Page 6 of Bottoms
“Oh, no, son. I haven’t given a moment’s thought to that little exchange. I was wondering if you happened to have any workers that were looking for some additional employment. Private work that would be compensated for,” the man said, licking his lips. I couldn’t help but feel the bottom of my stomach churning in distaste.
“No one comes to mind. But I will look over my herd and see if I can find someone to your tastes,” I said, matching the senator’s cruel smile with one of my own. His grin centered around the ideas running through his mind about what he would do to the girl, whereas my thoughts centered on what we could do to him.
“Ahh. Yes, that sounds perfect, my boy,” he roared, clapping me on the shoulder. “With all this confusion concerning Mr. Teller, I have had difficulty finding a supplier.”
The sound of a gun being fired broke through the walls of the building, and I watched several guests duck down with tiny shrieks. Their eyes darted around, not knowing which direction the shot came from. Every trained and armed person became quickly known as we stood with our hands hovering above our weapons, looking towards the back of the building.
Then all hell broke loose.
I turned to Nik and saw his eyes wide with fear, and with my nod, we immediately headed for the exit. Everyone else in the building seemed to have the same idea, and most rushed to the front entrance. Nik and I fought through the crowd, making our way for the back exit of the building.
The direction the shot came from.
The exit Colten would have taken with Nessa.
We fought through the stream of frightened guests while they clutched onto their purses and headed along like the other cattle of this city. We finally passed most of the people and started to run.
“Oh, Mr. Ryland and Mr. Black. Everyone is to go out,” the mayor said as we passed her. I wasn’t stopping to turn around and go out the front entrance, only to circle back.
“Has Colten messaged at all?” I asked Nik, knowing Colten would text the group chat if anything had happened. But this was a case of no news not being good news.
“Colten likely pulled the trigger, and now he’s getting her to a safe location,” Nik said unwaveringly.
I wished I could feel a fraction of his confidence in the situation, but slow, cold dread washed through me the same as the night at the boathouse. I wouldn’t usually question Colten’s abilities, considering I knew better than anyone just how lethal he was. There was something inside the back of my mind that screamed out that something was wrong. I could feel it.
We burst through the exit and hit a crumbled body with the door.
“Colten,” Nik said, kneeling to check for a pulse.
Rain fell from the sky; icy cold. Colten’s suit was soaked through, but at least it seemed only due to rain and not blood. Where the fuck was Nessa?
“He’s alive,” Nik said, nodding with his assessment. “COLTEN,” Nik yelled, shaking our partner this time.
“Grrrn,” Colten mumbled as his eyes started rolling around. I breathed a quick sigh of relief.
“Where’s Nessa, Colten?” Nik asked, pulling Colten up to look him in the eyes even though Colten didn’t seem to be able to see straight yet. He took a deep breath, and I saw his gaze clear as he realized where we were.
“Go!” Colten said firmly with a look of fear in his eyes. “Find her,” he choked out with the same despair that ran through my veins. Colten sat up and placed his head in his hands like he had already assumed the worst.
The dull thud of my heart beating drowned out the sound of the rain. It fell on me like icy sheets, but it didn’t matter. I felt dead inside already. I took off between the buildings, my feet leading the way. My heart stopped at the same time my feet did as pockets of fire, and three writhing bodies appeared down a narrow passage. I inched forward as if drawn to the carnage, yet terrified of what I was about to see.
It felt like I was seven all over again. Creeping through the hallways of the dark and silent mansion. Only that night, sounds came from one of the guest rooms. My hand had reached out to crack open the door, only to find my mother with Mr. Black naked and in bed together.
Crushing the trash littering the path between the buildings as I approached the burning aftermath brought back the same feeling of dread from my memories. Groans of whoever was up ahead filled the air, along with the horrible smell of burned hair and a lingering tang of gasoline.
None of them were female.
None of them were her.
I walked through the carnage as if I had been its creator, observing my battlefield after the war as I pushed down my emotions. Three men were lying on the ground, their clothes burned and melted into their skin. The smell of piss ran under the other offensive odors, but to be fair to them, it could have been like that before. I breathed in deeply, telling my face not to react to the stink while I calmed myself to know that Nessa was at least not one of these poor fucks.
Their critical failure seemed to be that they all were wearing black ski masks. Ones that were not made from fire-retardant material. Every one of them was writing in pain with something very similar to plastic melted onto their face.
“Who has her?” I growled. Grabbing the nearest one by his shirt. It peeled away from him, bringing skin along with it, and I cringed, dropping him to the ground.
He couldn’t answer me, anyway. They were all in various shades of shock. It looked like someone had dropped liquid fire onto them, but the smell of gasoline lingered. I took a few steps back and surveyed the area, finding a broken glass bottle and the still smoldering remains of a rag wick.
Molotov Cocktail.
