Page 100 of Daisy Chain
I slap the steering wheel. I know they’re right, but I so badly want to put my hands on him and make him wish he’d never breathed the same air as Daisy. If I get the cops involved, I’ll lose my chance.
“Fine, get on it.”
Asher leans back, and a moment later, I hear him on the phone.
I drag a deep breath through my nose. It feels like it’s taking forever to get to her. I can’t let myself think about what he’s doing to her because if I do, fear slices through me, and I can’t function the way I need to.
Finally, we arrive at the location in Los Angeles National Forest.
A drive that should have taken at least forty minutes, I’ve done in twenty. I get out of the car, and everyone spills out after me.
The headlights of the car point straight at Bruce, leaning against the van, but as soon as he sees us, he stands straight. His eyes widen as he looks at Lincoln, Asher and Jude behind me.
“I told you not to bring anyone.” The pitch of his voice rises slightly.
Be scared, you motherfucker.
“You said no cops. You said nothing about anyone else.” I’m not going to tell him the police are on their way. I don’t want him to jump into the van and run.
I take a step forward. Bruce raises his arm and points a large hunting knife in my direction. “Stay where you are.”
My blood turns to ice and fear clutches at my throat. Not because I’m scared he’s going to use the knife on me. I can’t see Daisy. What the fuck has he done to her?
Not listening, I take another step closer. I’d like to see him try to slice me open. “Where’s Daisy?”
“Kade?” Daisy’s muffled voice comes from inside the van as she bangs against the door. “I’m in here.” There’s fear in her voice, which only makes me need to get to her faster. With the boys backing me up, we can disarm Bruce and have him eating dirt in a matter of seconds.
I make to rush forward as Bruce pulls the van’s door open. He latches onto Daisy’s wrist, drags her from the van and presses her to his side, the knife to her throat.
I skid to a stop.
“Come any closer, and I’ll give your girlfriend something to remember me by.”
Rage ripples under my skin, and my hands itch to wrap around his throat. It takes all my willpower to keep calm. I hold up my hands. “You want money? I’m here to give it to you.”
His gaze trails over me and then to the car I arrived in. “Where is it?”
Nodding toward the car, I say, “I have a bag of cash in the trunk.” It’s not enough to live the rest of his life in luxury. I’d need to go to the bank for that kind of cash, but he’ll be able to get the fuck out of town with it if the cops don’t catch him first.
“Get it and bring it to me,” he demands. Daisy’s eyes are round with fear. Her skin pale. All I want is to have her safe in my arms. So, I nod to Asher, and he leaves to get the bag. When he has it, he drops it at my feet.
“Open it,” Bruce demands. No one has ever demanded me to do anything before, but I’d crawl on my hands and knees if it meant getting Daisy safely away from him.
I squat, unzip the duffle and open it wide enough for him to see inside.
“Doesn’t look like much.” He screws up his nose, like he’s looking at loose change.
“There’s two hundred thousand dollars in there.”
For a second, his eyes widen, then he pulls a kind of ‘I’m not impressed’ expression. “I want more.”
“That’s all I had on me.”
“Get more.”
My hands curl into tight fists at my sides. Something hot and violent trembles through every muscle in my body. I’m going to kill this greedy fucker.
Another car pulls up, and Albert and Natasha burst out. Natasha runs to me, and the security guard stands with Lincoln and Asher. Jude hasn’t moved from beside the car.
