Page 141 of Avenging Azalea

Nathaniel didn’t argue. He just loaded another weapon and tucked it into a holster out of sight. His phone vibrated, and he picked it up. I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for him to speak.

“Location has been confirmed. Room sixteen near the south end of the building,” Nathaniel said.

He didn’t tell me who he knew or how he was getting this intel, but right now, I didn’t give a fuck as long as it was accurate.

The motel rose out of the darkness like a weakly flickering beacon as we approached at breakneck speed. The convoy behind me didn’t slow as the final mile sailed by, and I wheeled into the parking lot, sending stones flying. The motel was all one level, so I trained the lights on room sixteen as I got out. Marching to the back of the SUV, I opened the hatch, and the four dogs jumped down and fanned out around me.

“Room sixteen. We’re dealing with the 696 crew. No idea how many are here. Spread out, kill who you must, and take the rest as prisoners,” Nathaniel ordered.

The men blended into the darkness like lethal shadows, armed with guns, knives, and a thirst to kill. Naji and Goran jogged ahead of us, weapons out and their heads on a swivel as they put themselves in the most danger.

Gunshots rang out, followed by yelling. The flashes from the discharge were as bright as they were loud in the otherwise quiet night. Naji signaled for me and Nathaniel to stand off to the side. As if he knew I had no intention of doing so, Nathaniel grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the motel door.

What if we were too late? What if they were already gone and I never saw Fawn again?

I was yanked out of the terrifying thought as Naji kicked in the door. It splintered and cracked as it slammed open. We all piled through, but no one was inside.

“Fuck,” I growled.

Goran ran to the only other door and, with a heavy boot, smashed it open to reveal an empty bathroom and a tiny open window. I tossed the bed and dressers, hoping to find a clue as to where they went when Goran yelled for me.

Heart leaping into my chest, I ran into the bathroom. He pointed at the few strands of long brown hair that had gotten caught on the window lock. Fawn…did she escape? No one had come out of this room, and there was no way a grown man could fit through that narrow opening. They had no way of knowing we were coming, so she had to have gone through the window on her own.

“Step out of the way,” I ordered, and Goran slipped by me and out the door. I pointed at the hair. “Find Fawn,” I said, and Hailey took the lead. Paws up on the wall, she sniffed and then raised her nose to the window and whined.

Without explaining, I bolted out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and ran around to the back of the motel. Naji and Nathaniel were right behind me. Neither of them spoke while letting me and my girls do what needed to be done.

“Find her. Find Fawn,” I ordered and was so thankful that I’d taken the time to train Hailey in search and rescue. She sniffed around her nose pressed to the ground. Please don’t head to the parking lot. If Hailey did it meant we were too late and they’d already grabbed her and drove off. Within seconds, she picked up Fawn’s scent and thankful she turned toward the back of the property.

In a flash, she was off, the rest of the dogs following while I ran behind them into the scraggly wooded area. It was darker in here, and I had to pull out a small flashlight to see where I was going. The last thing we needed was me tripping over a rock or something else stupid. We’d been running for over five minutes, the glow of the motel lights far behind us, when I heard a scream. My heart was ripped from my chest. Fawn. I’d know her voice anywhere.

She seemed to be zig-zagging back and forth like she was running and changing directions based on the sound. She screamed again, and her terror filled me with adrenaline.

The dogs stayed just slow enough that I caught flashes of them through the trees as I picked up my pace.

“Hold her still, for fuck’s sake,” someone yelled.

“Get off of me,” Fawn screamed, and those four words were burned into my mind and my soul.

The dogs burst through what looked like a treeline. A bit of light shone through the darkness onto the path. I lost sight of them but kept running.

“Ah!” A man’s voice yelled.

Someone suddenly ran at me through the trees. He didn’t see the danger in front of him because Bella was hot on his heels. With a roar, I dropped my shoulder and slammed into the man. He could’ve been ten pounds or three hundred for all it mattered. I hit him like a battering ram, and he flew off the side of the narrow trail into the bushes. All I saw was a flash of Bella’s teeth as she jumped on him. Snarling mixed with screams and the sound of tearing flesh filled the night. Bella was almost two hundred pounds of hard muscle. Of all my dogs, she was by far the scariest.

Running into a small clearing, I took in the scene. The dogs had stopped whatever they were trying to do to Fawn. Hailey and Holly had two men on the ground, their teeth bared menacingly. Daisy had another man by his leg and was steadily pulling him backward as he yelled and clawed at the dirt. That was when I spotted her. Fawn was curled up on her side and covered in so much dirt that she blended in with the ground.

My heart jumped, and I wanted to run to her, but the man attempting to fight Daisy was digging around near his pocket. He was going for a gun or a knife. I ran at the piece of shit and recognized Neil just before I stepped on his hand.

He hollered in pain as I twisted my boot on his fingers. Neil’s terrified eyes looked up at me. In that moment, he knew…he was a dead man.

“Please, don’t kill me. This wasn’t my fault. I was trying to stop them, I swear. Please believe me.”

I didn’t believe him, and even if I did…I was still going to kill him. But I was going to do it later when I had time to savor the moment.

“Daisy, ryadom,” I said.

Neil relaxed. Idiot. Bringing my fist down in the middle of his face, I broke his nose and knocked him out cold.