“Marcoux has Cassandra.”
She hisses a curse. “Send me the coordinates.”
I watch the dot on my screen. “It looks like they’re going to Phoenix. They’re on a plane ahead of us.”
“She have a tracker on her?”
“Subdermal,” I tell her so she knows it’s not a phone that can be found and switched off. “Just last night.”
She knows what that means too. That the site of the injection will be visible.
“Where?”
“Her sleeves cover it.” It’s all I can bring myself to say. Because the words As long as they leave her clothes on won’t form.
I can’t say it.
I can’t bear imagining.
Because that would be bad enough. The absolute worst. But if they suspected the tracker… I almost heave. They’d cut it out of her.
“How far ahead are they?” Karmine asks, forcing me to think of something else.
The men went as quickly as they could, but we needed to refuel and lost precious time.
“About eight minutes,” I tell her, but we both know I can’t just jump off this plane and get her.
Even if we could land at the same airport, we can’t land second. We don’t know what sort of weaponry they have. They could take out our entire plane before we even touch ground.
So I have to make assumptions.
I assume, based on their trajectory, they’re headed to Phoenix.
I assume when they land, they’ll take Cassandra to Marcoux’s compound in the dessert.
I assume the satellite images King got are accurate.
I assume this is all a tactic to get me. And that they’ll keep Cassandra alive.
“We’ll get her, Hans,” Karmine promises. “I owe you this.”
She doesn’t owe me shit. But I need her help all the same. “Just head to Cain’s hangar in Phoenix. We’ll gear up there.”
“On my way.”
I hang up and hit on Cain’s contact.
It rings twice, and before he can speak, I start. “Change in plans. Couldn’t wait for the delivery.”
I wouldn’t consider us friends exactly, but he knows this life well enough to know that a last-minute change in plans is not a good thing.
“Where are you headed?”
“To your city.”
“What do you need?”
I tell him.
CHAPTER 108
Cassie
My head hits something hard, forcing a groan out of my throat.
The world jostles around me.
“Come on, bitch.” An ugly voice tugs at my arms.
Fuck you.
I try to say it, but I can’t get my mouth to work.
I’m so tired.
CHAPTER 109
Hans
The plane slows to a stop directly in front of the open hangar door, and I’m the first one down the stairs.
There’s a catering van parked just inside the building and a line of SUVs parked along the side.
The ache in my thigh makes my steps uneven as I cross the tarmac and enter the hangar. But the bullet only tore through muscle; it didn’t hit bone, and it exited out the back, so the quick shot of antibiotics and tightly wrapped gauze beneath my pant leg will do until I get Cassandra back.
Before I reach the van, the driver’s door opens. And a man as tall as me, built like a weight lifter, with hair graying from age and experience, steps out.
Without a greeting, I follow him around to the back of the van, where Cain opens the rear doors, revealing an arsenal.
Dom, King, and Nero step up beside me.
“All of it?” I ask.
Cain dips his chin. “All of it.”
King leans into the van. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Hans said there’s a helicopter pad at the target,” Cain replies as King drags the case closer to himself. “You might not need to use—”
“Oh, I’ll use it,” King cuts him off.
A feminine whistle sounds from behind us, and we all turn.
Karmine stands there, having entered on silent feet, her red hair twisted back into one long braid. “Hi, boys.”
Then the side door opens, and a dozen of her soldiers walk through.
Their steps are as quiet as Karmine’s were, and their presence is menacing.
They know who we’re going after tonight.
They know the history.
My history.
And they want to kill him just as badly as I do.
As the women approach, the men from our plane join them, gathering around in front of me.
A sense of gratitude fills me, so large it nearly blocks out my fear.
Before me are the men of The Alliance, men of the Chicago mafia, Karmine’s warriors, and Karmine herself, the only person I’ve called a friend in a long time.