Page 71 of Secrets

This isn’t how it’s going to end. I’m going to find her, give her a fucking earful about everything, and she’ll be okay.

We’ll be okay.

Each vacant cell causes my insides to twist tighter and tighter, my muscles shaking from how far I’m pushing them. But I keep going, intuition from the depth of my soul telling me I’m going to find her, and in the last cell, I do.

“Elena!” I jerk the door open, racing to the cell and wrapping my hands around the cold metal bars. Even aware she’s been here for upwards of ten days, nothing could have prepared me for this.

She’s lying on a stained cot, her matted hair covering her face. But I don’t need to see it to know she’s barely hanging on. Her skin looks ashen, her body frail, and when he doesn’t lift her head, I almost imagine the worst.

But then I hear her. It’s so faint, I almost think I imagine it. “Peanut?”

I jump against the bars, relief seeping through me and springing tears into my eyes. “I’m here, Red. I just have to—Can one of you please help me?”

My frantic plea is met when one of the goons appears at my side, his gaze on the lock keeping me from getting to her. “It’s not thick. Step back.”

I do as I’m told, my eyes on Elena, who is trying to maneuver to see me. I want to scream to tell her to stay still, to not use what little energy she has left, but the man takes the butt of his gun and jams it down so hard against the lock snaps, it snaps, allowing me to rush inside.

“You have two minutes. We are going to make sure everything is clear and then we’ll carry her out.”

Without waiting for a response, he turns and exits, leaving me to assess how bad of a shape Elena is in.

Carefully, I brush her hair from her face, and when her dull green irises come into view, I nearly lose it. Eyes sunken, lips cracked, bruises over her cheeks and cuts along her clavicle. The more my eyes search her frame, the more I find, and the more enraged I become.

I’m shaking by the time I’ve concluded she doesn’t have any life threatening injuries, but do my best to hide my anger from her.

“Hey, Red. I’m here. We’re going to take you home.” I brush away her hair, tears burning the rim of my eyes.

“W–e?” Her voice is like crumbling sand. “We?”

I nod, swallowing around the molten lava searing down my throat. “Alexi.”

Even halfway to paradise, she still manages to roll her eyes. “Of course.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna owe him for life, but hey?—”

Three pops ring out in tandem, followed by three heavy thuds.

I suck in a sharp breath before moving my body in front of Elena, tears searing over the rim and onto my cheeks. “I’ll be right back.”

She shakes her head, though the movement is so slow I almost think I’ve imagined it. “Please.”

I sniff, wiping my face as steps entering echoes in the small space. “I promise I will not let anything happen to you. Just please promise me you’ll hold tight for me. Just wait a little longer, baby.”

Elena’s eyes flutter for a moment before she nods, this time a little stronger.

I muster up enough strength to give her a small smile before standing.

Only, when I turn to see who’s joined us, every part of me slackens, a picture I’d already unknowingly put together coming into focus.

“Fikes.”

The man I had planned to kill after the cartel stands at the door of the cell. He appears as if he just left the agency, wearing a pair of black slacks and a button-up shirt. There’s a pen in his pocket, and a food stain on the opposite side. Looking at him, one would likely never guess that he was capable of working for the cartel, but something I have learned over the years is that no one is who they seem.

Still, this man and all his arrogance, tries to act as if he’s here out of concern. His brows draw together, and his mouth turns down in the corner. “Frances. Are you okay?”

She takes a singular step toward the opening of the cell, allowing panic to slither into me cold and slow. I need to tell her who this man is, what he’s tried to do to her, but I don’t want to distract her. She’ll be so worried about me she’ll let her guard down, even if only for a second, and he could attack.

But I should have known that my agent is smart.

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