My lips made a huge smacking sound against Kirsten’s cheek as I planted a great kiss there. She made a noise of disgust that I barely registered before hopping out of the car.

She found it. I tried to contain the excitement and joy that was bubbling up within me as we pulled up in front to look out at an old and abandoned warehouse.

Bless her heaven-sent soul. Kirsten had led us by car through winding rounds and bushes, literally, and down backward alleys. But forty minutes later, we had found an old and abandoned warehouse close to the docks.

Once we had found it, it was easy not to miss it. The place was practically crawling with muscle who worked for the Auction House as either guards, security, or just lugging the girls back and forth from the place.

Marcus got out as soon as I did. Before Kirsten could even think about it, I told her to lock the car doors and head back home. She protested for moment before I stopped her.

"Your part is done, Kirsten," I told her. "You helped so, so much. You can’t even begin to understand. Take this radio and radio into the agency as soon as you get the signal. Tell them where we are and who we are after. Can you do that?"

She nodded her head slowly and grabbed the radio I had taken from Marcus. "Okay. Please be safe Roman, and go and get Hannah."

I nodded at her. "You don’t have to tell me twice."

After she had gone again quietly with the car into the night, Marcus turned to me. We began to devise a plan of action.

"If she manages to get signal, it’ll take about fifteen to twenty minutes before backup arrives. From the looks of how many men are crawling around this place, it seems like they’re getting ready for a move."

I nodded as I listened to Marcus’ observations and made notes of my own.

"We don’t have much time then. Sunrise is in two hours. I bet they want to get this move done before then," I told him as we made our way further into the warehouse.

"What’s our plan then?" Marcus asked.

"We can’t wait for backup to arrive. We have to create a diversion somehow." He nodded as he agreed with me.

Just then, two guards walked past us as we hid in the shadows. Marcus and I shared a knowing look quickly and crept up behind the guards. Taking each of them by surprise in a chokehold, we held their necks closed tight as they fell unconscious.

We quickly took off our clothes and replaced them with the guards’ uniforms and put the masks over our faces they all seemed to wear. I supposed it was for anonymity and not wanting to be recognized by either their bosses or the girls.

God, these people really were sick.

We took their guns and made our way inside before stashing their bodies in a nearby dumpster and making sure they had no way of escaping from the inside.

Walking through the dimly lit hallways of this place made me feel sick. I couldn’t stop thinking about Hannah and what she was going through.

Marcus made several hand gestures toward me. I only nodded at him as he gave me a thumbs up and went off on his own. I turned a few more corners and walked toward the westernmost side of the building before coming up to a large red door.

I stood outside of it for a moment and listened to the muffled sounds of voices from inside. None of them seemed to sound like Hannah. I almost walked away until a familiar shrill-sounding voice of a woman made me stop dead in my tracks.

I would know that that voice anywhere. It was the kind that left the sort of bad impression on you at cocktails parties and the one that had been following me around for the better part of all these years. That voice would not be so easily forgotten even if I wanted to forget it, which was something I tried so desperately to do.

Slamming the door open with my foot, I quickly raised the gun and made my way inside. The scene inside the room behind that red door almost made me sick.

After all these tireless, exhausting weeks of searching and long nights and taking a literal bullet wound to the stomach, there he was. Standing between Jessica’s legs with her skirt hiked up and a nauseating giggle on her lips was Jared, the boss, the main reason why a place like this existed in the first place.

My gun was aiming at the two of them and firing before either of them could react. When they did react, Jared ducked beneath the cover of the desk and pulled Jessica along with him. Her screams rang out in tandem with the bullets that flew in the air.

My shouting was something that filled the air. I ducked behind a bar counter on the other side of the room as Jared fired shots of his own, round after round, attempting to make one of the bullets take home in my heart.

Some moments went by with us firing at each other relentlessly with no actual results. I then heard the empty click of my gun ring through the air about the same time as I heard the same noise across the room. We were both out of ammo.

"Roman." My name was called out by Jared. I wondered what his plan was. "You can’t just keep hiding forever. Why don’t we sort this little disagreement out right now, man to man?"

I gritted my teeth as I held my side. It was no secret that I had been shot and had stitches. I had no doubt in my mind that Jared knew about that and would use it to his advantage. However, there was a very small chance of me getting out of this without some bruises and cuts.

I lifted my head from the counter in a quick motion to survey the area. When I saw it was just Jared standing in the middle of the room, I lifted myself up completely.

I withheld the wince of my side and walked toward the middle of the room.

"Ah," Jared smiled widely, "there you are."

"You’re going to pay for what you did," I growled at him. He let out a bark of laughter.

"Now that is funny you should say something like that." He tapped his finger on his shoulder. "I seem to recall being told the same thing by your dear Hannah not even an hour ago."

Hannah was still alive. Good. Great. I tried not to let the relief wash over me and show, but my body was practically vibrating with happiness that she was alright.

"Of course," Jared continued to speak as I looked on at him, "I told her that there was no way something like that would happen, what with you in the hospital and her tied to a chair and all. And yet..." He waved at me. "Here you are. standing in front of me as alive and healthy as the day you were born."

We were circling each other by now. Turning around the room as we stared each other down and waiting for the other person to make the first move, my attention was also on a quivering Jessica in the corner of the room. I would have to take note of her as well.

What the hell was she thinking? Why would she involve herself with people like this? Was she that desperate?

Turning from the small glance I showed to her, I looked toward Jared again. We had stopped moving around the room in circles now. His back was facing the door that I had left open. At the side of it, I saw a shadow moving and tried not to smirk.

Marcus must have heard the gunshots and made his way to us as soon as he could. Now, I just had to give him an opening.

"Where is she?" I demanded from Jared. He only tutted and swished his finger back and forth at me.

"You have such impolite manners. You would think a rich and snobby brat like you would at least have some level of training in etiquette." He raised his gun to me. My eyes widened. Had he not run out of bullets?

Sh*t.

"Let me teach some to you." Before I knew it, my eyes were shut as a bullet rang out through the air.

When I opened my eyes again, I came face to face with the wide-open eyes of Jared as blood dripped from his mouth and it feel agape.

Marcus came from around the corner with his gun in his hand. I breathed out a sigh of relief.