That sobers them both up. “They’re fine,” Frost promises me. “We haven’t been to the clubhouse but Bullet and Shadow both texted us and told us the situation. Rose has them and she’s feeding them and annoying Bullet at the same time.” He smirks. “Something about wanting to know about what other kinds of weapons could be used to open a piñata. Pretty sure Bullet and Shadow are both about to have a stroke.”
“Well, we can rule out a bat,” Bowie hisses. “Pretty sure I’m going to be black and blue.”
“Quit whining,” I tell him drily. “Consider yourself lucky my aim was off, and it wasn’t your head.” He blinks up at me in surprise, while Frost laughs.
“Damn, I like you,” Frost manages to get out.
“Thanks,” I say drily. “Now, get talking.”
That seems to sober him a bit. Bowie shoots him a smirk, which I ignore. “We came in through the window because every other side of the building has cameras. That one is in the alley behind the building, and we’ve got ways to get in there without being seen,” Bowie explains. “This way if Vlad and his men are watching, they can’t see us coming or going.”
Well, at least they thought this through. “And just how did you know which one was mine?” I ask, folding my arms over my chest.
They share a quick look before Frost gives me a charming smile and answers, “Trade secrets.”
“Try again,” I say, unconvinced and uncharmed.
“We work in security,” Bowie chimes in. “We have a lot of access to different things. And just so you don’t think we’re perverts—or, well, at least me—we’re former military and we know how to get into places easily enough with that training.”
I can see it. Still…
“Did you follow me home last night?” I look at them both, and while neither of their expressions change, Bowie’s lashes flicker ever so slightly, and Frost’s jaw ticks just once. It’s enough for me to know the truth. I narrow my eyes at them. “And just how close did you get? Enough that Vlad’s men would have seen you? Is that why they pulled me in, almost getting my brother and sister killed in the process?”
Frost’s smile is gone in an instant and the tension in the room thickens. “No, Avery,” he assures me seriously. “We never got close to the building. After you went toward home, we went the other way, and then we made our way across the top of the buildings to make sure you got home okay. Spots that you can’t see from the ground. We saw you enter the building through a scope many buildings away. Nowhere near you, and no way for Vlad to see us.”
“Did you know who I was last night?”
“No,” Bowie answers. “We just wanted to make sure you got home okay. Roger’s becoming more brazen the longer he’s on the streets and the deeper he falls into his addiction. He almost beat a guy to death a week ago in the middle of the night after the guy got away from him the first time. He was high on his drug ofchoice instead of just drunk like he was last night. We’ve run him off a few times but he keeps making his way back.”
“Did you see Vlad’s men drop me off?” I ask.
“No. We were in one of the buildings half a block down and when we walked out, you were already with Roger.” Bowie gives me a wry smile. “But if we had seen them, we’d have probably followed you home to find out why you were with him.”
“Probably good we didn’t though,” Frost adds. “Shadow told us what your brother and sister said. I can see why you thought what you did, but we promise that we want to get our brother back, and we’ll protect you and your siblings in the process.”
“I don’t care about myself. I care about their safety.”
They both nod. “Buttheycare that you’re safe,” Frost reminds me gently. “And you all put yourselves in danger to help our brother, and that means we make sure that you’re not caught in the middle of this. It’s not going to be easy, and we need you to tell us everything you can. Anything that might help us figure out where they have taken him. Then, once we get him back, all three of you will be either kept with us to keep you safe, and you away from Vlad’s ability to grab you and drag you back into the shit he’s wrapped you up in, or we’ll send you somewhere he can’t get to you. We have a lot of connections throughout the country.”
“And outside of it,” Bowie adds.
How I would love to believe them, but these are the Russians. They can find me no matter where I go. I’m not naive enough to think they can’t. That’s how you end up dying or right back under their thumb, but I don’t have much choice but to trust them. Isla and Sawyer’s lives depend on it. Which means we need to move this conversation along.
“Alright, you can protect us,” I say briskly. “I assume if you’re here that you want to know how to find your friend?”
Neither of them seems to react to my abrupt change of subject, but I can feel the shift. Their attention sharpens, andFrost pulls out his phone. “Got a pen and paper?” he asks. I nod, turning to grab the notepad I left by the fridge. “One of your siblings told Bullet and Shadow that they always blindfolded you and never seemed to take you the same way twice?”
I nod. “Yes, but the end is always the same. I have a pretty good memory. I can tell you the last few rides, and if you have a map or something, maybe you can overlap their routes to find him?”
Frost nods. “We’ll start with that. When they come to take you, do they take you right from the apartment to the parking lot, or do they take you somewhere else to whatever vehicle? And when they drop you off, do they always drop you away from where you live, or do they sometimes bring you straight back here?”
“They always take me out of here with the blindfold on and out the back of the building. Two flights down, and straight out the back is the only other way out of this parking lot. You can only go out straight that way and when you get to the end, you’re in the parking lot of the apartment building next door. From there, there are only two exits. Most times they take the one to the immediate left, but a few times they’ve taken the right, but that’s usually when one specific guy is driving. The other two that seem to rotate out go left.”
“So they always send the same three men?” Bowie asks, leaning forward and still keeping the ice on his shoulder.
I nod. “I call them Hairy, Dopey, and Bozo. Bozo is the one that goes right. He’s the skinniest of the three and real sleezy. I kicked him in the face once in the early days when he tried to cop a feel, and he was going to beat me, but one of the other ones stopped him and reminded him the boss had his eye on me and he’d be pissed if I arrived roughed up.”
Bowie and Frost share a disgusted look.Yeah, boys, me too.
