Page 65 of Blood Revealed

Even as my stomach clenches, I force a smile back at him. “You’re going to die.”

That gets me a backhand across my cheek. “Oh no, my dear.” He pauses for effect, taking in a quiet breath. The slight glistening above his lip is the only indication that I’ve rattled him. “I will be fine, but you… you will wish for death before I’m through.”

On that point, I’m a hundred percent sure. But I don’t regret giving myself up to him if it means I’ve saved a family. Escalante has taken so many years from Raif and me, years we could’ve been building our own family. Taking trips, doing runs. I will forever miss the only man I’ve ever loved, but Duke found another to love after he lost his Dawna, someone as good and loyal as Raif will too eventually. Of this, I have no doubts.

We drive for forty-five minutes. There’s a digital clock on the dash glowing green to keep my attention as it keeps me informed of the passing time. When we turn off the main road the sense of foreboding takes over. I’ve tried to keep track of my surroundings, but with the windows blacked out, the only place I can see through is the front window.

Discreetly, I try to stretch my neck around so I can see where we’re heading, but Escalante knows my deal and he backhands me across the face, putting a stop that. I reach up and press my hand to the stinging spot on my cheek and shrink back down.

The road we turn down is either a private drive or a private road because it’s smoother than the road that we just turned off of. The driver eases the SUV to a stop and Escalante’s henchman gets out, opening Escalante’s door for him. He wrenches me from the vehicle by the arm.

We’re at a small, private airport with hangars to each side of the airfield. The black tar runway cutting through the middle. The metal hangars have been painted a distinctive burgundy with the outline of a crest painted in gold and white shadowing, a beautifully scriptedEJpanted in gold with white shadowed lettering inside the outline on the big roller door, which slides open by a man in a gray jumpsuit, like the ones mechanics wear.

The pilot backs out a private jet—white, with a matching crest, only this one has burgundy shadowing dropping down from the crest and letters. Slowly, the hydraulics push the door open, revealing burgundy painted steps and an opulent gold handrailing. Whoever EJ is, apparently, he likes his opulence.

As I’m ushered toward the steps, it’s at this point that my fight or flight response takes over and I start kicking and screaming, clawing and biting, when someone’s shoulder, arm, or hand gets close enough to my mouth. The henchman grabs me from behind, trapping my arms down at my sides. I throw my head back, cracking him in the nose, continuing to kick and scream. If I get on this plane, I’m done for. I know I’m done for.

I should’ve paid better attention. Escalante approaches me and he’s carrying something small in his hand. I hear the hum of electricity, then I feel the burning zing of the prongs touching my neck. My body goes rigid. He holds the prongs to my skin a second longer and—

14.

Raif

The waiting room is full of brothers and their old ladies all waiting for news on Marianne’s condition. Seems Hannah’s been gone for a while. I pull my phone to check the time and yeah, it’s been twenty minutes, so I search, looking at every head in the room to see if one of them belongs to her. None of them do. I walk quickly down the hallway to the restrooms where she told me she’d be, worrying that she might have gotten sick or the stress of what’s happening with Maryanne’s getting to her. I knock on the door then enter, checking every stall. Its empty. The bathroom’s empty.

My heart sinks. I run back into the waiting room to check a second time, pausing at each head of blonde hair. My wife’s not there. In a panic, I run from our group, poking my head in every room that I can possibly check, occupied and unoccupied on the floor, hoping that maybe she’s in one because she took a wrong turn or stopped because she saw someone she knew. She isn’t and she hasn’t. I’m back in front of the restroom again with my hands pressed against my knees holding on for dear life. If I let go, I’ll fall.This can’t be happening. Fucking can’t be happening.

That’s when I feel hands gently grip my arm and I hear my sister’s voice. “Raif, what’s wrong?”

“She’s gone. Hannah’s fucking gone,” I bark at Liv, who doesn’t deserve my anger, but when animals are backed into a corner, they attack. I’m an animal backed into a corner right now.

“She can’t be gone—what do you mean? She was right here just—”

“Yeah, like twenty minutes ago.” This time, I don’t bark because my head goes fuzzy and there’s a sharp pain in my chest. I can’t catch my breath. It feels like a heart attack, but I think it’s a panic attack. I think this is what they feel like, though I don’t remember ever having a fucking panic attack. I fucking hate that I’m panicking. I didn’t before when she was taken. I was pissed and worried, but not panicked. Now I’ve got this terrible feeling that Escalante has vengeance on his mind. Hannah got away from him twice. How’s he going to make her pay for that? He’s had to hunt her down and send his henchmen to grab her twice. How’s he going to make her pay for that? Her list of transgressions keeps going up.

My sister pulls her phone from her pocket, clicking out a message, then shoves it back in her pocket to grip the back of my neck. “Raif, you have to come down. Please. You’re not doing Hannah any good freaking out and you’re scaring me, big brother.”

“What’s going on?”

I hear Chaos, my best friend and brother-in-law, and look up to see him hobbling down the hallway from the waiting room. He’s got Boss and Tommy on his tail.

“What’s happened?” Tommy asks.

“Hannah’s gone. She went to the restroom and didn’t show back up. I came to check to make sure she was okay, but she’s gone. I can’t find her anywhere.”

“Right,” Boss says, pulling his phone from the inside pocket of his cut. “Getting the brothers.” He makes his call and seconds later, we’re joined by Scotch, Duke, Hero, Sneak, Crass, Sly, and every other man who showed up today to support Tommy and Maryanne.

“Liv, baby, stay with me.” Chaos grabs my sister’s hand. “We need to split up, check every floor.”

The brothers pair up and take off running toward the elevators. Each pair is assigned a floor, including the basement.

“I’m heading for security.” Tommy’s gone into police mode, but his wife is here, for Christ’s sake. He needs to be with her.

“Your wife, man,” I protest. “That’s your family. You need to be with them.”

“She’s with Caitlin and the doctors. They’ve managed to stop the labor but are keeping her overnight for observation. She’s in good hands. If Hannah’s missing, we’re losing time.”

Tommy takes off in a fast walk, his back straight and full of authority, headed for the security desk. I jog to catch up. Once we get there, he explains the situation to the officer behind the desk. The officer uses the mouse to pull up a file and he clicks on it, bringing up the video footage from the emergency room doors, the waiting room, and the hallway. He scrolls back to when we first got to the hospital. Using that as our point of reference, he’s able to fast forward through each of the video feeds to find when Hannah leaves to use the restroom.

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