“Drop your weapons, douchebags,” Zain commanded.
The men jolted as Brick came around the side of the couch.“Now,” Brick said.
One man held up his hands.Another, who looked stoned, followed suit.The third man lay on the floor, his back against the couch and his eyes staring lifelessly toward the balcony.Blood soaked the front of his white T-shirt.
“On your feet,” Brick said to the other two.
Brick and Zain held the men at gunpoint while Taschen moved in behind them.He swiped their weapons from their hands and patted them down.
Brick wouldn’t waste time chasing the runner.“Where’s the boy?”he demanded.
Both men compressed their lips.Fury and hope mixed within him.They weren’t speaking up, but they also weren’t denying he was in the apartment.
He pointed the AR-15 at the man whose hard, confident demeanor screamed he was the leader.“Are you Justin?”
The man’s jaw hardened.
“Talk,” Brick growled, “and I won’t put a bullet through your thigh.”When Justin didn’t speak, Brick approached and placed the mouth of his weapon against the man’s femur.
“All right,” he snapped.“Yeah.I’m Justin.Who the fuck wants to know?”
Brick met Justin’s eyes.“Me,” he snarled.“Where’s my son?”
The guy’s gaze sharpened, and he pulled back his shoulders in defiance.“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Liar.
Flipping his gun around, he jammed the butt of it into Justin’s kneecap.The weapon connected with bone, creating a sickeningcrunch.
“Ah!Christ,” Justin screamed.
“Let’s try again, fucker.Where’s my boy?”
Justin’s breath hissed through his teeth.“I don’t know shit, man.I’m just watching the kid.”
Brick turned his attention to the friend, who kept his hands raised.“He’s right.We were just told to watch him for a couple’a days.”
“Do you realize he was stolen from his mother?Both of you could be charged for kidnapping and probably a hell of a lot more.”
“Man,” the friend blurted.“That’s not what we were told.Keetan said he needed to hide the kid from his crazy mother.”
Brick’s vision flickered.“Where is he?”This time the question came out thin.Desperate.“Where’s the little boy?”
Justin lifted his hands.“I ain’t no kidnapper.”He jerked his head toward the hallway.“Last room at the end.”
Brick’s chest constricted.Fear numbed him.
Taschen nodded.“Go ahead, dude.Get your boy.I’ve got this.”
Justin’s friend tsked.“Shit, man.I can’t believe that bastard Keetan.”
Brick didn’t wait another minute.He moved down the hall.The sound of his footsteps echoed around him.He felt as if he’d swallowed a bees’ nest.He paused at the door.Caution warned him this could be a trap.
But his sixth sense told him otherwise.Told him he was about to meet his son.Despite knowing he might meet a bullet on the other side of the door, he lowered his weapon.
***
Natalie chewed herthumbnail as she stared out the windshield.Minutes ago, she’d sworn she’d heard gunshots.She’d crawled into the front seat because she couldn’t stand being even one row away.At least from here she could see a little farther in the direction the guys had gone.
