Chapter 69: Rescue Mission

Draven’s POV

We didn’t know exactly where to start looking for Jade, but we knew she had been taken somewhere far from where we were.

Rex told us he’d had issues with Carlos a long time ago. According to him, they went as far back as seven years. Carlos had been his classmate in school, and they’d started the rogue business together. In fact, Carlos had been the one who kicked it all off ... robbing, pulling high-class heists ... before Rex eventually decided to join in.

Years down the line, Rex betrayed Carlos and broke off to build his own faction.

They became enemies after that. Going toe to toe with each other like two wolves who couldn’t share the same territory. Anything Carlos wanted, Rex wanted. Anything Rex built, Carlos tried to tear down.

And any bond that was once strong, when it breaks, it breaks ugly.

"I’ve been targeting Carlos ever since," Rex said. "Maybe this is what finally ends it. Either he dies or I do."

We still weren’t getting any leads on Jade’s location. I was starting to fret. I kept hoping she wasn’t hurt, that whoever had her was smart enough to know she was leverage, not a punching bag.

Then a message popped up on Rex’s phone.

A video message.

"This piece of shit is playing with me," he muttered, opening it right there in front of all of us.

What we saw made my blood run cold.

Jade was tied ... hands, legs, mouth. All of it. She looked like she’d been crying for hours. Her face was swollen, her eyes red and hollow. Fuck. If I could’ve reached through that screen and wrapped my hands around someone’s throat, I would’ve. If you saw what I saw, you’d understand. You might’ve even shed a tear yourself.

She’d been beaten. She wasn’t even given the chance to speak for herself, her mouth gagged so tight she couldn’t even scream.

Then Carlos’s voice came from somewhere behind her.

"Rex, it’s you I want actually. But I want you to feel the pain I felt before I kill her. And then I’ll kill you."

Rex looked like he was about to smash the phone into the floor. We stopped him.

That was exactly what Carlos wanted. He wouldn’t have sent that video for any other reason. He wanted Rex to break character. He wanted us to make a move on emotion, not strategy.

The video ended with a brief shot of the environment ... enough for Rex to clock it immediately.

"Dante, prepare the van. We’re tracking that location. I know where it is," Rex said, and honestly, I knew that reaction was coming before the words even left his mouth.

"We can’t just go there like that, Rex," Camila said firmly, stepping forward.

"She’s right," Gia added. "It’s a trap. A bait. Carlos wouldn’t be foolish enough to let us see where he was unless he already knew we’d come running. He’s counting on it."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Rex asked, his jaw tight.

I thought about it for a second. Then it hit me.

"You go alone. Act like you’re going by yourself, like you want to sit down and iron things out for old times’ sake. We’ll be ten minutes behind you. We go in quiet, take them out, and we bring Jade home." I didn’t hesitate on that suggestion. Not even a little. Because it was Jade we were talking about.

Rex shook his head. "No, Draven. Carlos would see through that instantly. He’s not stupid."

"It’s not a perfect plan, but it’s a good one," Viktor said. "We can’t afford to lose someone else to the Glocks. Not again."

Rex looked around at all of us, one by one. Then he made the call.

"Let’s go."

Rafael had the van ready. The coordinates were locked in and we moved fast.

To me, the whole ride felt like the buildup to a final fight between people who used to be brothers. The kind of war that only ends one way.

We stopped two blocks out. Rex climbed down and walked the rest of the way on foot. We tracked him on the street cameras we’d hacked, watching every step he took on the small screen in the van.

"Carlos! Carlos! I’m here! Come out and face me like a bold motherfucker! Come on, bitch!" Rex’s voice rang through the block.

He kept yelling for about five minutes straight. No response. The silence was suffocating, and the longer it stretched, the more the tension built inside that van. We were all thinking the same thing ... that the backlash of this moment could cost us another life.

We weren’t going to let that happen.

Carlos finally answered.

He stepped out slowly, almost casually. "Hey, brother. How dare you come here alone?"

"I came to get Jade back," Rex said.

"You couldn’t possibly have come here alone. You’re trying to trick me, so let me tell you in advance ... it won’t work, Rex."

We all exchanged glances inside the van. A wave of unease passed through the group.

"Don’t worry," Mia said quietly. "Jade is coming out today."

"I’m just here to take Jade," Rex repeated, holding his ground.

"What about my men, Rex? Can you bring them back? Because if you can, I’ll give you Jade. She’s still alive. I think." The way Carlos said that last part made my skin crawl.

"Enough, Carlos. Enough of this bullshit. If anything happens to Jade, this becomes personal between you and me." Rex’s voice cracked through the block like a whip.

"It’s already personal, Rex. For old times’ sake ... remember how we used to roll? And now look at you, walking around like a kingpin, using every tactic and strategy I taught you." Carlos pulled out a cigarette and lit it like he had all the time in the world.

Dorian said we needed to start moving in. They were deep in a personal conversation now, and that meant Carlos was distracted. We already knew Jade had to be somewhere in that block.

All we needed was the right angle to get inside.

Six of us went in through the back while Dorian stayed behind as our communicator. We all had earpieces in. The moment we slipped around the back, Rex and Carlos’s voices cut out ... but I knew Rex expected us to already be moving.

We reached the rear of the building and that’s when it hit the fan.

A heavy thud. Then another. Carlos’s men had been waiting. They blindsided us before we even fully cleared the corner ... Rafael went down first, something heavy cracking against the back of his head.

We fought back. Hard.

I used my weapon and put down two men who came at me back to back. The rage I had locked in my chest for Jade fueled every single hit. I didn’t feel tired. I didn’t feel fear. I just moved.

We dropped everyone outside in a matter of minutes. We dragged Rafael off to the side where he’d be safe. He was out cold ... he wasn’t going to slow us down.

We forced the door open. The ladies already had their guns raised and ready.

Two men rushed us the moment we stepped inside. Camila dropped both of them before they even reached us. Two wolves down.

Gunfire broke out between our faction and whoever was left. I used the chaos to slip away and push into the next room. That’s where Jade had to be. I could feel it.

I kicked the door open.

A heavy guy inside came at me like he wanted to eat me alive.

I shot him before he could say a word.

And there she was. Jade. Looking wrecked. Beaten down. Barely holding on. I felt the worst ever.

I moved fast. Pulled the gag from her mouth, cut the ties from her hands and legs, and got her out of that building the same way I’d come in ... quiet, low, and fast.

We made it back to the van. Jade couldn’t speak. She was too weak, too exhausted to do anything but lean against me.

"Tell them to pull back. We’ve got Jade," I said to Dorian, and he passed the word immediately.

One by one they came back ... all of them intact. But Rex was nowhere.

We held our position and kept shooting down every rogue who showed up while we waited.

Then Rex came running out of the building.

His arm was torn up. He was barely on his feet, moving like a man running on nothing but sheer will. He threw himself into the van, and the second the door slammed, we were moving.

"What happened to you, Rex?" I asked.

He was gasping, bleeding, his whole body heaving.

"Let’s get home first," he managed. "The battle isn’t over yet."

That was the last thing he said on that ride.

A dark day for the Mafia Wolves of Valdris.