Page 106 of Hart of Darkness
33
Dillon
We had thirty minutes until the sun peeked over the horizon. Thirty minutes until all hell broke loose.
I paced the paint factory, wearing a hole in the floor, while Hunt checked his gun and Hughes talked to his computer analyst about Marco Holdings. Hughes had assured me that the conversation was normal since he was the boss. His guy would only think that Hughes was doing his job.
Duke was on the roof, keeping watch. Dom was pulling his car into the building. Hughes wanted Miguel to think that no one except Grace and me were here, although I didn’t think Miguel was that stupid.
Grace sat in the only chair, gnawing on her nails.
I went over to her, rubbing my eyes. All of us had been up all night. Dom had failed to find Miguel’s location. Hughes had tried to call Rick to give him a bogus lead on another case his team was working on. He wanted to test Rick. But to Hughes’s surprise, Rick didn’t answer, which according to Hughes was odd. His team was always ready to go whenever a call came in on gang activity.
I squatted down in front of Grace. “You don’t have to do this.”
My plan C was to kill Miguel. It wasn’t the greatest plan, but it was the only one I could see happening since we hadn’t found a location on him. Hughes had shot that idea down, reminding me that a plan like that would put me in a cell next to Denim.
Grace jerked her head, her golden-brown eyes swimming with dread and rage. “It’s our only option. I was hoping we would find Miguel before now, but I can’t let one more girl suffer or die at his hands, especially one you care about. You’ve always been my favorite brother. I love you, Dillon. I hope you forgive me for running away and then not contacting you when I could.”
I rose and held out my hand. “Let’s take a walk.”
My nerves subsided for the moment as though she had valium in her palm.
As we walked, I said, “Don’t talk like you won’t make it out of this. I’ll kill Miguel before I’ll let him take you.”
The sound of Dom’s car engine rumbled in the building.
A wide-open aisle stretched from one end of the factory to the other, flanked by machinery on both sides. The machines were disassembled, with rusted parts lying on the ground around them.
When we came to a stop at a cross section that led to offices, my sister blinked, and tears welled in her eyes. “It’s a possibility, even though that family wants me alive.”
That family would always be a problem for Grace. But my goal was to get Maggie back and make sure Grace walked away with me. Anything else was for another day, although Hughes’s mission was to bring in Miguel, Cory, and whoever else was part of his organization and throw them all in a cell for quite some time.
“Hunt and Hughes are very good at what they do,” I said. “And you trust Dom?”
She blinked then nodded.
“Then nothing will happen to you.” I couldn’t ask her to trust me. We hardly knew each other. But I would protect her even if it meant my life for hers. “On another topic, I wanted you to know that I didn’t tell Hughes about you taking out the man who bought you.” Saying that last part gave me stomach pains and made Grace wince. “If you want to tell him, that’s up to you. But you’ve been through hell.”
“Let’s just get through today,” she said.
She would get no argument from me.
“Dillon,” Hughes called. “Let’s go through our plan one more time.”
My watch said we had twenty minutes.
Dom strutted up the aisle, his long legs eating up the space until he was draping an arm over Grace. “Hey. Are you doing okay?”
She snuggled into him, smiling as though she needed his touch.
I was beginning to realize Dom adored my sister.
Once all three of us joined Hughes and Hunt, Hughes handed out tiny two-way earbuds that were invisible when worn. “Put these in.” He had given a pair to Duke before my brother went up to the roof.
“Duke, do you copy?” Ted asked.
“Loud and clear,” Duke said as if he were part of the police force.
