Take - Page 97

No. Hell, no. I wasn’t letting him chain me here.

He jerked his head at the chains. “Put them on.”

“No.”

His gaze narrowed. “Now. If I do it, I’ll make sure it hurts.”

It was now or never. This is my chance.

I attacked.

I went in low and rammed a fist into his gut. He dropped the flashlight and grunted. I stepped in close, grabbed his sleeves, and heaved. With a curse, he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground.

The flashlight crunched, and the light blinked out. It plunged us into pitch darkness.

“Maybe I’ll just strangle you instead,” Auclair said.

Then his body crashed into me, and we slammed into a statue.

41

REATH

“You’re not driving,” Beauden said.

I didn’t bother arguing. Beau had a thick head and could be as stubborn as hell.

My jaw was so tight, and I was trying hard to keep it together. Cryo. What the hell did it mean?

I’d sent pictures of the letters to PSS. I knew that Noah and Linc would be running every option.

I slid into the passenger seat of the SUV and looked out the window. Where are you, Frankie?

She’d fight to survive. I knew that.

Now I just had to find her in time.

“We’ll head back to PSS,” Beau said as he started the engine.

Colt, Dante, and Kavner climbed into the back seat.

I gave a nod. As we drove, I stabbed a finger at the dash. “Tell me something.”

“Boss, we’re running multiple searches.” Linc’s voice came through the console. “We’ve pulled in all available team members. We’re looking for any company names with ‘cryo’ in it. We’re searching refrigeration companies and locations. We’re combing CCTV for the vehicle Auclair is using. We spotted a blue Ford Explorer in the area of the Mardi Gras warehouse, so Keiko is following up on that. Noah is studying the images you sent of Frankie’s message.”

I bit off a curse. All of that would take too long, and Frankie didn’t have that kind of time.

“Wait!” Noah’s voice.

My pulse spiked. “Have you got something?”

“The letters were a bit smudged. I think she was interrupted as she was writing them. There’s a slight down stroke on the O. I think it might’ve been meant to be a P.”

I pulled out my cellphone and looked at the photo. I saw it. The O could definitely be a P. “C-R-Y-P. Cryp.” I sucked in a breath. “Crypt. She didn’t get to write the T.”

“Crypt?” Beau said.

I met his gaze. “One of the cemeteries.”