Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(90)

He leaned over and used a stick to pick up a small plastic bottle from the ground near the driver’s side of Meat’s car. He smelled it and frowned. “Found something that could be nothing,” he told Rex.

“What?”

“An empty bottle that smells kinda sweet,” Ball said.

“Keep it so it can be analyzed if necessary,” Rex said. “Have you checked the trunk?”

Ball swallowed hard and reached inside the car to pop the trunk. “Empty. His phone’s on the floor of the passenger side, but Meat isn’t here.”

“Well, fuck. All right—hold on. Call coming through.”

Less than two minutes later, he was back on the line. “I’ll keep seeing what I can find out—but you need to get to the Bank of America pronto,” Rex ordered.

Ball and Everly were on the move before Rex had finished speaking. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Zara’s there—trying to withdraw a million dollars from her account. In cash.”

“What the fuck?” Ball exclaimed. “And how do you know?” he asked.

“That was the manager. I’m well acquainted with almost all the managers of the area banks. I’ve made it a point to be. You never know when it might come in handy. And when Meat was helping Zara set up her account, he put my name down as a secondary contact, just in case. I’m guessing he already tried Meat. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter why he called, just that he did.

“I’m getting in touch with the rest of the team. It’s going to take them quite a while to get that money together, so I don’t think there’s any danger of her leaving before you arrive, but I still asked the manager to make sure she doesn’t leave before someone can get there to escort her.”

“We’re on the way,” Ball said.

“I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, but whatever it is, it isn’t good,” Rex said.

“No shit,” Ball said with a shake of his head as he climbed back into his car. “We’ll be in touch. Let us know if you find anything else of interest.”

“Will do. I’m going to hack into both their phones and see what I can find. Drive safe.”

Ball clicked off the connection and turned to Everly. She reached over and kissed him hard before gesturing with her head. “Let’s go see what’s wrong so we can fix it.”

Ball peeled away from the side of the road and drove as fast as he dared to get to Zara. Hopefully she’d have information about where Meat was—and what the hell was going on.



Zara paced back and forth inside the small office where she’d been asked to wait while the bank employees put together the money she’d requested.

She had no idea how badly Meat was hurt. He’d had a lot of blood on his shirt in the picture that she’d been sent. She didn’t know if someone had bothered to patch him up or if they’d hurt him even further. She hadn’t gotten any additional texts or pictures, and the not knowing was killing her.

“Come on, come on,” Zara muttered. She didn’t have any idea how long it took to get a million dollars together, but it felt like it had already been forever.

She heard someone at the door and eagerly turned, thankful that she was finally going to get the money and be able to leave.

But instead of the manager she’d expected to see, Gray and Ro walked through the door.

Zara immediately panicked. “No! You guys can’t be here. You have to go!”

“We aren’t going anywhere,” Gray said sternly.

“And you’re going to tell us exactly why you need a million dollars in cash so bloody quickly,” Ro added.

Zara felt dizzy, and she swayed on her feet. One second she was standing, and the next, Gray had taken her arm and eased her onto one of the plush chairs in the room. He gently pushed her head between her legs and ordered, “Long, slow breaths, Zara. Breathe.”

How could she breathe when she’d failed Meat? Whoever had him strictly said no cops and not to get his friends involved. But here they were! They’d want to know everything.

Just as that thought went through her head, Arrow, Black, Ball, and Everly pushed their way into the room. It was quite crowded now, but no one seemed to care.

Zara sat up, closed her eyes, and did her best not to pass out.

Everly kneeled in front of her and took hold of her hands. “You haven’t known the Mountain Mercenaries very long—I haven’t either, really—but the one thing you have to understand is that they will always have each other’s backs. No one hurts one of their family, man or woman, and gets away with it. Now take a deep breath and tell us what’s going on.”

Zara shook her head. “I can’t,” she whispered. “Please, can’t you all just go?”

Everly shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. You need to talk to us. Where’s Meat?”

Zara couldn’t look away from the woman holding her hands, giving her silent strength. She couldn’t believe she’d been scared of her at one point. Yes, Everly was a police officer, but she wasn’t anything like the corrupt men Zara had known in Peru.

“I don’t know!” she finally wailed in despair. “They have him.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know!” Zara repeated. “I got a text.”