Page 34 of Everest

“Wait, Lon. Are you not going to wait for Royce?” Journey calls out.

“Nah. I’m beat and have an early day tomorrow. Later,” I say with a wave as I make my way down the hall toward the back exit. Though I’d prefer the night not to end in drama, I'm thankful for the few extra hours of sleep I’ll get tonight. I’ve been running on fumes for months.

A warm breeze hits my face when I swing open the door. As I make my way to my car, an eerie feeling washes over me, and suddenly, I wish I’d waited on Royce like Tony instructed. He’s adamant that we girls don’t leave the club alone. Halfway to my car, I look over my shoulder, scanning the near-empty lot, and breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t see anything. My relief is short-lived when I twist back around and come face to face with a man I don’t know but have seen once before. He's one of the men Journey and I saw come out of Amara’s house last week during our failed stakeout.

“Nighty, night, bitch,” he sneers right before he presses something to my neck.

Then it’s lights out.

I crack my eyes open some time later, feeling disoriented. Blinking several times, I try to force my muscles to move. As my vision finally clears, my eyes lock on an unfamiliar tattooed hand and a steering wheel. My gaze flicks up, and then my memory comes flooding back. Terror sets in when the asshole turns his head and looks at me with his chilling eyes. Bile rises in my throat as I try to force myself to do something, anything, but for some odd and terrifying reason, my muscles are unwilling to cooperate.

In that instant, I know what real fear is.

It’s then that two things happen at once.

First, the car stops at a red light, and about ten seconds later, the driver’s side window is busted out. Broken pieces of glass go flying, causing a scream to escape my mouth.

“What the fuck,” my kidnapper spits while making a move for his gun.

The next thing I know, a beacon of hope in the form of a gaudy blue and green windbreaker is there. Tony’s fist comes barreling down through the shattered window before slamming into the side of my kidnapper’s temple, knocking him unconscious. I stare in shock at the man slumped over in the driver’s seat. Moments later, the passenger door is ripped open.

“Let’s go, sweetheart. Time to make haste before the cops show.” Tony wrestles me from the car, practically taking all my weight, considering my muscles feel like mush.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I say.

“That son of bitch stun-gunned you. You’ll be all right in a few minutes.”

We reach Tony’s car, and he shoves me inside without a word. He sprints around the hood, then drops into the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut. That’s when I spot the baseball bat—no doubt the one he used to smash the kidnapper’s window. He tosses it into the back seat like it’s nothing.

“You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?” he mutters, stomping on the gas. He runs a red light, the roar of sirens rising in the distance. We cut through backstreets and tight corners, avoiding the main roads. Every few seconds, Tony glances between the rearview mirror and the road, jaw tight, eyes sharp.

“What the hell just happened?” I ask in a panic.

“What happened is you didn’t wait for Royce to walk you to your car like I said, and you got yourself kidnapped. Royce and Journey saw the whole damn thing. Saw that son of a bitch stun gun you and toss you in his car.”

“You say that like I wanted this to happen.” I narrow my eyes.

“No, I say that like you’re a pain in my ass because you’re apain in my ass. And youdon’t listen.”

“Whatever,” I grumble. When I notice Tony is taking us back to the club, I add, “Shouldn’t we go to the police?”

Tony shakes his head. “Not my call.”

“Then whose call is it? Because you’d think when a person is kidnapped and stun-gunned, the only call to be made is to the cops.”

Tony pulls up to Pink Paradise and twists in his seat. He gives me a look I’m not sure I like. “You’re gonna be pissed but know I did this because I care about you. And right now, some serious shit is goin’ down. I also know once you’re done being pissed, you’ll realize it was the right move.”

Confused, I shake my head. And before I can open my mouth, a familiar rumbling sound echoes in the distance. The sound draws closer, so close that the windows on Tony’s car begin to rattle.

Panicked, I ask, “Please tell me you didn’t, Tony.”

“London, the shit goin’ down is not good. You could have been killed tonight.”

Turning back to Tony, I shove the car door open and jump out, jogging across the strip club’s parking lot toward my vehicle, but stop when I realize I don’t have my keys or purse.Dammit!

Before I can think of an escape plan, six Harleys roll into the parking lot of Pink Paradise. A gamut of emotions washes over me, shame being one of them. These men are like family. Nova is married to my best friend. Everest is… well, I don’t know. I just know I don’t want them seeing me here, and I don’t want them inmy business. I have struggled for months to ensure this part of my life didn’t bleed over.

I feel Tony at my back but refuse to acknowledge him. Instead, I watch Riggs, along with Everest, dismount their bikes. Riggs keeps his focus aimed at the man behind me. However, Everest locks eyes with me.

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