Page 33 of Ground Zero

She takes another deep breath. “We were hit, and Red lost control. I was knocked out, and when I came to, there were men at the car…. Red was dead... They thought I was too injured and left me behind. My face is black and blue from the airbag, but I’m okay…. I got lucky….” She takes another deep breath before she says, “They took the others.”

Hardcore and I stare at each other, stunned by this news.

I tell her, “Siri, everyone thought you were taken by traffickers.”

“I wasn’t, but I think the other girls were. We were definitely targeted.”

Hardcore asks, “What happened to you?”

She says, “Aurei. Take a deep breath. Stay calm.”

His jaw clenches and his face fills with anger. “Ruth?”

“Yes, but she is dead, and so is Rachael.”

Ann blurts out. “Oh, my God! What happened?”

“They must have seen us run off the road. They waited until the others left. Then they came down and found me. They took me at gunpoint back in the woods to Darren Martin’s hunting cabin. They were going to make Aurei pay ransom to release me. But ….” She takes another deep breath and blows it out slowly. “But I convinced them that taking my necklace and going to Mexico without involving Aurei was a better plan.”

I have to admit. I am impressed. She kept her cool during the ordeal.

Mike says softly, “What a woman,” making Hardcore smile.

She continues, “Ruth decided she didn’t want to take Rachael, so she shot her, and when she tried to remove my necklace…. Well, I didn’t let her. I choked her.”

“Good job!” Jack says.

Hardcore praises her, “You did good, baby.”

“I know. I promised to protect our Us, and I kept my word. I just wish they would not have been so stupid.”

He smirks and brags, “That’s my girl.”

I tell her, “Siri, we are going to call the police and have them come here to get your statement. You need to know that Bee was taken last night too. Probably by the same gang.”

“Oh, my fucking God! Is Ann alright?”

“I am here, doll. I took a hit too, but I’m good.”

I ask her, “How far out are you now?”

“Five minutes.”

“Okay.” I motion to the team to get things ready and look at Justin and Nik.

Siri’s voice says, “Aurei?”

“Yes, Wild Thang?”

“Take me off speaker.”

He smiles, holds the phone to his ear, and walks outside.

The team move to the stacked tables and take two off.

I walk over to Nik. “We need to set up our command center.”

Chapter 17

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