Page 124 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

I take the lead, bumping into Elyssa as I move past her. We creep down the hallways carved into the rock. Birds flit from tree to tree overhead. And no matter how far we go, that sound of children laughing never gets any closer. I’m starting to wonder if I’m imagining it entirely.

Strangely, we don’t see a soul until we come across an unmarked iron door. I look back at Violet and she nods.

I try the handle. It’s open.

Even more strange.

Every sense is pinging on high alarm. Something about this is very fucking wrong. But what choice do we have? The place is too big to search without getting caught. First, we see what we can find in here. Confirm Theo is on the premises. And buy ourselves time to think of what comes second.

So I step inside the room. It’s cool and dark in here. Chilled by air-conditioning and lit only by red lamps set in neat rows along the ceiling.

“Where’s Violet?” I ask when only Elyssa comes up next to me as I keep tip-toeing down the long aisles.

“She’s standing guard by the door. She was too spooked to come in.”

I shrug and turn my attention back to the room. We’re surrounded by row after row of filing cabinets. My skin crawls at the thought of how much information must be contained in here. How many innocent souls with their torture documented for posterity.

At the very far end of the central aisle, one of the drawers is still cracked open. My gut tingles when I see it.

Yanking the drawer all the way open, I start rifling through the files stacked inside. Each one is exactly what I suspected—dossiers on women and children that’ve passed through this godforsaken place. Photos. Names. Birth records.

I feel like vomiting and killing someone at the same fucking time.

My wife might be in a file somewhere in here. My son, too.

“Elyssa!” Violet’s face appears at the mouth of the aisle. She looks completely drained of color. “They’re coming. They’re headed straight here.”

“Blyat’,”I curse.I grab three thick files at random, then take off running back towards the entrance.

We burst out at a full sprint. I have my gun in one hand and the files in the other.

“What happened to sneaking back out?” Elyssa hisses.

“That time has passed. Now, we run.”

“We’re going back the way we came?” Elyssa asks, sounding incredulous.

“You got a better plan?”

She doesn’t reply to that one. Just quickens her pace. We catch sight of the gates ahead and everything looks quiet. Calm.

So, obviously, I don’t trust it.

That’s when I look over my shoulder and see them pouring out from a different hallway—at least half a dozen guards with their weapons at the ready.

I don’t waste any time. I raise my hand and start shooting.

“Elyssa, get Violet out of here!” I roar.

“What about you?” she gasps.

“Just fucking run,” I growl. “This is not the day I die.”

30

Elyssa

We burst through the front gates as gunshots fire off behind us. Violet trips and lands in the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust. I grab her and pull her up onto her feet.

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