Page 73 of Back To Our Beginning

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I looked down at the glass shards covered in blood. I swallowed, then swallowed again. I hadn’t been sick on a mission since my second. But this was close. This was Maddie’s blood. Some bastard had dragged Maddie over broken glass.

“You, okay?” Kai whispered the question.

I nodded. It was all I could do.

I’d already seen the message written in Maddie’s blood.

I stomped out of the living room, my boots crunching on the broken glass, hoping that the shards would slice through the tough leather and cut me as well.

When I got to the deck, I grabbed at the railing for dear life as I looked out over the empty land in front of me. I sucked down the fresh air, praying it would save me. Taking solace in the fact that somewhere out in this big, wide world, Maddie was breathing the same air as I was.

I knew deep in my gut she was still alive. Not just because the gang needed her for a trade, but because she was my soulmate, and I knew the moment she stopped breathing, so would I.

“Come inside,” Roan said. “Simon has the video of the outside perimeter loaded so it can play on the TV.”

I nodded and again walked through the glass and joined everybody else who was standing in front of the family TV set.

Trenda had taken the baby when she’d gone to pick up Bella and take her over to Renzo and Millie Drako’s farm. Renzo, Jase’s brother, had previously worked in the government and was more than capable of protecting the women if necessary.

Before Simon started the video, he turned to me. “Brace, Beau. This isn’t good.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Start it,” I commanded.

The video started when two men dressed in leathers, wearing Blood Raven cuts, were holding guns and had obviously just shot through the patio door. That must have been what triggered the outside camera to start filming.

One man with a bandana over part of his face reached in and opened the door. He went inside. There was no sound on the video, but there was a clock running in the bottom corner of the video. After a minute and twenty seconds, the one who remained outside shouted something. I imagined Maddie inside being dragged through the glass. According to the clock on the bottom of the video, another fifty seconds went by, and the man shouted something again. This time, over three minutes went by, then the first man came out, holding Maddie upright by her ponytail. She was covered in blood. She opened her mouth to scream.

No! Don’t do it! I shouted in my mind.

The bastard holding her slammed his fist into the side of her head. I watched in horror as he let go of her and she dropped in a heap at his feet. She wasn’t moving, not a bit. Both men looked down at her coldly.

The one who had done the yelling turned and reached into a duffle bag that was lying beside him. On the back of his cut was the name Bishop. He pulled out a roll of duct tape and tossed it to Maddie’s attacker.

The man I planned to kill.

The name on his cut was Grizz.

Grizz put duct tape over Maddie’s mouth, taped up her arms behind her back, and then wrapped the tape around her knees. I took two steps closer to the TV and crouched down in front of it, looking to see if Maddie made any movement.

“There! Did you see it? She moved her legs.” I pointed to the screen.

“I saw it,” Kai said.

The other guy pulled a blanket out of the duffel bag and shook it out. A second blanket fell onto the deck.

“Motherfucker,” Simon whispered.

I frowned.

He handed Grizz the blanket then picked up the other one and shoved it into his bag.

Shit! No wonder Simon was pissed. The second blanket had been for Bella.

Grizz wrapped Maddie in the blanket, then tossed her over his shoulder. He and Bishop walked back into the house to get to the front door, where it would be easier to get to their car.

The screen went black.