for her? The question stirs up a pain we don’t have time for. Hanging up, I leave the conversation where it is. He goes to the north address and I take the south.
Cody
Fucking hell. Marcus is going to ruin everything.
His impatience is unprecedented. “Pick up the fucking phone!” I scream into the line before pressing end and wishing I could slam it down to get out some of this anger. Tension rolls through my body, knowing I’m potentially headed to a hostage situation with only a pistol, no vest and Evan may or may not be there when I arrive. It’s fucked.
With a long exhale, I try to calm myself as I take the next exit and find myself driving down a tunnel of overgrown trees. The canopy of branches above me simulate night on the dirt road lane although the sun hasn’t quite set. I’m close to her and that’s what matters.
Marcus will get her if she’s there. He will. A part of me brings back childhood memories and times when we both thought superheroes existed. Back when we used to play Batman and Robin, when all was right in the world. Even then, my younger brother never did like playing the sidekick. He’d take off without me and do the things that frightened me without thinking twice. That’s the man he is and I remind myself of that. I have Evan and the two of us have taken down far more dangerous targets. Backup is coming. If nothing else, we’ll hold them off.
It’ll work. It has to work. Marcus isn’t wrong, we’re coming up on seventy-two hours, Brass has to know he’s shown his hand and we’ll be coming for him. The stakes are higher now and time isn’t on our side.
In a single text, Evan is informed and without hesitation, he agrees to meet me there.
It’s strange that I would go back that far in my memory for such comfort, given the horrible deeds my brother has committed on his own for a decade now. He’s murdered and slaughtered, he’s wreaked havoc without thinking twice and all on his own.
He’s never needed backup, he’s never even needed me. If she’s there, he’ll kill them all and save her. And if she’s not, then that’s exactly what I’ll do.
I’ll kill them all. I’ll hunt them down one by one until I have her safe in my arms.
My sweet Delilah; I’ll save her.
One of the two of us will have her soon.
Marcus
The drive is silent and far too long. Even with the window down and the bitter cold air whipping across my face, I feel every second slipping by and it exacerbates my suffering. There are two of us and only one of us will find her. One of us will come face-to-face with Brass and have the pleasure of killing the fucker. My hands twist on the steering wheel, my thumbs running along the smooth surface of the leather. Death is not justice for men like him.
Taming the wild beast inside of me, I’m less concerned with him than I would be if she wasn’t there. He is nothing and no one compared to her, and he has no idea of the depths I’d go to simply to know she’s safe and out of harm’s way.
I’m not certain if the locations Riggins sent are bomb shelters or something else, but Riggins sent the satellite images last taken from over a year ago. His search was unable to find more current intel. Assuming nothing’s changed, there are doors that lead to underground tunnels hidden behind some brush. The radar showed several tunnels and each could have its own exit passage. It’s a maze at best. A trap at worst. My phone hasn’t stopped alerting me since I put the car in drive.
I don’t answer; I won’t negotiate with Cody. Even if we are outnumbered and outgunned, there is no excuse for failure. We have the element of surprise and the need to win. One on three or one on ten, it wouldn’t matter. There’s not an army that exists who could keep me from her.
If, however, we show our hand, arriving at the wrong location and tipping off Brass through security breaches, then there’s no one to stop them from taking her somewhere else. Meaning it could be days or weeks before we have a chance to save her … or never. He could kill her and walk away. We’d never have a chance to save her.