Page 29 of The Hitman's Virgin
Evander stared at the cigarette butts on the ground, which told him Byron had a back-up plan. It meant that no matter where he fucking went, there was always going to be some way of him getting the fuck out of Dodge.
Evander needed a car. He found one abandoned on the side of the road, so he smashed in the window and climbed into it. He’d hot-wired quite a few cars in his time, and within a few seconds, he had this baby purring to life, but he also heard how loud the engine was, which wasn’t fucking ideal.
His patience was wearing thin. He needed Bastian to get back to him with a location. The longer it took, the more danger Callie could be in, and there was no way he would allow anything to happen to her.
Time was running out and he didn’t have the first clue where Byron was going to take her or what he wanted. He was pretty sure he was waiting for any news for well over an hour.
Finally, Bastian called.
“Man, I don’t like the look of this. Byron wasn’t alone. I don’t think you should go in there. His crew have been hunting for something for weeks now. Information.”
“For what? He has Callie, and there’s only one place I’m going. You already know that.”
“Not Callie. Her mother.”
“Her mother’s dead,” said Bastien.
“Well, she has something he wants. Maybe he thinks Callie has it. He’s got a hard-on for this, Evander. You need to think with your head. She have something he wants?”
“She’s innocent. Everything the girl owns is in a couple of cardboard boxes. She doesn’t have enemies.”
“I think she does. Byron has his entire crew looking for her.”
“He wants me.”
“I don’t think so.”
He hung up the cell phone, because he didn’t need anyone talking him out of what he was about to do. First, he needed to be sure there wasn’t more to this. He had to go back to Callie’s apartment.
He used his master landlord key and opened her apartment. What the fuck could he want from her? Evander looked at the boxes and cheap furniture. Byron was a big fish so it didn’t make sense he’d waste his time and resources on a young girl.
After sifting through the boxes a bit, he spotted the jewelry box. He remembered she told him it was her mothers, and she wasn’t even supposed to touch it. Without a second thought, he picked it up and smashed it on the ground. He used the tip of his boot to root through the pieces. Sure enough, there was a false bottom, and a small flash drive. He bent over and picked it up, grasping it in his fist.
His sweet girl had no clue what she’d been carrying around all these years, but Byron had recently found out. How? What was on the flash drive?
Right now, he didn’t give a fuck about anything but getting Callie back safe and sound.
He put his foot to the gas and didn’t care about the speed limits. There was only one focus on his mind—Callie. She didn’t deserve this. He should have kept her with him, but he didn’twant to expose her to the kind of guy he was, and now she might get killed for it. He couldn’t bring himself to think of what could happen to her. He refused to believe it.
As he drove, he thought about Callie, how special she was. He shouldn’t have stuck around, but the very thought of letting her go was not an option.
He was not going to allow her life to end this way. If it wasn’t already too late.
Chapter Twelve
She was dragged through a series of chain-link gates topped with barbed wire. It was some kind of junkyard or metal recycling facility. The sky was dark now, a chill in the air, but she had no idea how much time had actually passed. The echo of dogs barking seemed to come from every direction.
One of the men firmly held her upper arm so she couldn’t bolt, not that she had a chance of escaping even if she had the opportunity. There were old car frames, sketchy-looking barrels, and metal junk on either side of the path. Only a few spotlights highlighted certain areas in what looked like acres of isolated property.
When they stopped, some men came out of a dilapidated office trailer just ahead of them. One had a cigarette in his mouth, which he took out as he slowly came down the two metal steps.
“This the one?”
“Yeah,” said Byron. “He’ll come for her. Then we’ll get what belongs to me.”
“You so sure about that?” The new guy circled her, slowly, looking her up and down. He had a heavy accent. After taking another drag on his cigarette, he said, “Maybe I keep this one?”
Then he laughed and told them to put her in the metal shed. At this point she just wanted to stay alive and avoid these pigs putting their hands on her. She didn’t care if she was put in a tin box as long as she was alone. Part of her held onto the hope Evander would find her. He’d already done it once.
