Page 29 of Wild Devil

“And I’m assuming that this mission is why three men from the cartel have just driven up to the gate?”

“The fuck?” Ben rushes to the tangled array of security monitors connected to cameras affixed outside. “Shit, Day! Those fuckers are trying to box us in! It’s a trap.”

“No,” I say, watching as one familiar figure steps from the car at the head of the mini convoy. “It’s a truce.”

“What?” Ben is left sputtering as I head outside to meet Marco. “Day, what the fuck are you talking about? You didn’t mention anything about working with them.”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t like it, but if this is what it takes to get Frey back. Then fuck it.”

“What about working with the reporter, you know? What she actually wanted you to do.”

He has a point.

“Then you take the lead with them. The leader’s name is Marco. I’ll try to pin down the fucking reporter and see what he knows, but I’ll be back in time tonight, so keep me updated.”

“Damn it, Day…” Ben sighs. “You don’t pay me enough for this shit. Hell, you don’t pay me at all!”

“You’re a good man, Ben. The best anyone could ever ask for in a friend.”

“Yeah, yeah, you owe me for this, you son of a bitch.”

He’s right, and I don’t take that lightly.

Sooner or later, everything is going to come to a head, and I’m running out of promises to make.

The funny thing is that the only one that feels impossible to keep is the one I made to her.

Trust her.

But if I give her any more time, I might lose her forever.

And that’s just not a risk I’m willing to take.

TEN

FREY

My father demands to see us both.

Despite the wide-eyed glance we share, Catherine hides any fear by throwing her head back and plastering on a more convincing fake smile than any I’ve seen before.

“Let’s go.” Poised with graceful confidence, she leads me into a sparsely-furnished room I vaguely remember passing on the way to the kitchen—only now, the air feels heavier. Colder. I’m shivering even before I cross the threshold, and within seconds, I have an answer as to why. Standing near a large window, with his hands clasped, eyes on the view, is my father. He doesn’t even turn to acknowledge our arrival. In contrast, he tilts his head sharply at Catherine as though she were an errant fly.

“Leave us,” he commands, his voice like a whip.

She lurches on the tips of her toes and nearly trips in her rush to the door. “Of course.” With a curt nod, she scurries off, leaving me alone at the mouth of the room.

With her gone, I can’t escape the childish urge to run and hide. At the other end of the hallway, I can make out an ornate door with a man standing guard beside it, presumably, it leads to an exit. I tell myself it wouldn’t be hard to slip past him with or without the razor blade. Playing out this hypothetical scenario in my head, I imagine myself running from this place straight to Daze’s arms.

Children, however, live in fictional worlds. Resigned to my current reality, I face my father without flinching, watching him relish in the fact that he has me trapped. The only trace of emotion I can see in his eyes is a malicious gleam.

“Tonight, will be your last moments as a free woman, Frances,” he declares, his voice deep and rasping. He might as well be giving a sermon to thousands rather than speaking to his only daughter. Ordinarily, I would clam up and obey any command he threw my way.

Not anymore.

“Until I marry Colton, you mean,” I say. It hurts to speak, and I’m sure there’s still blood on my face despite Catherine’s best attempts to clean me up. Good. I want him to see what he’s done to me—but if I expect to find any guilt cross his expression, I’m disappointed. Fighting to keep my voice steady, I add, “Unless you’ve changed your deadline already?”

I sound so confident, so sure of myself. Inside, I’m shaking, replaying the scene in the kitchen over and over again. At any other time, I would have been brought to my knees by the horror of the realization. He was right. All this time, Hale was right, in more ways than he knew. I can’t even fathom that the man I grew up with could be capable of such horrific things, but here we are…

---