Nate
I just know.
No bad omen, no vision. I just know.
This is the call.
The bad news.
The evil has found us.
It could already be too late.
The faint glimmer of hope that there might still be a chance to save my angel from the clutches of the Devil incarnate himself is the only reason that makes me fight despair and take the call.
My phone buzzes again, and I’m nearly stunned with dread. My heart constricts in pain.
“Excuse me,” I interrupt my dinner guest, “but I’ll have to take this.”
I try to hide the fact that my hands are shaking as I fish my phone out of the inside pocket of my silk suit jacket.
It’s Titus.
“Yes,” I say flatly.
“Nate, I know you’re busy, but...”
“Just tell me.”
I have to steady my voice.
“Security’s been breached at the penthouse. We lost her.”
I have to swallow hard.
“What do you mean ‘lost’?”
“She’s no longer...she...He has her. You know who.”
“I see,” is all I can manage to throw out from between my tight lips.
My throat is dry and my vision blurry.
“I’m on the move. I’ll call you with instructions.”
I hang up and get up, but I have to grip the back of my chair for a brief moment to remain standing.
The world has been swept out from under me.
Bile rises in my throat. The thought alone of Sienna in the hands of that sinister Edison Shaw is making me sick. I want to throw up all over the dinner table.
I swallow the sickness and panic and push the thought that it might be too late out of my mind. That she might already no longer be breathing.
“This concludes our meeting,” I hear myself say monotonously. “Something has come up that I must deal with straight away. My men will be in touch about the business end of our arrangement.”
My guest raises his hands as if to say, ‘No offense taken’. He knows better than to ask questions when Nathan Sharp cuts short a meeting.
I yank my suit jacket off the chair and just sling it over my shoulder as I stride out of the private club as fast as I can.
This is no time for elegance or style. Shaw knows neither.
The valet has my black Mercedes ready and I get in, my body on full autopilot. I drive off with squealing tires.
Think, Nate, think.
Disaster has struck. What is the emergency plan?
Hell has opened up, and the Devil himself is walking the earth, with your angel in his claws.
So, I’ll come at him. There is no other choice.
I already know where I’m going. The question is, who’s with me? Do I go there alone?
James and Titus have been with me every step of the way. This is their baptism of fire. Let them decide for themselves.
I arrange a conference call for the three of us.
“Hey again,” Titus comes on the line.
“Boss,” James reports in.
Their voices through the speaker fill the inside of the car. Hearing them does little to calm me, but it keeps me focused.
“How was this possible?” I wonder out loud.
Since I got the news, I don’t feel rage—all I can think of is Sienna.
“I have no idea how they got hold of the location, but they came in great force. I’m sorry, boss, but our men were overcome,” Titus says.
“The only thing that matters is Sienna.”
There, I said it.
“I can use every help I get. But this is my fight now. This is between me and Shaw. If you want out now, I won’t hold it against you. So, are you in or out?”
They don’t hesitate for a second.
“We’re with you, boss,” James says.
“Always,” Titus agrees. “We know how you feel about her.”
Do they? Will they ever understand the connection between Sienna and me? We share a special relationship.
She’s my angel, and I’m bound to her. I’ll move heaven and earth to be with her again. I won’t rest until she’s free of Edison Shaw.
I doubt they can grasp the full extent of my feelings and why I have to do this—but they’re loyal, and that’s what matters right now.
“Good,” I say. “Thank you.”
“The question is, will he know we’re coming? Do we act as fast as possible to save her? Or do we take our time to gather a large army?”
“He’ll expect us in any case,” Titus offers.
“He wants you to come for her,” James says.
Of course. And right now, that’s my only hope, that he’ll spare her life long enough because he wants to torment me. He wants to capture me as well and then do every unspeakable thing to her while he makes me watch.
That would be worse than ripping my beating heart out of my chest.
It’s exactly what this sick fuck Edison Shaw wants.
I won’t allow it to happen.
I’ll foil his evil plan.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” I say. “The less time we give him, the more he has to hurry with whatever trap he wants to prepare. I say we attack him now. Right now.”
“Good call,” they agree.
“There is only one place where Shaw could have taken Sienna. He has this compound outside the city. Unimaginative, but unfortunately for us, highly secure. He’ll dig in there and wait for us to come at him. The earlier, the better,” I say.
One way or another, I want this to be over. I want to deal with Edison Shaw once and for all. The only way out is through.
“What do you want us to do, boss?” Titus asks.
“James, go over the files and find the building plan for his compound,” I order. “I helped him build up the place, so we’ll use that to our advantage. We need to know every single weakness and every possible attack vector.”
“I’m on it.”
“Titus, we need men and firepower, as many and as much as you can get on short notice. Gather everyone and everything, and I’ll meet you on the road that leads to Shaw’s hideout.”
“You got it,” Titus confirms.
“I want fire and fury. I want assault rifles. I want snipers. I want fucking claymores and grenades, flash-bangs, and nerve gas.”
“I’ll empty out the armory,” Titus assures me.
I want all hell to rain down on Edison Shaw. No one takes Sienna from me and gets away with it. He’ll pay for this, even if it’s the last thing I’ll do.
Rage has finally found me, and anger is burning red hot inside in my bones.
“Move quickly. I’ll see you both there.”
Silence floods the inside of the car as I hang up.
The black night is racing past outside as the Mercedes eats up the miles.
But with every inch I get closer to Edison Shaw and Sienna, my terror grows.
What if I’m too late?
What fate has befallen my pure and innocent Sienna?
Will she fight her captor like she fought me when I took her? Has he harmed her already?
I pound the steering wheel with my fist, howling with the torment of that thought.
In fear, I push the pedal all the way to the floor, and the car roars in acceleration.
Sienna, I’m coming. Hold out a little longer.
My fist is red and raw, and my anger is nearly all-consuming.
Why did I leave her alone? How could I have been so stupid?
The business at the club was urgent, but it is my calling, the very purpose of my being, to take care of Sienna always. I’m there to protect her and keep her safe.
You’ve failed her.
The thought is screaming in my brain. My fear feels like a cold steel blade at my throat, sending shivers down my spine, threatening to end my life any second.
How could I have put her in this position? I should never have left her.
I grip the steering wheel with both hands and learn forward, staring straight ahead at the oncoming road.
“No, no, no!” I yell as loud as I can.
Fuck you, fear.
Fuck you, Edison Shaw, and fuck you, world, if you doubt me.
Our love is stronger than all of this.
If I give in to fear and doubt, the evil has already won.
We will prevail.
Here’s the turnoff. I leave the main road and enter a dirt path leading towards Shaw’s compound. I slow down the Mercedes to a crawl while peering ahead.
I can’t make out anything in the dark. I stop the car and kill the headlights.
I get out and stand in the cold night air, breathing hard.
It’s eerily quiet. Too quiet.
I feel drawn inside. I want to believe that it’s Sienna, calling me to her.
I have the urge to rush through the compound right now, all by myself, just to know. To be fucking sure that she’s still alive.
But I force myself to hold my ground, to wait. Titus and James have my back.
The stars twinkle bright in the dark sky. The wind tugs at my hair and shirt.
I’m still staring ahead, but I’m now longer sane.
I’m a hound, come for Edison Shaw. And I want his blood.
There’s movement on the main road, and headlights are coming toward me.
Titus and James have arrived with the reinforcements.
It’s on.
These are your last moments, Shaw. Say your prayers, for your hour of reckoning has come.