Page 19 of Promise of Hellfire

Ash stroked his beard and nodded his head in agreement. “Good idea.”

Kourtney ran her fingers through the ends of her hair, lost in thought. When she spoke, determination steeled her words. “Obviously, I have no experience with guns or anything, but I can gather clothes, toiletries, and other necessities. I’ll have them ready at the safe house.”

Victoria looked at Paul, her eyes shining with unshed tears, and cleared her throat. “I’ll stock the kitchen and make some meals for everyone there.”

“If either of you needs any money for this, let me know,” Hunter stated, standing from the table and striding across the room towards the bar.

“So, when exactly are we going to do this?” I asked, curious about the timeline.

Oliver took a sip of amber liquid from the tumbler sitting in front of him. “Early Wednesday morning before the sun rises. I’m concerned that they’ll beef up security the evening of the auction and I want as few complications as possible.”

Ignacio shifted in his chair and looked at the older man. “I overheard one of the guys at the precinct say the Rose is closing early that night. They’re using the excuse that a cleaning crew is coming in.”

Aldo smiled, and a chill skated across my skin. “Perfect. We’ll be ready to waltz in at four.”

The conversation continued until late in the evening, all the details slowly being fleshed out over alcohol and cigars.

That night, after everyone went home, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. The meeting had instilled a small glimmer of hope inside of me, but I was still filled with trepidation. I said a silent prayer to whatever gods were listening, searching for reassurance that we might manage to pull this off, and wondering if I had truly eaten enough black-eyed peas.

We would need all the luck we could get.

Chapter eleven

Hunter

January2.Onlytwomore days were left until the auction and I needed to make sure that everything was in order so our plans would go off without a hitch. For that to happen, I needed to see Scott. He texted me last night to tell me he had the information I needed and insisted on meeting today.

Rayne paced back and forth in the kitchen, worry lining her features, staring down at her phone. I wrapped my arms around her, stilling her motions. “Hey, princess, slow down. It’s okay,” I told her, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips.

She leaned into me and sighed. “Are you sure you don’t want someone else going with you?”

I shook my head. “Scott is paranoid on the best of days, and I doubt today is the day the two of you should meet. He reiterated coming alone several times.” I squeezed her tightly, relishing the warmth of her body for several moments. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

During the drive over to the small park across town, I thought about how, when I was younger, my mother would take me here on Saturday mornings. She would bring bags of stale bread that she’d been saving and we would feed the ducks. Afterward, we’d stop by a local bakery to pick up freshly glazed donuts still hot from the oven.

My childhood was full of small moments like that. It was such a stark contrast to Ethan’s. He’d had money and all the material things imaginable, but never love.

I parked the car in the gravel parking area and looked around. Scott sat on the park bench, looking over the pond, staring straight ahead.

As I approached, his features gave nothing away. His hand shifted underneath his jacket and he pulled out a brown padded envelope. He passed it to me wordlessly, and I tucked it beneath my hoodie.

“It’s enough?” I asked him.

He shuddered. “Yeah, everything on that thumb drive is enough to convince him to do whatever.” I passed him the bundle of cash from my pants pocket. “Remember, I wasn’t a part of this.”

I chuckled at his words and watched the ripples that floated on the water across from us. “That’s always been the terms of the deal. No one will ever know where the information came from.” I clapped my hand on his back and squeezed his shoulder. “I promise this is for a good cause, Scott.”

He pushed his glasses up his nose and turned his face to me. “After this, I hope so.”

When I got back to the apartment, I plugged the thumb drive into my laptop, wondering what kind of dirt he managed to dig up on the police chief. Clicking on the first file, I wasn’t sure what to expect. My blood ran cold as I clicked through the documentation. Scott was right. This was exactly the information I needed to get rid of the chief. I tapped my fingers, wondering exactly how I wanted to approach the situation. Whatever we decided on, I had to meet with him today.

After a quick search, I realized Dominic wasn’t in the penthouse and Rayne was also missing. Fear jolted through me briefly as I pulled out my phone, dialing Dominic’s number.

I tried to remind myself to calm down. I knew I was overreacting. Dominic and Ethan would protect her with their lives. My brain didn’t seem to get the message, though, as I listened to the phone ring. The past month and a half had been filled with kidnappings, attacks, and its fair share of murders.

Finally, Dominic answered and I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Yes,” he answered, his tone almost lazy.

“Where are you? I have the information we need.” My words were laced with aggravation, and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying more.

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