Elijah nodded. “It’s going to be dangerous.”
“So? We’ve all been in danger before. Come on, it’ll be fun,” Henry said. “We do expect an invite to the wedding.”
Laughing, Elijah climbed back into his car. John and Tom joined him. Caleb and Henry moved to their own car.
“Drop down the seat beside you, Tom. You’ll find a case. Pull it out.” Elijah started up the car and drove toward the warehouse, the same warehouse where he’d first met Cherry.
“I’ve got it.”
“Good. Open it up, you’ll find weapons along with shit to start a fire. I’m going to leave you at the back of the warehouse, so set that bastard alight.”
“I do that and you’re only going to have a set time to get in and get out.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Pressing his foot to the gas, Elijah thought about Cherry and his little girl. No one touched what was his and got away with it. He was the boss. They took orders from him. The more he thought about it and the longer he drove, the angrier he became. He was pissed off, fuming inside, and when he got his hands on Marcel, he was going to destroy him.
No one talked on the journey toward the warehouse. There were no words that would make the trip any easier. He checked his mirror to find Caleb and Henry still following close behind them.
When he saw the warehouse, he brought the car to a stop. There were no guards looking out. Marcel truly believed Elijah was just going to go in all guns blazing.
“I’m leaving the car here.” He climbed out, and moving Tom aside, he pulled out the case of weapons. Elijah took his gun, checking to make sure it was loaded before handing one to John.
“Set fire to this bastard.”
“Do I wait for a signal?” Tom asked.
“Yes, the moment you hear gunfire, light it up.”
Henry and Caleb joined him.
“We’ve got to walk from here. I don’t want to risk them hearing us,” Elijah said.
“This is where the deals went down?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, let’s get this show on the road.” Elijah took the lead, walking around the side of the warehouse. There wasn’t a lot of noise coming around the dock as it was a Saturday and was closed.
The moment Elijah rounded the corner to the entrance of the warehouse all hell broke loose. He fired his gun, taking down one of the men from the footage he’d seen. These men had put their hands on his baby girl and his woman. They were not going to live to see another day. He was pissed off, angry, livid, and wanted to kill each and every one of them.
Caleb and Henry had his back along with John. The countdown was on as Tom would be setting fire to the warehouse. The moment the flames caught, they didn’t have a lot of time left.
Entering the warehouse, Elijah saw that Marcel held Cherry against his chest with a knife to her throat. The fucking coward was hiding behind a woman, his woman.
“Put her the fuck down,” Elijah said.
Another man held a gun pointed at Mindy’s head.
“Put the gun down and I let her go.”
“Ignore him, Elijah. Kill him,” Cherry said. She cried out as tightened his hold on her.
“You’ll shut your fucking mouth if you know what’s good for you.” Marcel snarled the world against her temple.
“I put the gun down and you step away from her. We’ll handle this like men.” Elijah leaned down to put the gun on the floor.
Staring across the floor, he had a clear view of Marcel’s leg. Elijah fired the gun, and Marcel dropped his hands from Cherry. His woman launched herself at the man holding the gun on Mindy.
Stepping closer to Marcel, he pointed the gun at his face. With a quick glance at his women, he saw Cherry had the gun and Mindy was behind her.
“You’re not going to kill me,” Marcel said.
“You’re right, I’m not. Others like you have learned not to underestimate me, Marcel. This was your biggest mistake.” He pulled the gun away, taking hold of Cherry. “Get out of here.”
“Dad, you can’t just leave them there. They’ll come after us.”
He wasn’t going to kill those men in front of his girl.
Caleb and Henry dragged the bodies of the other men into the warehouse. Together they sealed the door.
Tom rounded the building carrying the stuff for the fire.
“Do it this end as well.”
Wrapping his arm around Mindy, and pulling Cherry close, Elijah held onto his girls tightly. He was never, ever going to let them go again.
“I love you, Dad,” Mindy said.
Staring at his daughter, Elijah shook his head. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, baby.”
She nodded, tucking her head against his chest. “I understand why you protected me so much. There are bad men out there.”