He snaps the cuffs onto my wrist and locks me against the bed.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
“No, Krypt,” I scream as he backs out of the room. “I hate you. I fucking hate you.”
He disappears, leaving me in hysterics.
Oh God, please don’t let them kill her.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
KRYPT
“This is fuckin’ bad,” I bark the minute I get into Maddox’s office. “I left my girl in there fuckin’ screaming, and I can’t trust she won’t run. Howard has got us good on this one. He’ll make sure we can’t ambush him.”
“No,” Maddox mutters. “He’s counting on us ambushing him.”
I narrow my eyes. “What are you talkin’ about?”
Tyke, Grimm, Ray and Zaid enter the room, their eyes going straight to Maddox. “Fill us in, boss,” Zaid mutters.
We fill them in. Then Maddox turns back to me.
“He wants us to ambush him, Krypt. I have no fuckin’ doubt about it. He will have this set up so the cops will be on our tail the minute we show. That, or he’ll kill the girls and leave them there, with only us in their presence.”
“Then what the fuck do we do?” I bark.
“I don’t fuckin’ know,” Maddox growls, running his hands through his hair. “He’s got cops on the inside, he’s got fuckin’ guards on the inside. If we get picked up, we’re fucked. We can’t afford to let him beat us.”
“Even if we got somethin’ on him, his cop buddies will make sure he doesn’t get locked away,” Tyke points out.
“We’re royally fucked,” Grimm mutters.
“There’s a way. I just gotta think of it,” Maddox snaps. “I won’t let those fuckers hurt them girls or my fuckin’ club.”
“I got an idea,” Tyke murmurs. “But you ain’t gonna like it.”
All our eyes turn to him.
“I ain’t got nothin’ else right now, so speak,” Maddox orders.
“You send a girl in.”
“No fuckin’ way,” I bark.
“Listen,” Tyke snaps, his eyes flashing with anger. “If we rock up out the front, sayin’ we wanna make a truce, then the attention will be off Claire. If there’s already a girl in there she can get her out. . .”
“We ain’t go no one we can send in, for a fuckin’ start,” Maddox growls.
“We do,” Tyke murmurs, his eyes falling on Maddox.
A chair skids back as Maddox launches from it. “No fuckin’ way will you be touchin’ Santana.”
“Howard and his men ain’t ever seen her, Maddox. You’ve kept her quiet for a long time. She could slip in as a whore easily.”
“Over my dead fuckin’ body.”
“You got another option?” Grimm yells. “’Coz if you don’t, I think Tyke has the closest thing we have to gettin’ that girl back.”
“I said fuckin’ no. I’ll find another way.”
“I don’t want you to find another way.”
All our heads snap around to see Santana standing at the door, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes glaring through Maddox. He storms over to her, his fingers curling around her shoulder. “There is no way in fuckin’ hell I’m lettin’ you near that club. Now stop eavesdroppin’ and get out.”
“No,” she snaps.
“So help me fuckin’ God, Santana. I’ll put you over my knee and—”
“First of all,” she yells, getting in his face, “you’re not my father, so stop acting like you are. Second of all, you don’t own me, so I can make any choice I want.”
“I said no,” he roars.
She shoves herself further into his face. “And I said you can’t stop me.”
She turns and walks out. Maddox spins to us, glaring at Tyke. “This ain’t fuckin’ finished.”
Then he storms off after Santana.
Fuck.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ASH
My shoulder aches, but not nearly as bad as my heart. All of my friends have been hurt or are in danger because of me. That makes me sick to my stomach. I have no way to help them when I’m injured like this. The very fact that I even got shot makes fear course through my veins. It doesn’t feel nice.
Not at all.
I heard the commotion a few hours ago, and Krypt filled me in on some basics. They can’t find a way to get Claire back without sending someone in. That someone is Santana. Maddox isn’t happy about that, and all hell broke loose. I’m not a fan of the idea, but it does make sense. Howard is relying on the fact that Krypt will never let me show up alone, and he’s planning an ambush. He won’t expect Santana being sent in.