Page 138 of Dominance

“Gotta piss. Be right back,” I excuse myself, extricating my neck from his grip.

I was saving that move for when I really needed to get out.

And no sooner do I reach the bathroom hallway than my phone rings, an unknown number.

“Hello?”

“Adri! Thank God!”

“Gloria?! What’s wrong?—”

She rambles an almost unintelligible string of events, frantic, her voice shaking.

“Where are you?” I interrupt, sprinting for the back entrance, through the kitchen, the storeroom.

“I-I don’t know. It’s somewhere near docks. Near water. Sandra’s hurt. She’s not waking up.”

“Can you find your phone, turn on your location?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then I’m coming.”

“Stay on the line with me?”

“I’m right here.”

I’ve never driven so fast, so precisely, in my entire life.

Once I have the ping of her phone, there’s nothing but asphalt and the roar of the BMW M3 I borrowed from the valet parking. At this hour the traffic is manageable getting off the island.

And the two cops I pass don’t even bother.

Small miracles.

When I reach the industrial area, it gets a little tricky, trying to find a way through the fences, gates, and identical buildings lining the single lane roads winding back toward the water. My pulse is through the roof by the time I spot the party bus parked out past a wall of shipping containers, boxed in on all sides.

A perfect hit spot.

Water disposal only a few dozen yards away.

I’m out of the car and running, leaving the car on.

“Gloria!” I bark, my gun out and slowing to a controlled approach, ready for anything.

“Here.” She’s inside, on the floor, Sandra’s head on her lap.

“Is she breathing?”

“Yes. She seems stable. Just unconscious.”

“Who did this?!” I growl, ready to kill.

Gloria looks pale, swallowing once and pointing past me into the dark. Based on the look on her face, I can deduce the state of the assailant, but I have to check.

The massive, dark shape on the ground is still, laying face down.

Well.