shoulder all the way back to the house.”

His glower showed he meant it, and I had a sudden vision of him carrying me kicking and screaming all the way back to the house like a misbehaving toddler.

So, I started walking.

But I made sure to give him the deadliest glare I could muster while cradling my bruised finger.

Ithurt.

“Wait!” the man in the shed yelled after us. “Don’t leave me?—”

“Shut up, Lorenzo,” Vince snapped back at him. “We’ll talk later.”

The shed went silent, and I stared over my shoulder at it as Vince pulled me through the trees.

“What will happen to him? To Lorenzo?” I whispered as the shed fell out of sight.

“That’s for Davian to decide,” he answered shortly.

That sounded ominous, and unease swelled in my gut, but my curiosity got the better of me. “Why is he even in there?”

Once I’d stopped fighting him, Vince dropped my arm and grunted. “You didn’t think the rat problem was actual rodents, did you?”

Surprise made me trip over my own feet, and Vince grabbed my arm again—this time to keep me upright. “I—What?”

“Don’t look so shocked,” he said dryly before dropping my arm and looking forward again. “You know who Davian is.”

“Do I?” A shrill laugh escaped me, but he made a good point. Gladys and Ryan had warned me all about the Reed family. The whole reason I’d taken Davian hostage was because people wereafraid of him. He was the only one those teenage thugs would listen to.

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