Page 79 of Dangerous Command
“What the hell, Maddie?” Wil asked. “How could you do this to us? Tohim?” he yelled.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I’m going to make this right.”
“The hell you will. I’ll—”
“I’ll see you in Brackston,” I said. And I hung up. I took the next exit. Muro would be taking his sweet time, but I dialed him anyway.
“I knew you wouldn’t get far,” Muro said.
I cringed. I hated the sound of his voice. I shook the tears away.
“Don’t get started without me,” I said. “I’m bringing his brothers.”
“Are you now?” Muro laughed. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Where are you?”
He paused, mulling over the truth. Finally, he said, “At home.”
My stomach dropped. I knew where that meant, but it was never my home. I would have to text Wil with the update once I hung up.
“I want to kill Derek myself,” I said, forcing the words out.
“Now that, I would love to see,” Muro snickered. “Let’s make a deal. You bring the brothers, and I’ll let you.” He chuckled to himself. “He’s in cuffs, you know. He won’t even fight. Don’t be scared, now.”
I clenched my fists, holding back my nerves. I forced myself to be stronger than I felt. I needed that energy now.
“I’m not scared,” I said.
CHAPTER 23
Derek
Blood throbbed in my ears, my forehead, back across the bottom of my skull. Like Maddie, Muro had beaten my face with his fists and pistols. One of my eyes was swollen shut as if beaten by a boulder, and I could barely breathe out of that nostril.
My wrists were cuffed in front of me, then linked to a metal hook in the backseat so that I had to lay down. I had a feeling Muro enjoyed the aesthetics of seeing his enemy’s son in a submissive position like that, bound as a prisoner. Which proved that above all else, in the end, Muro was predictable. Being given his rival’s son on a silver platter was too much to indulge, too big of an opportunity to pass up. He must have enjoyed carving his initials into his wife’s and my father’s chests. They were probably still alive when he started.
The car rumbled back and forth. From my position in the back seat, I couldn’t see where he was taking me, but wherever we went, he would likely uncuff me to change me into a different set of restraints or to put me into a different position. I would save all of my energy for that moment, then I would strike.
It might be my only chance.
The car shuddered to a halt. Muro held open the door and unhooked the metal clip.
“Get out,” he said. He aimed a gun at my forehead. I inch-wormed across the back seat. We were parked outside of a house I didn’t recognize, though I knew the hills in the background; we were still in Brackston. It looked as though it had been vacant for years. It was far off from the others in the neighborhood, situated on its own plot of land. But the houses had the same faded paint. The same overgrown lawns. The same missing windows.
Muro opened the wired gate and we walked through the tall, weedy grass. The door creaked open.
Inside, Muro gestured toward what was probably the living room. Old furniture, torn and moldy. The paint on the walls chipped. A crack in the plaster running from the ceiling down to the ripped carpet. Plastic blinds over the windows were missing. The one advantage was that Muro had left the disarmed bombs in the car. At least I had that.
He stowed his weapon, then he made a show of throwing my guns on the ground. Bang. Clatter. Drop.
“Three,” he said in a low voice, stifling a chuckle. “You thought it would take three guns to kill me. And you still failed.”
I sucked in a breath. Muro liked taunting, but I couldn’t give in. Not until I had my one chance to fight.
But Muro made no moves to change the restraints. Would I get that chance? I had to think fast.
His phone buzzed. He rolled his eyes, then wandered into the house to take the call. The murmur of his voice was incoherent, but as he came back closer, I heard the words: “Now that, I would love to see.” He laughed. “Let’s make a deal. You bring the brothers, and I’ll let you.”
