Page 136 of These White Lies
I shove it away before I unravel completely.
“We could call the cops,” Sera suggests.
“We don’t know who’s tied into this,” I rasp. “There are still a few people I trust. The Blooms have Department of Justice ties, plus the money and power to make sure this doesn’t get buried.”
Finn’s brow raise. “They’d do that for you? Declan Bloom doesn’t strike me as the law-abiding type. He’s more like these assholes.”
“He’s nothing like these people,” Vincent snaps. “And under normal circumstances, James is a boy scout. He’ll love the idea of taking down a cabal of corrupt billionaires.” Vincent had been the head of Bloom security for decades, and he knew them even better than I did.
Finn nods, and we all move out through the back doors toward the van. “You call your contacts, and I’ll pull every Lindquist property on public record. Sera and Rhodes can search the parking and traffic cams.”
I’m already pulling out my phone when I see him.
Seth Wyland.
He’s alone, jacket open, shirt slightly rumpled, no security around him. He must have slipped out of the party through a side hallway and is ambling toward the parking lot.
His gaze sweeps the empty dark space and meets my eyes. He freezes for a second before breaking into a run back toward the hotel.
“Go,” My legs pump with fury as I go after him.
Rhodes flanks from the left. Sera and Vincent angle to cut him off. Seth cuts hard toward the outer fire door.
He almost makes it.
I slam him face-first into the wall just past the fire door, before I spin him around, my forearm pinning him across the chest. He grunts and thrashes, throwing wild punches.
Next to us, Rhodes brings his boot down several times, bending the door handle until it breaks, preventing the door from opening, and keeping us from prying eyes. I hook my leg behind Seth’s to hold him in place, and wrench his arm upward until I hear the pop.
He screams.
I step back and he drops, gasping, clutching his shoulder.
I don’t care. I have no mercy for him.
I crouch, grab a fistful of his shirt, and yank him close. “Where’d they take her?”
Blood shines on his teeth when he grins. “You’re too late.”
Wrong fucking answer. Something in me snaps.
I drive the heel of my hand into his sternum. He chokes, body folding, breath gone. Hauling him upright, I slam him against the wall, and then smash a fist across his face. Bone and cartilage crunch under my knuckles. His head snaps sideways, blood spraying from his nose.
“You think this is a game?” I snarl and hit him again and again. My pulse roars in my ears, drowning everything. I don’t stop. I drive my knee into his gut, then hammer an elbow across his jaw. His body sags, but I keep him upright by his shirt.
“Brady!” Rhodes barks.
Seth wheezes, trying to inhale through what I’m certain are numerous broken ribs. “You… can’t stop what’s coming?—”
I slam him down onto the ground and drop with him, wrenching his wrist into a lock that makes him shriek.
“You think this’ll change anything?” he gasps. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
“I don’t care who I’m dealing with,” I say, my voice deathly cold. “You took her. That’s all I need to know.”
He spits blood, eyes glinting. “You can break every bone in my body?—”
“Happily.” I snarl, rotating it farther. His scream echoes off the concrete. “You’re going to tell me. Because if you don’t, I’ll carve you into so many tiny pieces they’ll never put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
