Page 70 of Secrets

Ten minutes later, we arrive at our destination. It’s a remote location, not too far from where the cargo yard is. The buildings are even more dilapidated in this area, the streets corroded with potholes and with lamp posts that don’t shine any more than a standard flashlight. We turn into an alleyway across the street from a rundown, abandoned jailhouse and park.

I remember when it shut down a few years ago, when the rats outnumbered the inmates and the human rights activists petitioned Julio. I guess it would be the perfect spot to hold prisoners, and knowing Elena is being subjected to whatever is down there makes my stomach turn.

We wait until the other vehicles catch up before unloading from the SUVs. The men check their guns, pull down their masks, and divide into equal groups without Alexi having to say a word. And when he does speak, it’s reiterating what he’s already told them, only, at the end, he turns to three men standing off to the side.

“You go with blondie here and make sure she doesn’t kill herself. Last thing I need is for her to die and then have Erica try to kill me. She might actually succeed.”

I refrain from correcting him on Elena’s name and instead do something else. Something that clearly surprises him. I apologize.

“Thank you.”

His brows shoot up before he waves me away. “Call us square.” He turns to the rest of the men. “Let’s go.”

I have to admit, despite the myriad of emotions—trepidation and fear at the forefront—the way the men fall in line behind Alexi is admirable. They move as one unit, walking in perfect rows and turning as if on one cord. They all take a different way inside the building, but me and my three guys stay behind Alexi.

At first, I think it’s rather obvious that this mission is to be done in complete silence, but then this crazy asshole does something that makes me immediately regret not asking more questions in the car.

Two men flank off and stand next to the double front doors while Alexi tucks his hands in his back pockets and draws out two tubes. By the time I realize what’s about to happen, it’s too late, and I know without a shadow of a doubt I’m probably going to die tonight.

Ducking off to the side, I watch as the two goons kick the doors open with all their might, and the rusted steel immediately caves in. When it does, Alexi tosses the flashbang grenades inside, laughing as though he was just told the funniest jokes he’s ever heard in his life.

“Honeyyyyy, I’m hooooooome.” Somehow I can hear him above the cracks of the explosive, and despite not being able to see him over the flashes of white, I can imagine him with his hands spread wide open.

Then all hell breaks loose.

Gun fire spews out, bullets fly and all I can do is stand on the other side of the wall with my hands covering my ears. It feels like eternity ticks by, though I’m sure it can’t be over sixty seconds, before one of the men assigned to stay with me yanks me from my crouched position on the ground.

“We have to go now. There aren’t that many in there, but more will come. We need both of you out by then.” The masked goon lifts his head toward the bat I have secured behind me. “Use the bat or the gun—depending how messy you want it.”

Without waiting for me to get my life together, or better yet, repent for my sins, he turns and jogs inside, the other men close behind him.

My pulse pounds so hard, my veins ache at the same time my head does, but I do as I’m told, Elena’s face serving as motivation.

Luckily, when we enter, most of the cartel members are already dead or incapacitated by the entrance, giving us a clear path to get to the cell blocks. The guy I was just talking to positions himself by the mouth of the hall, gun in his hand. “We’ll have to check each corridor, I’m not sure where?—”

A loud pop echoes around me, threatening to blow my eardrums, while the secondary sound of a bullet flying past my head and into the skull of a guy I didn’t see to my right takes me by surprise.

The goon goes right back to talking as if he didn’t just casually murder a man mid-conversation. “We don’t know where they’re holding her, but my orders are to have you out in five minutes with or without her.”

I consider asking him when the fuck he got that order, but then decide not to waste my time arguing.

Leading the way, I run down the first hall, my head turning right and left so fast that by the time we make it to the end, I damn near pass out from being so dizzy. But I don’t stop. I turn down the next row of cells, my eyes whipping back and forth as I go.

I scream her name, doing my best to ignore Alexi’s laugh echoing down the corridors and the random spray of gunfire I know is lodging into men. I’m unsure which side is winning or losing, I just know the longer there isn’t a sign of Red, my already fragile heart cracks a little more.

Five halls down, which is about half of the small jail, and we come up to a thick metal door. It’s partially closed, with a sign on the outside listing rules about solitary confinement detainees.

“Think she’s down there?” One of the men mutters.

Another answers. “Makes sense they’d hide her.”

I don’t wait for them to speculate further and jerk the door open, rushing inside as quickly as my legs will carry me. Five doors on each side, and I check every one, heart pounding louder in my ears, while my lungs burn from rapidly sucking in breath. I slam a fist against each door, fear of the worst creeping up and gripping me by the spine.

What if I’m too late? What if she’s gone and I’m about to find her body?

What if our last moments are her saying my name and me walking away?

No. No. No.

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