“Amie’s not answering either,” Dom answered. “She’s off today, but she said that she was going to keep an eye out for Kennedy until one of us got there.”
My heart dropped out of my stomach, and I turned to Henley. “Is he a tall guy, with dark hair?”
Henley nodded. “Always wears expensive suits, but just looks like a douche.”
Remy snorted. “It’s him.”
I looked at Teri. “Keep him here.” When I turned around to see Dom and Remy standing there, ready to go, I nodded. “Call the girlfriend. Tell her to lock the door and keep her on the line.” Teri was already murmuring to Henley to get Lexi’s phone number. “Make sure she tells us if anything changes.”
I nodded to the men who would always have my back. “Let’s go.”
“I’ve got to call Chief Townsend too,” Teri called out to my back. “Try to get there before he stops you.”
“He’s not stopping shit,” Remy growled. “That’s my sister.”
“Fuck that,” I snapped at him. “She’s the love of my life.”
My cruiser led the way, with Remy and Dom following right behind. I heard, even though I didn’t process it, Teri’s call for backup and a supervisor to the address, but I didn’t care.
The entire drive, I saw Kennedy. Hurt and bloody like she’d been in those photos. I saw her superimposed on Mallory’s dead body. I saw her in pain, crying and needing me there for her.
The radio on my chest clicked. “I’m not going to lose her, Linc.” Remy’s voice broke through the static. “I don’t care what we have to do.”
Two clicks from another mic, followed by two more. And another two. Over and over again. Our own silent show of support, but I didn’t care. I needed to get to Kennedy. Everything else could wait.
I turned off the siren when I approached his street, and let my lights go with it. Every car behind me followed suit, and I rolled up to Royal’s house silently. When I got out of my cruiser and shut the door, Remy and Dom were right there with me.
Carter rolled right behind, blocking the other side of the road. Instead of moving to the front of the building, he ran to the small gray compact car that sat across the street.
“Amie’s out,” he called out quietly. “But she’s breathing. Smells like he used something on her, though. Ether or chloroform.”
We were already moving toward the house, and Carter stayed with Amie. My phone started to vibrate, but I didn’t bother checking it. Anyone calling would be trying to tell me not to go in, and that wasn’t going to happen.
“If you go in without a warrant, you could lose your jobs.” I didn’t give two shits about myself, but I figured I should warn Remy and Dom about the danger.
My only answer was for them to pull out their guns and walk up the steps to Royal’s house.
“I’ll take the back door,” Dom said and walked away without looking back.
“You may love her, but she’s my sister, and no one is gonna hurt my family.” Remy motioned for me to take the lead, and I tried the doorknob quietly while I waited for Dom to indicate that he’d made it to the back door.
It was locked. “Fuck.”
Two mic clicks on my chest told me Dom was in place and ready to breach. I answered with a single click and then boot-stomped the front door to breach. Thankfully, the wood splintered; otherwise, I might have broken my foot.
I heard Dom make entry at the back door, and we went in, guns ready. As a unit, we cleared the bottom floor. But we weren’t working as cops anymore. No. We were moving together the way we would have in the Marine Corps as a strike team out on a mission.
Before Kennedy forced her way back into my life, the thought would have sent me into a raging attack where I’d be left with nothing but an empty stomach and a migraine for days. But now, nothing was worse than the thought of what Royal was doing to her.
Dom whistled and fell in behind us. “Kitchen and back half clear,” he whispered.
“Front half clear,” Remy told him.
Something hit the floor upstairs, and we moved together up the hall.
“Let me go first,” Dom ordered. “Neither of you are prepared for what we might find.”
I didn’t want to move. I didn’t care what happened, or what I saw. But he was right. If Royal hurt her, I’d put a bullet in his head. No trial, arrest, jury, or sentence would make me pull back, either. There would be no mercy. No hesitation. I meant it when I had Royal by the arm and warned him not to touch her.
Dom elbowed his way to the front, and I adjusted my gun hand to account for his presence. He didn’t wait. We cleared every room on the floor until the last one. The one that was cracked open, with grunting coming from the other side of the door.
I was going to be sick. My stomach churned, and the image of Royal using a weapon to hurt her filled my head. I glanced at Remy, who stood at my side, and his face was as white as a sheet. Neither of us should be walking through that door. But nothing short of a bullet to the chest would stop either of us.
Dom pushed open the door with the hand not holding his gun, and we stepped in behind him, fanning out immediately.
“I hate you.” Kennedy swung the baseball bat again, hitting Royal in the gut. “And I’m the one who won, Royal.”
He was on the ground, curled in on himself with blood leaking from a wound on his forehead, and vomit on the ground next to him. Clearly, she’d already gotten the upper hand, but we couldn’t take our eyes off him.
“Drop the bat,” Dom ordered.
Kennedy, with wild eyes, looked up mid swing with the bat and froze. She eyed him and the bat, and then me and Remy, before looking back down at Royal. Her red hair was drenched and hanging down around her shoulders, and the black shirt she’d put on that morning was soaking wet. Even her leggings were plastered to her body.
I didn’t need to hear what happened from her; it was clear. Royal tried to drown her. The same way he’d tortured her before. The way he’d killed Mallory. When she shifted, taking everything in, I saw the dark bruises already forming on her throat and chest.
“Hey, Kennedy.” I tried to get her attention. “You doing okay?”
“No.” She hit him with the bat and raised it up again. “I’m not okay, but I’m doing better now.” She sniffed. “You can go now.” Then she kicked him as hard as she could in the junk, and he wheezed, still not moving.
But she did drop the bat like Dom ordered.
“A baseball bat?” Remy holstered his gun and moved forward into the room, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt. “Really?”
Kennedy pointed to the machete on the ground next to the bed. “I was going to use the machete like the hallucination of Cassie told me to, but then I didn’t want to go to prison. And she said to chop off his head, but I wasn’t sure if she meant his actual head or his dick. And if I go to prison, I can’t see the boys or Nox. So I grabbed the bat instead.” She started crying hysterically. “He wanted to kill me. It’s self-defense. You’re not going to arrest me, are you?” Her eyes were locked on the handcuffs in her brother’s hands.
“No, smart-ass.” He shook his head and crouched down. “They’re for him. Notice the other two haven’t fucking moved? He’s under arrest.”