"Edward, how do we get to her? She took the car."
I glance at him over my shoulder, "You didn’t think I’d allow you to have the only ride in town, did you?"
His eyes gleam, "Bastard."
"Wanker." I smirk. "See you in a minute."
By the time I pull on my clothes and reach the door, he’s already there. I walk around the back of the house, to the garage in the far corner. A few minutes later, we pull out of the driveway in my Aston Martin.
"You had this in the garage, all this time?"
I raise my shoulders. "I had Sinner equip the place with the essentials."
"Remind me to thank him…" He shakes my head, "No, actually, don’t. That would only feed into the bastard’s ego, and he has more than enough of that to go around."
"As do you."
"And you," he reminds me.
"It’s what got us into this situation in the first place."
Baron stares straight ahead.
"Fuck," I slam my palm down on the steering wheel. "Bloody fuck." I turn onto the highway, press down on the accelerator. "How much further?"
"Another few miles." Baron repeatedly glances down at the phone, then up at the road, finally cautioning me, "Slow down. We should be coming up to it.”
I lose speed, search the area as I drive.
"There," Baron exclaims.
I slam on the brakes, park on the side of the road. By the time I am out of the car, he’s already at the SUV. He races over to the passenger side and freezes. "She’s not here."
I take in the car’s front end, which is crumpled against the tree. "The airbags deployed," I state unnecessarily."
"Where the fuck is she?" he swears.
I walk around to the driver’s side, spot the trampled grass around the space. "Look at this"
Baron stalks around the car, follows my gaze, and his features pale. "Fuck," he growls. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
"They got to her."
"We need to find her before they hurt her."
Baron’s phone rings just then. We glance at each other, then he answers the phone. "Archer?" He listens for a few seconds, then disconnects and stares at me, "The man you injured at the church? He’s awake."
Two hours later, we pull up at the safehouse outside of London, where both the homeless guy and the guy who'd broken into Ava's studio, have been taken.
I park the car behind two other SUVs and follow Baron into the house. We walk past the empty living room to the bedroom where the homeless guy is. Archer straightens from his position by the window.
"Has he spoken?" Baron takes in the figure on the bed.
"Not yet." Weston glances up from his chair next to the bed. When Archer had moved the injured men here for their own safety, Weston had opted to come with them, staying available to monitor their progress.
I walk around to stand over the man. He’s a big man, and his bulk takes up most of the narrow bed. His eyes are shut, his hair in disarray. His features are ashen, the marks around his neck standing out in contrast against his skin. I curl my fingers into fists. I should have killed the bastard; too bad he didn’t die. I take a step forward and Baron grabs my shoulder.
I turn to him and he shakes his head. "Let me question him."