Page 99 of The Councilor

“Okay. Okay. She was here. Briefly. With Jericho but something happened. I was out. I don’t know.”

“What do you mean something?”

When he didn’t answer, I pushed the gun into his knee.

“Don’t. Okay? I think she ran. She got away somehow. I don’t know how.”

I took a deep breath. “How long ago was that?”

“I don’t know. An hour. Maybe. I thought Jericho was going to go ballistic.”

When the fucker dared to laugh, I’d had enough. “Your time on this earth has expired. Let this be a decent lesson to choose your friends wisely.”

Pop! Pop!

The darkness was still my friend. It was easy to hear what was going on several blocks away, even through the now falling rain. Goddamn it, I hated storms. I moved with stealth from one area to the other, keeping my weapon low but in both hands. Something caught my attention, and I stopped long enough to take a good listen. Between the traffic sounds and a clanging noise likely from one of the dumpsters, I had some difficulty but I remained still.

“Come out, come out, little fawn. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

The man’s voice was distinct, the laugh he was issuing low but enough I could hone in on the direction it was coming from.

I moved through the alleyway, taking my time when I moved onto the street. I stopped once again, certain I’d heard a tiny, muffled cry.

Her cry.

My anger continued to increase to the point I was itching to kill someone.

I heard his dark, evil laughter in the distance once again, taking long strides toward the direction. Damn the asshole and the situation. I’d been sorry then I hadn’t been able to defend him.

I wasn’t now.

I crept to another alley, the stench almost overwhelming given the rain. As I moved against the wall, I heard footsteps. Someone was running in this direction. With every step taken, I could smell increasing fear.

And I had no doubt my beautiful woman was about to be found and attacked, this time likely killed.

She was trying to get away but the last thing I wanted to do was to draw the attacker’s attention. Since the guy was bat-shit crazy, he could shoot her without hesitation. So I pulled out my flashlight, waiting until a certain point before moving into the center of the alley. As soon as I planted the very bright light on the man, he stopped, just long enough I was able to grab Raphaella, yanking her around in the other direction.

She had no idea who’d grabbed her, doing everything in her power to fight, scratch, and get away.

“No. No!” Her growl was full of fear but she was a little fighter.

“Shush. It’s me. Breathe, little lamb. I got you.”

She sucked in her breath; it took her a few seconds to realize that I’d found her. A single strangled sob left her throat.

“Aleksander.” The single word was all she could manage but it was enough to know she’d be fine.

The asshole was standing barely twenty feet away, moving back from foot to foot as he laughed. The monster had a deranged look on his face. He was manic, his face and neck smeared in what appeared to be blood and dirt.

Soon, his entire body would be one bloody mess.

“Go around the corner and wait for me. I have a few things to do.”

“No. No!”

“It’s okay. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“I got her, boss. We’ll take it from here.”