I took the money and hurried from the shop just as Caylen began to stir. The pawnshop was only a few blocks away, but the neighborhood wasn’t safe to walk with a pocket full of cash.
Desperate to get home, I hurried around the first corner and bumped into a wall with arms that saved me from a painful fall. “I’m sorry,” I said when I was steady on my feet. “I’m not usually so clumsy.” I checked to make sure Caylen was still asleep and then looked up at the stranger who saved me from a broken ass. Instinctively, I took a step back. His unfamiliar face was harsh and angry. “Uhhh… sorry again.”
I sidestepped him when he didn’t move, but another stranger stepped forward to obviously block me. Panic kicked in so I looked around the secluded street, but there were no bystanders around since the city was still recovering from the fourth. There were two black beamers sitting on the curb. I squinted hoping to see someone sitting inside, but the windows were tinted pitch black.
The engines were running, but the lights were off.
“Mian Ross?”
Cold dread crept up my spine.
He knew me.
“Yes?”
He didn’t bother to answer. His creepy gaze rose over my head, and suddenly, I felt hands wrap around my biceps. My heart thumped fast and hard until it fell at my feet. I fought as hard as I could with Caylen strapped to my chest. He had woken up when I started to struggle and sent a cry into the air.
That’s when the unthinkable happened.
My worst fucking nightmare.
The guy I’d run into unclipped the carrier and ripped him away.
“No!” My scream ripped from my gut. I kicked and fought as he handed Caylen to a man who stepped from one of the waiting cars. He was carried further and further away even as I fought and screamed. Tears stung my eyes and clouded my vision until I could no longer see what was happening.
I heard a car door open and close and then the unmistakable sound of it driving away. It sucked what was left of my self-preservation.
“Ahhhh!” My scream was a cry for war. The first act to saving my son. I bit into the hand of my captor until I tasted blood when he tried to silence me with his hand over my mouth. The metallic tang of his blood on my tongue only fueled me. He cursed from the pain and dropped me. I would have ran, but the man who started all of this quickly grabbed me.
“The easier you make this for us, the sooner you get your son back.” Mention of my son had me slacking in his grip. I studied his face but had no recognition of who this man was—who so coldly took my son—who he could even be.
“Who are you?” I thought they were merely trying to rob me but why take my son for nine hundred bucks? They could have easily overpowered me and taken the money, which told me they weren’t mere street thugs.
“I don’t matter. There’s someone who would like to speak with you.” It was then I noticed the lit cell phone he now held in his hand. I glared at the screen and saw that the phone call had already been going for two minutes. Whoever was on the other line had heard everything. With shaking hands, I took it and waited.
“Hello, Mian.”
I might have died when I heard his voice. I could no longer feel my limbs, and I wasn’t sure I was even still breathing until I whispered his name. “Angel?”
“It sounded like you put up quite a fight.” Pissed off, I wondered if he were actually praising me until he said, “That was stupid.”
“You did this? Where are they taking my son?”
“They are bringing him to me as I requested.”
“Excuse me?”
“Fair exchange isn’t robbery. You have something that belongs to me, and now I have something that belongs to you.”
“I’ll fucking kill you. Do you understand that? Give me back my son!”
“In due time. First, I want to play.”
“My son has nothing to do with whatever sick game you think this is.”
His chuckle was deeper and smoother than I remembered. “So what’s his name?”
“Excuse me?” I gasped and struggled to control my breathing, but it was impossible as I replayed the image of my son being taken.
“You risked a lot for him. Surely, he has a name.”
“His name is Caylen, and I would risk everything for him.”
The silence was brief and then he coldly uttered, “Well, then Caylen will be waiting for you at my father’s home. You have two hours.” I realized a moment too late that he had hung up, so I looked around for answers.
I was alone.
Chapter Fourteen
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. –Sun Tzu
ANGEL
I hung up and closed my eyes tight. Catching her unguarded gave me some of the sweet satisfaction I had yearned for, but I wouldn’t be completely satisfied until I had her helpless and at my mercy.
She would learn quickly that I had none when it came to her. Not anymore. Leaving her alone these past three years had been mercy enough until she made the first move that put us at war.