cheek with a balaclava. “You can’t do this. They’re not a part of this. My career isn’t on them.”
Smith’s accent is unrecognizable when he says, “You know what to say if you want it to stop. Tell Dimitri everything you know.”
Ellie drifts her drenched eyes to Smith. “As I told them, I don’t know anything. We broke up before Fien was taken.”
The fact she knows my daughter’s name is a slap in the face, but I keep my focus on the game I’m meant to be playing, not the one I already fielded. “Told who?”
Ellie’s eyes return to mine. “I don’t know who they are. They wanted information about your daughter. I told them I didn’t know anything.” Tears topple down her cheeks when she blurts out, “That’s when they told me to go to the warehouse and await further instructions.”
My brows join as confusion slices the tip off my anger. “I thought Theresa ordered you there?”
Since she’s so worked-up, even her breathing crackles when she tattles, “They instructed me to tell you that if you showed up.”
“And the plates we’ve been searching for the past four hours?” My voice is as hot as the anger roaring through my veins.
Ellie chokes back a sob before disclosing, “I did see a car when I arrived, but the tags and information on Megan’s murder were patched through to my phone this morning.”
I am tempted to crush her phone to death when she digs it out of her pocket to show us the messages she was sent. They’re basic, but the prose is undeniable. She’s being puppeteered by an outside source.
As the pieces of the puzzle slowly slot together, the truth smacks into me. “How did they get you to agree to do this? Not even an unbreakable bond could have you siding with the wrong side of the law.”
Ellie doesn’t need to answer my question. Her eyes tell me everything I need to know. They have the same petrified glint Roxanne’s had when I used Estelle to force her to eat.
After stuffing my gun down the front of my pants, I snatch up the microphone Smith growled down a minute ago and press it to my lips. “This is a hostage situation. Exterminate the perpetrators. I repeat, only exterminate the perpetrators.”
Clover peers at the body cam on Preacher’s chest before he jerks up his chin, advising he understands my objective.
Once all four men are weaponed-up and ready to roll, they enter the Gould residence by a side entrance. The constant yap of a pair of chihuahuas exposes the perps are still in the vicinity. They don’t pay Clover and his crew any attention. They’re facing away from them, barking in the direction of the room Clover wordlessly instructs for his men to enter first.
The next thirty seconds is a blur of gunfire and wounded cries. The sobs aren’t coming from my men. They don’t murmur a peep during operations like this. They remain completely quiet, aware sneaky attacks are usually more deadly.
Within minutes of entering the premises, Clover unclips the body cam on his vest and swivels it around so I can see his face. His brows are sweaty, and his grin is massive. He is in his element. “Perps have been exterminated. Hostages are uninjured and accounted for.”
Ellie sucks in her first breath in what feels like minutes when he spins the camera around to show the remaining four members of her family bound and gagged but relatively unscathed.
“You owe me,” I say before I can stop myself. “And I want payment in full, today.”
I don’t wait to see her nod because if it is slower than immediate, I’ll order Clover to finish what Smith attempted to start. That’s how worked up I am and how hollow my chest feels. Roxanne wasn’t meant to get hurt, and although tears are usually painless, I have a feeling Roxanne isn’t experiencing that tonight. She’s hurting. I can feel it in my bones, and I’m going to make sure the people responsible for her pain pay with more than their lives.
I’m going to claim their souls as well.
10
Dimitri
I scrub a hand over my tired eyes when Smith and Ellie enter my office at the same time. Since Smith’s shoulders are almost as wide as mine, he has to take a step back to let Ellie enter first. It’s cordial for him to do and expected since Ellie has kept her word the past several hours. She’s left no stone unturned as she has endeavored