Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(94)

“You won’t get away with this,” Zara told her former friend.

“Wrong. I already have.”

“Where’s Meat?”

“Fuck you!”

“Tell me right now!” Zara shouted.

“You’ll never find him,” Renee hissed evilly. “He’ll die right where we stashed him—and it’ll be all your fault!”

Zara stared into Renee’s eyes and tried to see the girl she used to know. The one who’d run around the playground with her. Who’d swung giddily on the swings for hours at a time.

But she couldn’t find her. In her place was a greedy, selfish, soulless woman.

Zara felt as if she were watching the scene from above, and she moved without thinking.

She balled up her fist and hit Renee as hard as she could in the face.

It hurt like hell, but Zara didn’t even feel the pain in her hand.

She leaned in to Renee, ignoring the way the woman’s nose was bleeding, and said softly, “It doesn’t matter where you’ve put him. We’ll find him.”

Renee scoffed and hawked a loogie, preparing to launch it at Zara’s face. Ro reached out and clapped a hand over her mouth so she couldn’t spit.

“I feel sorry for you,” Zara told her. “You have no idea what you’ve done, to what lengths these guys will go to find their friend.”

Renee closed her eyes and turned her head to the side. At a commotion to their right, they all looked over and saw John being hauled back toward the parking lot by Gray and Black.

“I’ll collect your money,” Arrow told Zara. “You and Everly head out, we’ve got things under control here.”

Zara kept her eyes on Renee as long as possible as Everly took hold of her arm and led her away.

It wasn’t until Zara was back in the car that she broke into tears. She cried as she’d never cried before. Huge sobs that shook her whole body. She had no idea where Everly was taking her, but it didn’t matter.

Meat hadn’t been at the rest stop, and she had no idea where in the world he might be.

They’d figured out who was behind his kidnapping, but they still didn’t know where he was or if he was alive. Zara knew the guys would do what they could to get the information out of Renee and John, but what if they were too late?

Doing her best to get herself under control, Zara picked up Everly’s phone and hit “Redial.” When Rex picked up, she said two words. “Find him.”





Chapter Twenty-Eight

Meat tried to blink. He didn’t open his eyes fully, trying to get his bearings before he let anyone around him know he was once more awake. He had no idea how much time had passed since he’d been taken by gunpoint, but instinctively he knew it had been hours. Possibly days. His mouth was as dry as cotton, and he hurt all over.

His memories were also extremely foggy. He knew midazolam was used as a sedative, and it had been very effective in taking Meat completely out of the equation. He was physically incapable of doing anything while under its effects, and Renee and her boyfriend had done their best to keep him knocked out.

The last time Renee had tipped the bottle up to his mouth, he knew she’d been trying to kill him. The first two times, he’d only been given a small bit of the syrup when he stirred, but the last time, Renee had tried to force him to ingest several times what he had previously. Luckily, he’d been lucid enough to fight her, albeit weakly, and most of the drug had run down his face rather than his throat.

He lay there for what seemed like a very long time, until he was certain that no one was nearby. Cursing a blue streak, Meat used his good arm to push himself up on the seat. He was still in the truck he’d been kidnapped in, but when he looked out the window, he saw nothing but darkness. There were no lights anywhere, no matter which way he turned his head. He had no idea where he was, or if he was even still in Colorado.

He forced his blurry eyes to focus on his watch.

Two in the morning. And more than twenty-four hours since he’d left to pick up Zara.

Zara!

Meat’s adrenaline kicked in. Where was she? He’d gone with the man because he’d said they had Zara. Had they drugged her too? Hurt her?

Groaning, Meat forced himself to sit completely upright. He peered over the seat in front of him, hoping to see keys in the ignition of the truck . . . to no avail. Didn’t matter—Ro had taught them all how to hot-wire a car, just in case.

He leaned farther and turned the knob on the side of the steering wheel to turn on the truck’s headlights. Wincing at the bright beams that shone through the darkness, he swore once more.

All he could see were trees. Everywhere he turned were trees. No roads. No people. No houses. And again, no keys. This was going to be harder than he’d hoped. But Meat wasn’t a former Delta Force soldier for nothing. He’d get back to Zara or die trying. Since he hadn’t already died from the gunshot to the shoulder, Meat figured he was good to go.

He pushed open the door next to him, and the second he stood, the world tilted, and he landed practically flat on his face on the hard ground.

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t so good to go. He’d just rest there for a minute and get his bearings, then he’d get up, hot-wire the truck, and get the hell home.

One minute turned into two, and two turned into four. He was getting up . . . as soon as the world stopped spinning and his shoulder stopped throbbing.