Royal Rock:A Bad Boy Royal Romance(75)

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.

Heading toward violence and death, the only way to rid myself of the massive pit of anger festering inside my chest.

I crouched down at the edge of the woods, watching the warehouse. I  didn't see anyone patrolling, but I couldn't wait too long to make sure.  Plus, I was so angry it was almost physically impossible to sit still.  I'd never gone into battle with so much anger built up inside me,  because our drill instructors had taught us over and over that calm  saved lives, but I couldn't manage calm.

I was fury incarnate. I was raging hard, and I was going to bring every ounce of my fire down on them.

I made a break for it, heading toward a fire escape that snaked up along  the side of the building. I made it without any problems and began to  climb.

There were three landings. I skipped the first and second and stopped at  the topmost window. I tested it, but it was locked. I reached into a  pocket of my combat fatigues and pulled out a thin metal bar, shoving it  into the space between the frame and the latch. With one quick push, I  popped the latch, pushing the window upward.

I crept inside quietly. It was dark, with only the weak rays of sunlight  illuminating the inside. I was in an office, empty and smelling vaguely  of mildew and rot. The desk was overturned, papers scattered all over  the ground, and the chairs were moldy. I guessed that it hadn't been  touched in a long time, and there was definitely a leak nearby. The  ground seemed to flex under my feet.

I moved up toward the door and looked out. The hallway was similar, all  papers strewn around and furniture left turned over. Bits of discarded  wood and trash littered the space, and the walls were covered in  graffiti. I listened for a minute but heard nothing, and so I moved out  into the hall.

Up ahead I spotted a stairwell. The place was big on the inside, bigger  than I had thought, and I was on what was clearly the executive floor.  Or at least it had been the administrative area or something like that  back before the factory had shut down. Based on the trash and the  graffiti, I guessed that the warehouse was usually used by homeless  people or drug addicts looking for a place to shoot up.

I stood at the top of the steps and looked down but saw nothing. As I  got halfway down, moving silently as I went, I heard a noise, sharp and  distinct in the otherwise quiet.

"Yeah," the voice said, "just walking the upstairs." There was a pause and then a radio crackling.

"Make it quick. Boss is back with the girl."

Claire, I thought, pulse jumping.

"Got it. Out."

His footsteps began to ring out, coming up toward me. I took a deep  breath, trying to beat back some of the rage I felt swirling inside me.

I moved faster than even I thought I could. I jumped over the banister  and landed directly on top of him, my feet and legs smashing into his  face and chest, knocking us both to the floor. I felt my body hit the  steps and slide down, but I grabbed his leg to stop myself.

He seemed completely dazed and shocked. Before he could move, I had my gun out and the barrel pressed against his head.

"Don't make a noise," I said quietly.

He nodded, eyes wide with fear.

He was older than me by a few years and had a deep scar running down his  face. He looked like a mercenary or a cheap cutthroat, which was  usually the same thing. His deep brown eyes looked afraid, but he  understood his situation. I knew exactly what kind of man he was, and I  knew what he had done in the past.

Bad things, bad fucking things.

"Where is the girl?"

"Who?"

I hit him with the butt of the gun, snapping his head back. His nose was definitely broken as blood trickled out.







"Lie again and I'll kill you. I'll find her eventually with or without you."

"Downstairs, first floor. There's a room in the back of the machine shop. She'll be there."

"Thank you."

I pulled the trigger and he slumped to the ground. There was no mercy,  not for men that kidnapped girls. Not anymore. I was done taking it  easy.

I moved after that, threading my way down the steps and out at the first  floor. The factory workspace spread out before me, debris scattered all  over the place. I crouched down near the entrance, hiding in the  shadows, and watched. It was an open floor, and I could tell that there  had been machines there at one point. I couldn't tell what sort of  factory it was, but it must have been busy at its peak.

I spotted two men with guns pacing the upper observation catwalk. Toward the back was another man guarding a single door.

I moved silently around the walls, sticking to the shadows, until I  found a stairway that led up to the catwalk. I moved up the steps,  crouching down at the top, and waited.

The first man came into view after a second. I put a bullet directly between his eyes, not even giving him a chance to cry out.

But the second man spotted him as he fell, ruining my plan.

"Levi?" he yelled out. I heard his boots pounding on the metal as he ran over.

Good enough. I put two bullets in him, too, sending him careening against the railing.

"Hey, what's going on?" the guard by the door yelled.

I went back down the steps and braced myself on one knee, facing the  warehouse floor. The third guard came into sight, and I fired, hitting  him in the chest but only wounding him.

"Fuck!" he yelled and opened fire. The sound of automatic gunfire filled the room.

So much for stealth. I moved, getting a better angle on him, and put  another two bullets in him, putting him down for good. I ran toward the  door in the back just as two more men came out.

I shot the first one, killing him instantly. The second one was faster,  kicking my hand, making me lose my grip on the gun. My knife was out in  my other hand in a second, flashing out at him. He ducked back, trying  to get his pistol from his holster, but I was on him. We toppled into  the back room as I plunged my knife into his neck.

I looked up and saw a series of doors, plus another guard. I rolled,  pulling the body of the man I had stabbed on top of me as the guard  opened fire. He missed for the most part, and the other bullets were  thankfully stopped by the body's own vest.

I pulled the gun from the man's holster and returned fire, hitting the  guard in the head. He dropped, and I rolled out from under the body.

These men weren't normal locals. The more I looked at them, the more I  was sure that they were hired muscle. I pulled up the sleeve on the arm  of the man at the far end of the room and confirmed my suspicion: no  tattoo.

I didn't mind killing those who made murder their business. Sure, I was a  lot like them, except I fought for freedom. They fought for the highest  bidder.

I listened for a moment but caught no more sounds. Cautiously, I pushed open the door the guard had been standing in front of.

Gagged and bound to a chair in the middle of the room was Claire.

I had to control myself. I wanted to run right in, but I knew it could  be a trap. I slowly moved inside, checking the corners. Claire's eyes  were wide, and I could tell she was trying to say something. I pulled  the gag from her mouth.

"The mirror! He's in there!"