I follow the man as I silently creep forward. A warning bell is going off inside my head, alerting me to the fact I feel like I’m the one being lured away. Self-preservation instincts kick in and I aim my gun, my voice pitched low as I step out into the open once we’ve made it clear to the back of the hangar.
“Motherfucker, I want your hands raised and slowly turn around.” My voice is deep and threatening. “My gun is pointed at your head and I won’t miss.” The guy turns around in a fluid motion, deliberately knocking his cap off, and gives me an apologetic shrug as he reveals his face to me.
Son of a bitch!
“Adam?” I breathe out, while my head cocks to the side as I take in the man standing before me. “What. The. Fuck?” The look on my face is a clear indication I’m totally shocked at seeing my ex team leader standing before me. There have been some small cosmetic changes, but there is still enough of Adam Balan shining through if you look hard enough.
“I saw you from the cockpit, Slade.” He keeps his voice low. “You’re a little rusty on your stealth.” He gives me a rueful smile.
Are those contact lenses? His nose is no longer crooked, and his hair has grown out and is salt-and-pepper like his close beard. His hands are tattooed, and he’s definitely aged. He looks older than his mid-thirties. I watch him, taking in the man I once respected so much.
“I’m still here underneath.” He sounds weary and sad. What’s he got to be sad about? I can’t help being deeply hurt by this man’s betrayal of honor.
I don’t lower my gun, no matter how much of a natural reaction it is for me to do so. He and I were as much brothers from another mother as Edge and I are. “You better start explaining what the fuck you are doing here.” My hand tightens on the grip. I’m so fucking mad he’s involved in trafficking women and God only knows what else. Edge will lose his shit. “How many of you are there?” I hiss at him.
“Just the two of us on this trip, and keep your fucking voice down. I lured you out here for a reason, because I sure as shit didn’t need a fucking bend-and-stretch.” He jerks his head to the side. “I gather you weren’t stupid enough to come here alone and you’ve got a buddy at least out there watching Kane so we can talk?”
“Edge is here,” I spit, not hiding my disgust for my former team leader. This man was once one of the best, loyal without fault, fearless, and a brother I would lay my life down for.
“Christ, Slade. Stop looking at me like that. It’s not what you think. I’m unarmed. I deliberately left my weapons on the plane so you would trust me enough for a quick deep-and-meaningful. Now keep your cool. I’m going to lift my shirt and spin for you, and then I’m going to lift each pant leg and let you see. You can hold that gun of yours to my temple and feel me up if you choose, but I came out unarmed to talk before you did something stupid to jeopardize all my hard work.”
He does a twirl for me, showing me he appears unarmed. I take no chances. “Place your hands on the back of your head,” I order, and then I approach him and hold the gun—which Edge and I picked up as part of our supply run—against his dick and pat him down.
He doesn’t move a hair.
When I’m satisfied, I push him forward, and he turns and faces me. “Don’t fuck with me, Adam.” We go way back to our time in the Special Forces. “You’re playing for the wrong team now, and there is no fucking honor in that shit.”
My faith in this man has taken a beating. He saved my life on more than one occasion. I’m so fucking disappointed to know he is part of whatever this hell is that women are being forced into.
The more I look at him now, the more I can see the strain on his face. Whatever he’s been up to is taking its toll. Finally, he speaks. “Come on now, Slade.” Moving one hand over his heart, my gun mimicks his movement. “It hurts you think I would so readily bat for the other team.”
What does he expect me to motherfucking think?
“It’s been a long time, my friend,” he says. The smile he tries to feed me doesn’t quite reach his face, but it gives me a glimpse of the Adam I once knew, just in that small expression.
“Don’t call me your friend. No friend of mine would be a part of this, whatever it is. You better start talking before Edge finds us, rips your balls off, and makes you choke on them.”
His hands slide to his hips as he looks me in the eyes. “You remember I had a kid sister named, Eve?”
I nod because how could you forget they were named Adam and Eve by their parents who must have thought it was hilarious.
He looks right into my soul, like he’s deciding whether he should trust me.
Trust me?
“I have reason to believe my sister was stolen a couple years ago by these fuckers.”
Motherfucker. Not sweet Eve.
He doesn’t give me a chance to reply. “Why are you here with Edge?”
I don’t hesitate in replying. “We’re here, because Edge’s woman, or the lady he thinks is his woman, has been abducted to pay a debt to this motherfucker named Cezar. Whisper is her name. Seen her about?”
Adam looks away, cursing under his breath at this news, and then he looks back at me. “You’ve been doing some homework, I see. I know of her presence. Look, I’m deep undercover, so deep I didn’t even remember my own name until you said it out loud. I know this is gonna be hard, but you need to walk away, now. Grab Edge and leave. Whisper is alive and well.”
Undercover?
“She had her motherfucking tongue slashed. I wouldn’t call that well.”
Adam curses again. “How the fuck do you know that?”
The tables have turned.
“You’ve got your secrets, and we’ve got ours. The woman you were supposed to pick up today isn’t coming, because she has a prosthetic leg and your delivery boys didn’t know until they had assaulted her pretty badly.
Adam looks genuinely concerned for Joy. “She going to be all right?” This is the Adam I know.
“Yes, and just for the record, those two delivery boys are dead and buried.” I hook my thumb over my shoulder. “Your buddy should be getting a little impatient right about now and giving a call to the ghosts.” We’re also running out of time before the other man wonders what’s taking Adam so long to stroll around a hangar. “Keep walking. If by the time we get around the other side I’m not convinced of what you’re telling me is true, then you and I are gonna have a really big problem.”
Adam sighs and starts walking, while I listen, and I talk, and I listen some more.
And then I walk away.