Once the car slowed, we got ready, and as the guys killed the engine and opened their doors, we slipped out, quietly pushing the back door closed again and diving off to the side of the garage where my father kept his cars and motorcycles.
“Go!” I whisper-yelled to Will, letting him lead us to the next building which would curve us around the side of the house for a better view.
We crept over, hiding in an alcove on the side and taking in the surroundings. I heard the guys in the shop, doing whatever they did in their downtime, but I knew there was another shift on the property, making the rounds.
“Now what?” Rika asked.
“The armory is in the clubhouse,” I told them.
“Guns?” she blurted out. “That was your plan?”
“You got a better one?”
“We take him,” she said.
“Huh?”
She sighed, looking impatient. “We have no idea where they are or if they’re even here?” she explained. “After we got you out, he might not think right under your nose is a great spot to hide them. We take him, and we have leverage.”
So take my father, if we can, and hide him somewhere, threatening and/or torturing him until he gives up her fiancé and my…Winter.
That sounded like a lot of waiting.
“I don’t have all night,” I told her. “We’re getting some guns.”
“Yeah,” Will laughed.
She growled under her breath, exasperated.
We started to move around the side of the next building, but she pulled us both back.
“Look,” she said under her breath.
We shot our eyes up, seeing men leave the house, Winter and Michael in tow and leading them to a car. Miles Fucking Anderson gripped her by the back of her hair, force-walking her into an SUV with her hands tied behind her back.
She squirmed and fought, and I inched forward, ready to kill.
Will jerked me back, though.
“They are here,” he said. “Where are they going?”
“He’s moving them,” Rika guessed and looked at me. “I told you.”
Michael stumbled after, breaking free and charging one of the guys, but a baton smashed over the back of his head, and he fell to his knees.
Rika sucked in a breath, stifling a sob.
I was more worried, though. Winter was more expendable than Michael to my father. He wouldn’t want to kill Evans Crist’s son or a star player for a national basketball team.
“We need to run,” I said. “Now. Back to the cars.”
We didn’t hesitate. Whipping back around, we bolted through the trees, past the garden maze, my old treehouse, and down the small incline back the way we came. The wound in my side started to ache, so I put more weight on my right side as we ran, digging my heels in.
How were we going to get out? Fuck.
There were no trees around that wall, and we couldn’t climb the goddamn gate. We needed to get around to the main road before they left and disappeared.
But as we approached, the cold night air stinging my lungs, I slowed for a second, noticing that the gate wasn’t closed. Not entirely.
It wasn’t fucking closed.
Relief washed over me, but we didn’t stop to question. We slipped through the opening and raced for our cars buried beyond the trees.
Glancing back, I noticed the cameras hung by their wires, dangling like a dead animal, and something was lodged in the hinges of the gate. I laughed under my breath.
Thanks, guys. David and Lev might hate me, but they knew my sister didn’t.
My father’s people were going to notice the cameras were offline any second, though, if they hadn’t already.
We dashed to the cars, Rika jumping in Michael’s old G-Class, and Will and I taking his SUV.
Barreling onto the dirt road, I stepped on the gas, kicking up the gears and storming down the empty path. I kept the lights low, counting the seconds in my head as Rika followed close behind.
They got them in the car. They have to get all the way down the driveway and through the gate. Then pull onto the road, and hopefully they weren’t in a rush, so they wouldn’t be far ahead of us. What if I lost track of her? Where would my father take them?
We charged out onto the highway, bouncing and skidding as I jerked the steering wheel right and laid back on the gas. Rika swerved behind me, getting control of her car again, and I kept my eyes peeled on the road ahead.
But just then, headlights shone from the right, in the distance, and I immediately slowed, knowing it was them. I breathed hard.
We hadn’t missed them. They were just leaving the estate now.
Rika skidded behind me, unprepared for my sudden brake, and Will gripped the handle above his door.
“Shit!” he exclaimed.
His phone, propped up in its mount on the dash, rang, and I saw Rika on the screen. Will answered it, the speaker coming on.
“Stay back,” she ordered. “Just follow.”
“I know!” I fired back.
Did she think I was fucking stupid? Whatever we did would put Michael and Winter in more danger. We had to think.
I hung back, hoping they just assumed we were other drivers on the road, and followed them at a distance, unsure of how many people were in the car.
Other than Winter and Michael, probably two? My father’s men always worked in a minimum of pairs.
We kept Rika on the line, while Will dug out his pocket knife. We’d need that for their zip ties.
I followed the car down past the neighboring estates, past the security booth for our community, and onto the highway, but instead of heading toward Meridian City like I thought they would, whoever was driving took the right exit, heading for the village.
Gabriel was keeping them close, after all.
I swallowed a few times, trying to get my dry mouth wet.
They were going to come to a stoplight in another mile at the village center.
“You still handy with that crowbar?” I called out, remembering Rika back when she was sixteen and the antics she pulled that night.
“You want to box them in?” she suggested.
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “You take the rear. Let’s do it.”
Will jumped out of his seat, crawling into the back and digging something out. When he came back, he threw me a baseball bat and my mask, and he held his own crowbar, his white skull with the red stripe already on his head.
I pulled the mask on, completely forgetting about not showing ourselves. There were people on the streets, and while I didn’t care if my father’s men saw us, I wasn’t winding up on more motherfucking videos, since we had to do this in the busiest part of town.
We passed houses, businesses, and streets lined with cars, most of the town closed down for the night, but there were still people about.
Perfect.
Gabriel’s guys might be less inclined to use weapons if it was populated. My father kept his shit under wraps, even though most of the town knew how his house operated.
The stoplight appeared up ahead, they started to slow, and I punched on the gas, speeding up.
“Go,” I shouted to Rika.
I swerved to the left, she swerved to the right, they stopped, and we swung around, skidding to a halt, Will and I in front and Rika in the back, so they couldn’t drive off or back up.
Not waiting a single second, we jumped from the cars, masks and hoods drawn, throwing our weapons into their windows and smashing the glass.
Bystanders gasped or yelped in shock, but I didn’t waste time worrying about them.
Breaking the rear glass, we reached in, unlocking the doors, and I came down on the two guys in front as Rika and Will grabbed Winter and Michael.
Anderson and the other guy shouted and laid on the gas, trying to move, but they were locked in, just bumping into our cars in the front and behind. We had everyone out of the car before they even had a chance to reach for their weapons.
Will sliced off Michael’s restraints, and Michael didn’t wait a moment more. He whipped open the front passenger side door and hauled himself up, shooting his legs into the car and kicking the other guy in the face.
Will took Winter, climbed back in our SUV, and Michael grabbed Rika, running for their car.
“Back at the house,” I told them. “I’ll send Crane.”
Rika nodded, Michael climbed into the driver’s seat, blood seeping from his head, and they took off, swerving in a U-turn and jetting past us.