Page 120 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One
I wait another five minutes before I shove my door open and slowly walk into my apartment complex. I head up the stairs and stare at my door before checking the knob. It’s still locked which confuses the hell out of me. Where the hell is Ari? With shaking hands, I stick the key in the lock and turn it. I gentlypush the door open and listen for any sounds. When I don’t hear anything, I slowly step inside.
The first thing I notice is that the place is clean. Ari or one of the guys must have come back to clean up the mess that asshole made. I’m just moving through the living room, when a guy dressed in dark tactical gear steps out from the bedroom. His face is covered with a black helmet, and he’s huge.Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!I should have stayed in the truck. I try to run, but he grabs me before I even make it through the door. He wraps an arm around my waist and drags me back into the apartment.
“Package acquired,” he says in a gruff voice, and I assume he’s talking to someone else.
My fight or flight kicks in, making me start kicking and fighting like hell. The guy just tightens his arm and starts carrying me to the fire escape. “What are you doing?!” I yell, pushing at his arm.
“Shut up,” he hisses. “We can do this the easy way or hard way.”
“Where is Ari?!” I swing my head back and know that I made contact when pain explodes in my skull. His hold loosens, and I jerk out of his arms.
My hand lands on the knob, and his body slams into me, making my face bounce off the door. I can feel the blood pouring down my lips and chin. He grabs me again, and I swing blindly at him, trying to get the door open. “Stop!” He spins me around, pins me to the door, and his hand wraps around my throat, squeezing hard. Pain rips down my chest, and my breathing is cut off. He punches me in the stomach, which makes me try to double over, but I can’t with his hand on my throat. With one last shot of adrenaline, I use his hold to my advantage. I push back against the door, lift my feet, and kick him in the stomach.
He stumbles back, his hold slipping. I’m up on my feet, ripping the door open. I make it into the hallway, opening mymouth to yell, when he grabs my hair and yanks me back into the apartment. I feel something slide into my neck, and a slight sting.
Then everything goes black.
40
KIRA
“What if I lure him out?” I say.
When Ari and Jason left for his apartment, the guys were still trying to come up with a plan. They were going to follow him but didn’t know what or who he would have waiting at his house. Keon was afraid it could be a trap, that Professor North could be waiting for this opportunity. I agreed that he was probably right.
“No,” Keon says without hesitation. “I’m not putting you at risk.”
“He’s not going to hurt me.” He’s had so many chances, and he never has. “This might be our only chance.”
“Ourchance,” Gavin says, pointing at him and the guys. “You aren’t getting involved in this.”
“I’m already involved,” I argue. “I got the information.”
“You did,” Tyler says softly. “But he didn’t know what you were doing. This would put you in the front lines, and that’s not happening.”
“I just want to help.”
“We know you do, Mama. This is too dangerous.” Keon looks at the guys. “Should we call in Axel?”
Tyler snorts. “And go behind Ari’s back? Nah. We can figure this out.”
Keon glances at me and then back at the guys. “Do you think this has anything to do with Ari’s dad?”
“Why would Ari’s dad be working with the CIA?” Tyler asks. “When he has his own…” Tyler trails off, and I know this goes into the territory that I can’t know anything about. Growing up with Kane, I already knew this was a part of the life—some things you just didn’t need to know.
Keon scrubs a hand over his face. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to figure this shit out.”
“I would assume Ari’s dad would come at him head-on,” Gavin replies. “He has the power.” Now this is making me damn curious about Ari’s dad. He sounds powerful.
“He probably would,” Keon sighs. “Fuck.”
“I still say let me lure him out. I can say I got into a fight with Tyler and Gavin and need a ride home. You guys can be waiting for him somewhere. That way you can grab him and not have to worry about if he has someone waiting.”
“That’s a damn good plan, Baby girl. But what if he just shoots you when he sees us. Then what? He might be nice to you at school, but that’s his cover. We don’t know how dangerous he actually is.”
It actually kind of sucks to think that all of the conversations I had with Professor North were fake. Hell, his name isn’t even Professor North. We aren’t even sure if it’s Lincoln Miller. He had more than twenty aliases in that file.
All their phones start making a loud beeping sound. I see the panic all over their faces, and Keon pulls it from his pocket. “That’s Jason’s distress signal.”
