Page 3 of Killian
“Now, Ellie.” This time he didn’t wait for me to contemplate his words. He opened the SUV door, lifted me clean off my feet, put me inside. He put Bri in, then the door was shut and locked. My mind was racing, trying to focus on Killian.
Only he was already gone. Like a figment of my imagination, just up in smoke, as if I dreamed this entire evening’s actions. Blinking didn’t wake me, nor did the customary pinching of the skin, so it must be real.
I turned to Bri, and her mouth was hanging open in shock or surprise—I wasn’t sure which. I asked, “You did see Killian, right?” needing her to confirm what I’d just seen.
Her head shook, unable to form words.
“And he just grabbed us from that house and ordered us in here, right?”
She nodded again.
“Say something!” I cried out in frustration. I was a bit freaked out and pissed by the turn in events, but she was my bestie, and she’d get over it. I needed something from her. I didn’t know what, but something!
“Girrll…” she drawled out like we weren’t in this crazy situation, but instead sitting at her house drinking. “That was so him. Where did he come from?”
“Hell if I know.” I looked out the window seeing nothing but light filtering from the windows of the house. We were much farther away from it now, but I saw no trace of Killian or his friend anywhere.
“I haven’t seen him in years. You remember all the rumors?” Bri asked, and oh boy, did I remember the rumors. Killian Graham was the talk of the town. The stories were wild. Anything from Killian worked for the CIA, to a mercenary, and some even eluded to him being a drug kingpin. No one actually knew what Killian did, and that aura of mystery made the man utterly intriguing.
It was then everything went off the Richter scale crazy. Police sirens heard in the distance were fast approaching, and within a couple of seconds the house was bathed in the headlights of police cars and SUVs. The officers hopped out, guns at the ready and standing behind their vehicle doors.
Shit! What did we find ourselves in the midst of? This wasn’t good.
My brother Elliot got out of his cop car, gun pointed at the house like his brethren. “Fuck! Elliot’s here!”
“I can see.” Bri added, “Along with the entire force, it seems.” She wasn’t wrong.
I knew many of the men from my brother. None of which would be happy about me being here. At all. They’d taken on a protective role in my life, either doing it for Elliot or just because they were kickass men.
Sometimes it served me well, other times not so much. My Jeep wasn’t far enough away for my brother and his brothers-in-blue not to see it and recognize it was mine. They would all know in seconds I was in the area. An area I clearly shouldn’t have been in.
“Shit. He’s gonna…” I started to vocalize my thoughts, scanning the area. My eyes drifted over to where my Jeep was parked only to find that spot empty. “Where’s my Jeep!”
I made a move for the door handle, yanking it and trying to get it opened. It was to no avail because the damn thing was locked from the outside. Killian had to be joking. “He locked us in!”
Bri’s arms went around me tight. “Take a deep breath. We’re safe. Let them do whatever they’re doing, and stay out of the way.”
Anger, fear, frustration. All these emotions flooded my system, and I was stuck sitting in this SUV with not a single answer to the eighteen hundred questions consuming me. So I went with the ones Bri could answer. Since she was in the predicament beforehand, I didn’t ask anything as I made my way to her. Now, well, now it was time for the inquisition. “Why the hell were you here alone, Bri? That’s not like you.” And it wasn’t. She may party, but she always had someone with her. Usually it was a friend of ours named Khloe who was her single wingman.
“You remember Landon Dane?” she asked.
“Four years older than us. Running back on the football team. Works for his father.”
“Right. He invited me here with him. He called Khloe and asked her to come too. Even told her I was with him. When Landon hung up, he had a huge smile on his face and told me Khloe would meet us there. Khloe didn’t show and Landon disappeared, leaving me in the living room not knowing a single soul.
“And you know I can talk to anyone. These people, though, weren’t the talking and chatting type. After checking my phone a billion times to see if Khloe had answered my texts, I went in search of Landon so we could leave. The vibe did not feel good. I found him making out with a short-cropped blonde. I tried to leave, and the big guy who busted down the door wouldn’t let me. He blocked me from every path, asking my name and who I was there with. I was able to get away and ran to the bathroom and locked myself in, calling you.”
I gripped her hand. “Bri! You always come with your partner. Never any guys!”
“I did. I thought…” She trailed off.
I knew exactly what she thought. That Landon was successful and showed an interest in her, therefore she went thinking he’d have her back until Khloe showed up, and we all see where that got her. Yes, strangling her might knock some sense in her. Except this was Bri, and she tended to take life as it came with no plan. Believing in people she shouldn’t.
“I…” A loud commotion started from outside the SUV. Loud grunts and curses could be heard from several different people. Some of the guys from the house were face-down on the front lawn while others were being hauled out and getting their hands tied behind their backs.
My brother had his knee in one of the men’s backs, slapping cuffs on him, while other cops were putting men inside the van that pulled up.
Jesus. This was a planned thing. Like a sting operation.
