ROYAL ROCK(147)

I kept my distance from them. As far as I could tell, Joshua didn’t have anyone tailing them, although it was hard to tell in the mass of people. He clearly had sway with the carnival people, considering the way they deferred to him, but that wasn’t unusual with prominent local people like him. I was being cautious anyway, keeping my distance, watching but staying focused.

Or at least as focused as I could be. I had to keep bringing myself back into my Zen battle mode, clearing my thoughts and breathing deeply until I could see the world more clearly. The anger threatened to overwhelm everything.

Otherwise, the operation was straightforward. I wasn’t a spy or anything like that, but I had training in stealth and follow skills, and I put all that training to good use.

And Claire actually seemed like she was doing a good job. They were talking and laughing like they were having a good time. She had looked nervous as hell at first, and for a few brief moments here and there, but for the most part she was absolutely flawless.

People’s heads turned when she walked by. She was overdressed for the carnival by far, though that was on purpose. I had to admit that I was a little proud of her incredible, sexy body, and I couldn’t wait to get her back home and unpeel that dress from her. It looked like that was going to happen sooner than I expected.

Until suddenly they entered the fun house.

I cursed, moving to follow, but stopped short. I couldn’t get in there without being spotted, and if Joshua had backup, I’d definitely be giving myself up.

Cursing my stupid luck, I quickly went around the building, looking for the exit. I found it soon enough, down some stairs and built into the bottom of the pier. I perched against a stoop far off but still close enough to make people out and waited.

For ten minutes, I waited patiently. When they didn’t emerge, a stone sank into my gut.

Something had gone wrong. Every instinct I had was screaming it loud and clear.

I tipped my hat low over my face, took out my phone, and opened up my maps app. It loaded after a second and showed my position as a blue dot, another red dot moving away down a nearby street.

I didn’t think, I just began running. All protocol was forgotten as I broke my cover and booked it toward that red dot. All I could think about was Claire. I careened around a corner, narrowly avoiding running directly into a family of four, and spotted a dark van making a right into traffic. I checked my app and knew it instantly: she was inside that van.

Stupid, dumb fucking mistake to let her get involved. I hated myself, anger overwhelming any semblance of calm as I ran back toward the car. I couldn’t hold it back anymore as the anger flowed through me. I was thankful that I had planted a tracking device on her earlier when we had hugged, since I knew she probably would have said no, and that her father had given me the cash to buy some extra spy shit.

But I had let her get taken. I had to move fast to catch up with them. I was reasonably certain they wouldn’t hurt her, or at least they wouldn’t until they got back to wherever they were going. And I wasn’t about to let them hurt her, not a single hair on her fucking head.

I made it to the car, jumped in, started the engine, and pulled out fast. I flew into traffic, cursing, not caring about laws or rules. I kept my eye on that red dot, speeding toward them. They had a good head start on me, but I was driving like a maniac.

Thoughts of them stripping her naked and torturing her kept playing in my mind. That sick fuck Joshua would probably do anything to threaten Jonathan’s business, including hurting Claire. She was a fucking innocent girl, was a fucking virgin not too long ago. She didn’t belong involved in any of this shit.

And yet I had let her go right into the lion’s den, all because I was so confident that I could control the situation.

Bastards. Pieces of shit. I was going to tear them all apart, limb by fucking limb, until I was drenched in their blood. They’d run screaming, begging for mercy, and as I stood over their bleeding and battered bodies, I’d smile and end them.

About fifteen minutes outside of town, the red dot stopped. I was only a few minutes behind them, hanging back to avoid getting spotted. We were in the middle of a more rural area, not many houses around but plenty of stubby trees and random sand dunes. I crawled along until I spotted the van parked outside what looked like an abandoned warehouse.

How fucking cliché. They took her to an abandoned warehouse like we were in some bullshit super hero movie or something. The idiots had no clue that it was probably littered with security holes.

All of that made it easier for me.

I parked a half mile off and got out. I popped the trunk and threw on a bulletproof vest, a black ski mask, slipped my knife into its sheath, and screwed a silencer onto my gun. Armed and ready, I made my way quickly through the woods, heading toward the red dot. Heading toward Claire.