EVIL QUEEN - Rebel Hart Page 0,101

phone?”

“Yeah.” I shoved my hand into my pocket, pulled out the phone, and handed it over. Sicily took it and sat back down at his computer. He exited out of the game and started aggressively clicking through websites and programs that I didn’t understand. “Are you going to be able to find him?”

“If nothing else, I’ll get a lead,” Sicily said.

“Good. Work as fast as you can. Time is of the essence,” I replied. “We need to find Deon so that we can track him down. Then we can find my dad together and end this mess for good.”

32

Deon

Gunshots ricocheted off the wall as I bolted for the door. My ribcage wanted to give out. I still hadn’t fully tended to it since my last gunfight ended in disaster, but that didn’t matter for now. I had to keep running. If I didn’t, they were going to kill me.

I turned the corner and saw a nice little couple on their summer vacation who were pulling out their card key to get into their hotel room. Either they hadn’t heard the gunshots or thought they were something else, but I didn’t have time to consider it. I raced toward them, yanked the card from the man’s hand, scanned the door, and pushed us all into the room, slamming the door behind them.

They were just opening their mouths to scream, and as much as I hated to do it, I lifted my gun and pointed it at them, putting my finger to my mouth to tell them to keep quiet. Tears slid down the woman’s face, and I didn’t stop her when she curled against her partner. He wrapped his arms around her, and I took a step toward them, motioning for them to move over so that I could look through the peephole out into the hallway.

“Shit! Where could he have gone that fast?” Briscoe asked. “He was just right fucking here.”

“You idiot,” Dante snapped. “How could you let him get past you? All we had to do was keep him here one more day, and then we were moving him.”

I gave the couple a quick look. My gun was still outstretched, and I set my finger to my lips again, begging them to keep quiet. They both nodded that they understood, so I pulled my gun down. Eventually, Briscoe and Dante walked past the room, and I slid out of the sight of the peephole just in case. I stepped back from the doorway so that the shadows of my feet wouldn’t show beneath the threshold of the door. We stood in silence for a few minutes until the sounds of their footsteps had fallen completely out of earshot.

I turned around and looked at the couple, motioning for them to walk further into the hotel room. They did as I told them to, and I followed, flipping the brass door latch as an extra measure of security, just in case. The woman started to cry a bit harder at this, so I walked over and held up my hands.

“Shh, I’m not going to hurt you, okay? I am not going to hurt either of you. I don’t want to. I just need your help, okay?” I asked.

They both nodded their heads, and the man dared to ask, “Were those guys looking for you?”

I nodded. “I know I don’t look like it, but I’m only eighteen, and those men had kidnapped me. I’m just trying to escape. Do you have a car? A rental? Anything?”

The man and woman exchanged looks, and then the woman slowly stood up and walked over to the safe. She entered the code and pulled out a purse, out of which she pulled a set of keys. She pulled off an electronic key fob and then handed it to me, saying, “It’s a keyless start.” She walked toward the window, and I walked over as well, keeping the guy in my eyeline to be safe. She pressed the unlock button, and an army-green SUV down in the parking lot beeped a few times. “It’s a rental. We have insurance.”

“I’ll try not to total it. You can report it missing in three days. I’ll have ditched it by then,” I said. I took the key fob from her. “Thank you. I understand that you may completely turn around and call the cops, and I wouldn’t blame you, but you just saved my life.”

With the key fob in one hand and the gun in the other, I slid open