Page 138 of Creed

“We’re at the southeast part of the park,” one of Tag’s teammates says over the comms. “About four hundred yards from you. Come on.”

Instantly, a cold, icy calm falls over Tag, along with a stark darkness that mirrors Vito’s when he’s about to end one of our enemies. If I wasn’t so relieved, I’d be startled and concerned for my safety.

His eyes meet mine, and unspoken words flow between us.

Geraldo Ortez. Pastor Salome. Frederico Perez. Manuel Morales. Those names and any others a threat to Sophie and Severyn are inked in blood on his kill sheet.

“Let’s go, brother,” I rasp, then we take off sprinting.

Nexin and Rolf are in the vehicle when we jump in. The big guy, Rolf, is driving and guns the engine the instant our asses hit the seat.

They give us the quick casualty report—two of my brother's men were killed, Rocco took a gut shot, and Andro was hit in the leg. Antonio and Miguel are okay and on their way to Ollie in the hospital.

Tag is silent, continuing to stare at his phone and the tracking program for Ryn. Suddenly his icy calm is replaced with a flaming fury and he levels his gun at Rolf's head.

“Turn around, Rolf; you're going the wrong way. And Kotan, put me thefuckback on Ryn's comms.”

“Tag, what the hell are you doing?” Nexin shouts, staring back at him from the passenger seat.

Rolf isn’t fazed as he races us into the night. “We need weapons and a plan if we want to get them back.”

Kotan is speaking to Tag over the comms, trying to calm him down.

Every fiber of my being wants to threaten Rolf, too, because the distance between Sophie and me is increasing, but Rolf is right.

I reach forward and place my hand on Tag’s wrist to lower the gun, locking my eyes with him. “He’s right. We need a plan, plus more weapons. We can’t save them if we’re dead.”

Tag had said basically the same thing to me behind Electric. It connects in his murderous, black haze, and he lowers his gun, putting the safety back on.

I sit back, trying to keep calm as they talk, and snap to attention when a female's voice is speaking in my ear. I realize it's Len.

“Haul ass to the marina, boys.”

“How far is it?” Tag demands through clenched teeth.

I look around at where we are. “Under ten minutes.”

Rolf cranks the wheel to take a tight turn at fast speeds. “I can get us there in under five.”

My body has never been this tense. Especially as Tag nearly loses his shit again when Kotan refuses to put us back on Ryn's comms and we contemplate that the girls might be being assaulted. Zane Andrews himself comes on over the earpieces and reassures us nothing has happened to either of them.

I'm hanging on by a thread when Len gives us directions to where she is at the marina, and as we approach a small warehouse the overhead door opens.

“This warehouse belongs to my family,” I say with a bit of shock as Rolf drives us inside and a tall, lithe blonde woman pulls the overhead door down and locks it. “How the hell…”

The blonde woman, who I suspect is Len, strides to a stack of boxes with a laptop open on top. “Once I found out what we were dealing with, I called Army, and he and Ash got in contact with Tommaso, and he had a guy let me in,” she explains to me.

A thick, stocky man with a beard steps out of the shadows, eyeing me warily.

“Jones, what the hell are you doing here?” Tag barks. “You’re supposed to be at the hospital.”

“My men have it covered; Ollie’s safe.” He crosses his arms over his thick chest, and I realize he’s part of the team Len brought in. “And Len called because she knew I’d have what you needed on hand. You know I never travel without explosives.”

Jones… Explosives… Son of a bitch.

I know of an Adamus Jones, who Vito has dealt with to procure hard-to-get weapons. But that man is certainly not the kind I’d suspect Tag and his team would work with. That man has averydark past—a ghost who only periodically pops up with dark deeds connected to his name.

However, there’s trust between Jones and Tag even if there's tension. I hear Tag gritting that 'if Jones smiled at her wrong, he’d flay his balls.'

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