Oh shit!
They’d found me. My heart burnt in my chest, but I shook myself. I had to do what they’d asked of me. I couldn’t let them down.
Turning away, I walked over to the door and carefully opened it. I could hear the noise of the TV coming from the living area. Hopefully, it would mask the sound of my footsteps. My feet were silent as I crept into the bathroom. I had to lean over the sink to reach the window. Thankfully, this one opened as the ones in the bedroom didn’t. It wasn’t big. I didn’t know if anyone could actually fit through it. I took it off the latch and pushed it open. Then I retreated into the hallway, pulling the door to behind me. As far as I knew, Mason had left the shotgun on the kitchen counter. I wondered if he’d moved it. Then again, they wouldn’t have asked me to get it if it wasn’t still there, would they? No, they wouldn’t have. I didn’t think it was loaded, but we couldn’t take any chances.
I got to the doorway of the living area and looked in. Mason was sat watching TV. He didn’t look around, so he hadn’t heard me. My eyes went to the kitchen, finding the gun resting on the counter. He hadn’t moved it.
Lowering myself to the floor, I shuffled into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible. I kept checking the sofa to make sure Mason had stayed where he was. It took me some time to make my way to the counter. I hid behind it for a long moment before carefully peering over it. Reaching out, I gripped the gun with both hands and lifted it off the counter. I slowly brought it towards me before dropping back down behind the counter again.
My heart raced at a million miles an hour as I crouched there with a fucking shotgun in my hands.
You can do this. You can get back into the hallway without him noticing. You have to. This is the only way you’ll escape.
I looked out at the sofa. Mason had his gaze fixed on the screen. I moved, inching along towards the door whilst keeping my eyes on him. It wasn’t exactly easy with a gun under my arm, but I had to make do. Mason let out a noise, making me freeze until I realised he was laughing at something on the TV. I tried to keep my breathing even as I moved again, a little faster this time.
By the time I made it into the hallway, I was panicking and wanting this to be over with. I rose to my feet and crept back along to the bathroom. The moment I reached it, a hand reached out and yanked me inside. The gun was removed from my hands before I had time to blink.
Standing in the small space were Francis, Drake, West, and Prescott. Drake held the shotgun. He checked if it was loaded. There were no shells inside. He looked at me for a second, then he was signalling to the others to move.
“Stay here and be quiet,” he told me in a hushed whisper before they all piled out of the room, leaving me staring after them with my heart in my mouth.
They were here. They’d come for me. And now… they were about to confront Mason.
Oh fuck.
Six
West
I wanted to fucking storm the place and kill the son of a bitch for taking Scarlett, but Drake had put a stop to that when we saw Mason and his shotgun earlier. Instead, we’d waited until nightfall, hatched a plan to enlist Scarlett’s help, and got into the house without Mason’s knowledge. Now we were going to fuck that cunt up. Well, I had no intention of allowing him to leave here alive, but I’m not sure Drake would agree with me on that point. I didn’t care what he had to say about it. Mason had got away with his shit for far too long.
Kidnapping Scarlett from Fortuity was the last fucking straw.
I was done with excuses.
Mason Jones was going to die.
And that was fucking that.
The four of us walked into the living area. Drake aimed the shotgun at Mason’s head whilst Francis and Prescott stood behind him with me. Francis already had the ropes we intended to restrain Mason with. It was time to show this fucker he wasn’t going to get away with shit.
“Hello, Mason,” Drake said, his voice completely calm and very much at odds with his expression. He looked like he was ready to rip Mason to pieces.
Considering he was the last person to see Scarlett before Mason took her, he’d taken it personally. Drake had been a boar the whole week, but we’d all been stressed out and on edge, so I didn’t exactly blame him for it.
Mason whipped his head around, his eyes going wide when he spied us. Then he was up off the sofa and backing away until he hit the TV.
“Did you think you could hide from us?” Drake continued, taking a step forward. “You should know we would tear apart the world for her by now. Or maybe you thought we wouldn’t find out it was you. After all, Stuart threatened her life. Isn’t that why you took her?”
Mason flinched, then glared at the four of us.
“Fuck you. That’s not even loaded.”
I scoffed and stabbed a finger in his direction.
“What a fucking comeback. I’m so scared. What you going to do now, Mason? Four of us and one of you. Those odds aren’t really in your favour.”
Mason didn’t say a word, just continued to glare.
“Tie him to one of those chairs,” Drake said.
I stayed back whilst Prescott and Francis approached Mason. They knew I would probably rip his face off if I went near him. Drake had warned me about us not causing any further trouble for ourselves. The last week had been fucked up enough with us trying to track down where Mason had taken Scarlett after we’d seen him on our security footage.
He didn’t struggle as Prescott dragged one of the dining chairs over and Francis pushed him into it. Our rope boy tied Mason up, securing him to the chair so he couldn’t go anywhere. Then Prescott put tape across his mouth because we weren’t in the mood to hear what the fuck the cunt had to say to us.
Drake put the shotgun down on the kitchen counter.
“You can come out now, Scarlett,” he called down the hallway.
A few moments later, our girl walked into the room. My eyes immediately went to her jaw, where a bruise was forming. It took two steps before I was next to her and gently tipped her chin up towards me. Her hazel-green eyes were full of conflicting emotions.
“Did he hit you?” I murmured, trying to suppress the urge to stab Mason in the face.
“Yes,” she whispered. “He would tell you I provoked him, but I’m not responsible for his inability to control himself. I took it because it shows he’s as bad as Stuart.”
I stroked her jaw.
“My brave little warrior.”
Tears welled in her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her against my chest. Her fists bunched in my coat.
“Thank you. Thank you for coming for me.”
“I told you, I’d tear apart the world to find you, my little Scar. You’re mine.”
“Yours. Always yours.”