Page 26 of Fire
My boots felt heavy as I walked toward them. Before I reached Levi, Marcus slowly poured another bucket of water over Levi’s face. With this much torture, Levi was either stupid, or he really didn’t know where Kenzi was. I was willing to bet that he was just stupid.
“We can continue this longer than you can last, McBride,” Davian said as I stepped up behind him.
“Let me at him, Davian. I’ll make him talk,” I said between gritted teeth. I wanted nothing more than to take another go him.
Davian wrapped his hand around my arm and pulled me away from Levi. “I don’t think he knows anything. We’ve been at this since you left. The amount of torture he has endured would make any man talk.”
“Has he said anything? Anything that would help us find Kenzi.”
“Not really. Only that Niles Harris and a man named Van Wilkerson were involved and that they had her.”
Shit!“What else did he say?” If Levi told Davian everything about my past, I was screwed.
“Not much more. He did admit to driving Kenzi’s car to the market and removing her SIM card from her cell. Even if he hadn’t washed the SIM card down the sink, I’m not sure there would be anything on it that we could use.”
There were only two choices when it came to Levi. Either let him go and keep an eye on him or continue torturing him for more information. I agreed with Davian; Levi had shared everything he knew about Kenzi. “Let him go. I’ll keep an eye on him. Maybe by some miracle, he will get in touch with Harris and lead us to Kenzi.”
Nodding his head, Davian patted me on the shoulder. “We’ll find Kenzi, Axe. That’s a promise.”
Turning on my heels, I headed out of the warehouse. Before I got to my truck, I was on my cell dialing Wilkerson’s number. “Where the hell is she, Wilkerson? So help me God, if you hurt her in any way, I’ll kill you.”
“You aren’t in a position to do anything, Riley,” Wilkerson gloated. “Finish the job you are supposed to do, and I promise you’ll have your precious girlfriend back in one piece without so much as a broken fingernail.”
The line went dead before I could tell him what would happen if he hurt Kenzi. I should have known that he would use Kenzi as reassurance that I would follow through with blowing up her mom’s bookstore. I was royally fucked, because no matter what I did, I would lose the only thing good in my life. Starting my truck, I knew the only way to fix this was to find Kenzi before Wednesday. I had three days and could really use Davian’s help, but that meant I had to tell him about my past and my connection to Van Wilkerson. I wasn’t ready to do that.
Levi was my only hope of finding where Wilkerson had taken Kenzi, so I decided to wait for Levi to leave the warehouse. Davian or any of the other guys would never offer Levi a ride back to his place. Hopefully, he would make a detour before going back to his apartment. Given his current state, Levi would meet up with Wilkerson to show him his loyalty and what we had put him through. Levi was in a mess himself, but he would do anything to make himself look like a hero, even if he did spill his guts.
Parking my truck a block away from the warehouse, I spotted Levi walking on the sidewalk moments later. It was more limping than walking. He had a long way to walk. It wasn’t like he could pull out his cell and call Uber, and hailing a taxi in this area was impossible. It was getting dark, and it would be morning before he reached his apartment at this pace. I could be neighborly and offer him a ride, but I was the worst neighbor alive when it came to him. He more than deserved to walk, in my opinion.
Keeping a good distance from him, I saw the son-of-a-bitch got lucky. A blue minivan pulled over to the sidewalk where he was walking. The way Levi was limping, the driver must have felt sorry for him. When the woman driver got out, she was taking a chance giving a stranger a ride. She must not have felt threatened by him because after exchanging a few words, she helped him inside her van. The possibility of Levi meeting with Wilkerson was off the table. He might have been an asshole, but he wouldn’t involve an innocent bystander.
Following the minivan to his apartment building, I parked my truck across the street and watched Levi get out. I had no one waiting for me at home, so it looked like I would be staked outside his apartment until he was on the move. Damn, it was going to be a long night.
~19~
Levi
By this time next week, Axe Riley and his friends would wish they never messed with me. Granted, what they did to me could have been much worse; at least the information I shared was enough to plant the seed that was long overdue. Axe’s secrets would be revealed in a few short days, and his world would come down. Once Mac learned the truth about him, I would be right there to pick up the pieces to her broken heart. She and I could be together, like old times.
As I got out of the minivan, I looked around to see if Axe’s truck was in sight. He must have thought I didn’t see him. He had been following me since I left the warehouse where I was tortured. Now that I knew who the infamous Davian Cross was, his little empire would also be coming down.
As I struggled to climb the stairs up to my apartment, my beaten body reminded me of how messed up I was—first, by Niles Harris and then the Cross team. When I reached my apartment and saw what Axe had done to my door, I wanted to see him pay more than ever. My landlord would be pissed and probably blame me for other repairs that needed to be fixed in this shithole. Closing the door the best that I could with only one working hinge, I went to the bedroom to see if I could find my cell. The last I remembered, I had it charging on the nightstand. When I saw that it was where I had left it, I was glad that Axe hadn’t taken it. The only reason he hadn’t taken it had to be because of Kenzi and getting her whereabouts out of me. Not very smart on his part. The more I thought about it, it was really dumb, and Axe wasn’t that dumb.
When I removed the back of my phone, there was nothing to indicate that Axe placed a tracker on my cell. I put the back on and opened up my apps. Nothing appeared to be there that shouldn’t. Bringing up my apps manager, I would be able to tell if he downloaded an app to my phone while it was unconscious.
It took some time to go through every app I had on my phone to get the install date, but I finally found it. That fucker put a cloning app on my phone and disguised it as another app. I didn’t give him my password, and the only other way to unlock my phone was to use my thumbprint. Pissed, I almost uninstalled the app until a thought came to mind. Having him know my every move could work in my favor. I needed to get in touch with Van. I needed a new cell.
~
It was much easier going down the stairs than up them. When I opened the door, I looked around to find Axe parked down the block. It wasn't hard to miss his midnight blue Tundra. There weren't many vehicles parked along the street, but his stuck out like a sore thumb. If I had to guess, he was still inside, waiting for me to make my next move. I knew he would follow me as soon as I drove away. Let him. He was going to be in for a ride. I would be making more stops than the transit bus.
My first stop was to get some gas. If I was going to be driving around Atlanta, I wanted to make sure I had a full tank. Even though there was a gas station on every corner, I stopped at one the furthest away from all the shops.
As I looked in my rearview mirror, Axe was two cars behind me. I pulled into a gas station while keeping an eye on Axe. He drove past the station and made a right at the next corner. Shaking my head at his ignorance, I removed the gas handle from its cradle and began filling up my truck. Axe had made another loop around the block before the pump clicked, and my tank was full. I got inside my truck, grinning. He would need to play catch-up before I got to my next destination.
Every place I stopped, I made sure he would see me leave. I found what I was looking for on my fourth stop—a burner phone. Unless Axe had some sort of superpower, there was no way he could know that I purchased one. I had to contact Van and tell him what had happened since taking Mac.
My stomach began to growl, and since I hadn’t had breakfast, it was time to eat. There was a mom-and-pop diner a few miles away that would do just fine. There were plenty of windows along the front side for Axe to keep an eye on me while I ate. Before I even thought about eating, I needed to contact Van.
