“Fuck,” I breathe, seeing the bruises covering her small form. “It’s okay,” I say, walking towards her, shoving my gun away and pulling my knife out of my pocket. Removing the gag first from her mouth, her head lowers and a loud sob rips from her chest as I cut the ties that are keeping her in place. “It’s gonna be okay.” I tell her, taking off my jacket and using it to cover her up.
“He’s coming back,” she says, lifting fright-filled eyes up to meet mine. “He’s going to kill me when he comes back.”
“You won’t be here when he does,” I assure her, picking her up and handing her off to Harlen, who is standing close to my side. “Get her to the hospital,” I tell him then look at Wes, who’s barely keeping it together, then to my cousin. “Call your dad and let him know what’s going on.”
“On it,” he mumbles, stepping to the back of the room.
“Mic, see if you can close the door,” I say calmly, and Mic’s eyes darken with fury as he goes out to the walkway and kicks off the broken pieces of wood then comes back inside, closing the door behind him. Standing in the room, I look around, seeing the place is a mess. There are clothes, empty food containers, and beer bottles thrown around the room, along with open condom wrappers, which cause rage to burn through every cell of my body.
“Keep it together,” Sage says, coming up next to me. My dad’s on his way, and this guy maybe the only lead we have to find the one who wanted Ellie.”
“I know,” I agree, but that doesn’t stop the images of me putting a bullet between Yury’s eyes from entering my thoughts.
“He just pulled in,” Wes says low, walking to the door and holding his phone in his hand, typing something back on the screen before shoving it in his pocket. Pulling his gun from the back of his jeans, he flips off the light. “How pissed is Nico going to be if I shoot this stupid fuck?” he asks, and I grin then move to the side of the door.
Placing my back against the wall, I hear the sound of metal and someone walking up the concrete stairs that lead to the second level. When we finally hear keys jingling, I swing the door open and shove my gun into Yury’s face.
“Honey, I’ve been waiting for you,” I growl, grabbing his shirt in my fist and pulling him into the room. Once he’s inside, Wes kicks him to his knees as I put my foot to his back, forcing him face-first into the dirty carpet. “Try it, and I’ll fucking shoot you,” I snarl, restraining his hand he’s trying to get to his back, where he has a gun.
Locking his hands behind him, I use one of the plastic zip-ties from my pocket to bind them together then search him for any weapons. He not only has the gun from his waistband, but there’s also one in the ankle of his boot.
“I didn’t do anything,” he says as Sage helps me sit him on the edge of the bed.
“Yeah? How about we play Let’s Make a Deal?” I say as his eyes scan the room, and I know he’s looking for the woman.
“Fuck you. I didn’t do anything,” he repeats when he doesn’t see her.
“Tell me who paid you to pick up Ellie Anthony.”
“I’m not telling you shit,” he shouts, spitting at my feet. Seeing Wes step up to my side with his gun in his hand, I look at him then back to Yury as Wes holds his gun next to his right ear.
“Talk, motherfucker,” Wes growls, and Yury’s eyes lift, going to Wes before meeting mine again.
“I don’t know who he is. He always has one of his men do the pick-ups.” He grins then scans the room once more. “You don’t know who you guys are fucking with.”
Putting a bullet in the chamber of my gun, I cock it back and place it against his knee. “Who do you contact when you have a pick-up?” I ask again, placing my face inches from his.
“Fuck you,” he snaps, and I let off a round in his knee that has him falling forward, groaning.
“I asked you a fucking question. Who do you contact when you have a pick-up?”
“Nah, cous’. Alive, remember?” Sage says, putting his hand on my gun when I raise it to Yury’s temple.
“He doesn’t deserve to live,” Wes growls, and Yury’s eyes turn to him.
“This is bigger than you and me,” Yury says, moving his gaze to mine. “Shoot me, motherfucker. I’m dead anyways.”
“Tell me who your contact is,” I demand, watching something work behind his eyes then his nostrils flare.
“All I got is an email,” he says, dropping his head as something that had been strangling me since Ellie walked out of the woods toward me unravels.
Taking a step back, I take my cell phone out of my pocket and begin typing in the information he gives me. Then we wait until my uncle shows up, who says nothing about the fact that Yury’s bleeding everywhere.
Getting in my truck and starting it up outside of the hospital, where I stopped to check on Avalee, the woman Yury had kidnapped, I lean my head back against my headrest and close my eyes. Harlen is staying with her at the hospital until her family is able to get into town. She is still asleep and would be in the hospital for a few days while she recovers from the worst of her injuries, then she’ll be going home with her parents, who live in Mississippi. She wouldn’t talk to the police without Harlen with her and refused to let him go, even when the doctors explained they needed to examine her, leaving them no choice but to sedate her.
From what Harlen was able to gather before they drugged her, her friends had been insisting she get out and date, so she downloaded a dating app onto her phone and met Yury. They chatted for a couple of days before she finally agreed to meet him for coffee, and that’s when he took her. Knowing how similar her story was to the other woman who was still missing Tallon did a search of the dating app site and found nothing. Avalee’s profile had been erased along with any chats she had with Yury leading up to their meeting. Now that there was a correlation between the two cases there was a chance the other woman could be found.