Chapter 3

Demetri's POV

My eyes moved along the catwalk above my head, looking for anything to give away where someone was. I knew they were there. There was nowhere else they could be. I pressed my hearing, listening for someone to move. I knew I was walking into a fucked up situation. I knew it was a set up, an ambush of some kind. However, with my sister involved, I didn't have a choice but to willing come and come alone.

Well, apparently not completely alone.

Newton. I was standing back to back with fucking Newton. What he could possibly be doing looking for Alexis, I couldn't begin to guess but after we got out of this situation, I had every intention of finding out.

Knowing there were people present but not knowing where they were, I racked my brain for even a half assed plan of escape. I was parked on the other side of the building, there was a lot of distance between here and there and there was no way in hell I was going out the way Newton came in. If these fuckers had a single brain cell between them, they would cover that exit a lot better than the other one. At least, that would be what I would do. It was the obvious route to take and when you do the obvious, bad things tend to happen.

As much as it pained me, there was no seeable way to get to the back of the building without Newton's help. I know there are people with high ground advantage and I knew there is more than one. With a slightly growled resigned sigh, I spoke quietly to Newton. "Do you actually know how to use that gun?"

I felt him shift against my back, my guess as he nodded. "Yeah, why?"

I rolled my eyes. Idiot. "Because you're going to. On my signal, head to the back of the room. There is an office with an alternate exit."

This time when he moved, it was to look at me but he only got out 'why not' before I raised my arms and fired onto the catwalk, forcing them to reveal themselves up there. I pivoted on my right foot and took off, continuing to shoot blindly. I took a look back and nearly rolled my eyes at the fact Newton tried to take the easy exit and my theory was proved right when he was scrambling to his feet facing the direction I went.

Looking back in front of me, I saw a couple of crates that were stacked up under one side of the catwalk. Knowing I was running low on ammo, I redirected myself and headed for it. It would give me a chance to reload and figure out exactly why Newton was still alive when that would have been an easy kill for an infant.

Ducking behind the crates, I pressed my back against the rough wood. I was just releasing the clips on my guns when I was joined by a freaking out Newton. He started blubbering about still being alive and asking how he was still alive and all manner of bullshit as I pulled fresh clips from my belt.

I growled a little as I pushed the clips into place and looked at Mike. "Shut the fuck up, Jesus. I get it. You're alive. Congratulations."

He looked at me with wide eyes. "But why?"

That is the million dollar question, isn't it? He really shouldn't be. Though I had a thought about it, it wasn't exactly easy to explore while being still being shot at. Either these guys were just a horrible shot or he was alive for a reason. Either way, I didn't care. No one fucking shot at me and lived to tell the tale.

I looked back over at Mike and this time did roll my eyes. He had a revolver. A six shot revolver. What the fuck did he think he was gonna do with that? With a sigh and a shake of my head, I held out one of mine and snorted. "Time to be a big boy and put your toy away."

He looked at my gun for a second before looking back at me. "Seriously?"

My face went flat and I huffed a little. "Do you really think I want to give you a semi-automatic? No, I don't. However, I do want to get out of here and if that means that I have to trust you, so be it. I have a theory and unfortunately the only way to find out if I'm right is to put it to the test."

He hesitated for another second before he took my gun and licked his lips. "What's the theory?"

I looked around the side of the crate to the office that leads to the other exit and clicked my tongue. "The obvious route to take before would be the closest exit, which you proved correct. Were this a hit of mine, I would put my most inexperienced gunmen at the front to keep the target where I wanted it so it couldn't get away and tell someone while putting the better, more experienced gunmen at the back for the kill." I then looked back at Newton. "This is a game and you have to play to get out."

Mike looked away from me for a moment, his lip drawing between his teeth. His eyes dropped to look at the concrete floor and he sighed. "Stupid question. What are the rules?"

I chuckled a little, a smirk coming to my lips as I cocked the chamber loaded. "There aren't any." Looking back around the crate I continued. "I'll take the right, you take left. Aim at the catwalk and shoot low. Start running for the office. There's another exit at the back."

*xXx*

I sat at the bar in my kitchen, staring at the picture that was left on the driver's seat of my car, my body frozen but my blood boiling as Mike pissed and moaned in the living room. I tried to just ignore him, but he was a persistent fucker that just seemed to want his ass kicked.

I tuned him out as best I could. He wasn't important. At least not to me. The picture in my hand was however. It was Alexis, and she was tied to a chair with a gag over her mouth. The fear in her eyes tore at me, gripped my heart in a vice like hold and kicked me in the gut all at once. It was my job to protect her and I failed.

When Mike started to get louder in his insistence he was shot, I let out a hard sigh and spun around on my stool. "It's a flesh wound. You can stop any fucking time now."

Newton looked over at me, a glare on his face as he held his arm. "I was struck by a bullet."

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "You were GRAZED by a bullet." I then stood from my seat and pulled my shirt off. Pointing to a scar below my right shoulder I cocked a brow at him. "When you have one of these, you can say you got shot. Until then, quit your bitchin'."

He glared at me, but I sat down and crossed my arms, speaking again before he got the chance. "So, wanna tell me what you're doing looking for my sister?"

He went to open his mouth and cocked a brow at him when he just closed his mouth again. After another moment, he sighed and leaned back into my couch. "She's my girlfriend."

Oh, wrong answer. However, instead of grabbing my gun and showing him the difference between a flesh wound and actually getting shot, I chuckled. "Girlfriend, huh? Must not be very serious if she hasn't told me about it."

His face morphed back into a glare. "Two years isn't serious?" I just shrugged and his face darkened a little more. "Maybe you two just aren't as close as you think you are because she didn't tell me you two were related."

I pressed my lips together and nodded once slowly. "Yeah, that has to be it. Or, perhaps it's because she knows better than to tell anyone she's my sister so shit like this doesn't fucking happen."

He went to open his mouth and just as quickly shut it again. After another moment, he licked his lips and looked back at me. "Well, someone knows that not only is she your sister, but my girlfriend too."

I leaned back on the counter and crossed my arms, nodding once. "Which will, hopefully, narrow the list down quite a bit. Considering we don't run in even close to the same circles, finding overlap shouldn't be too difficult and I'm not waiting around for another phone call."