ZANE.
The driver pulled the car to a stop in front of the Atlas building. The same one they had bombed recently. "Guess where they are?" Damian said, pointing to the map of the building, which he spread over his lap.
"The roof?" I said, half believing my eyes as I fixed my eyes on the spot he was pointing at. My pulse pounded in a high rhythm as I lifted my eyes to Sienna's. She couldn't hide the way her hands trembled at her sides. The rooftop was such a tricky spot to fight. Damian leaned against the seat, his usual smirk replaced by a taut readiness, his fingers twitching toward his knife. Liam and Ethan were sitting across from us, their hands already on their guns.
"Remember, we are not engaging," I said, "We can only win if we take this fight to them on that rooftop."
Sienna's eyes searched mine, a flicker of hope warring with her fear. She nodded, but her hands still trembled. I hated seeing her like this and wanted it over already.
"Damian, back exit," I ordered, "Liam, Ethan, sweep the feeds. I need every angle."
They moved out of the car without a word, Damian slipping into the hall, Liam tapping a tablet for camera feeds, and Ethan checking his gear. I grabbed my jacket, sliding a second Glock into the holster at my ankle. Sienna followed me. I wanted to tell her to stay in the car in order to keep her safe, but I knew she would never listen. She was in this, whether I liked it or not.
We slipped out through a service exit and headed up the staircase. My mind was a battlefield, already trying to figure out how to find a way to save Belinda without losing anyone.
The cartel's method was psychological; they had chosen a rooftop because it was open and exposed, knowing my public life would shackle me. I couldn't call in an army without risking exposure. The world saw me only as Zane Calloway, the tech investor who brokered deals with a smile. They couldn't know the man who had spilled blood to keep The Atlas on top. So, it was just Damian, Liam, Ethan, and Sienna against a gang that thrived on breaking people.
Sienna's hand brushed mine, a fleeting touch that sent a jolt through me. I glanced at her, her face pale, and her eyes stared back distantly. She was thinking of Belinda. We moved silently up the stairs until we got to the door that led to the open roof.
Sienna stepped forward, pushing the door open. Belinda sat in the center, bound tightly to a wooden chair. Her mouth was sealed with duct tape, and her head slumped forward, eyes closed. I could tell she had been sedated heavily, seeing how her chest was rising and falling in shallow breaths.
Next to her was a desk, and on it were new rummy cards, pinned to the spot to keep them from flying out.
But what bothered me most was the silence. It felt wrong; there was no movement or gang members. Just Belinda and the desk.
Sienna gasped in front of me, "Belinda!" She started forward, but I grabbed her arm, pulling her back. Her eyes burned into me, wild with panic. She was trembling.
"Don't," I said in a whisper. "It is a setup."
Her lips trembled. "She's right there, Zane! We have to..."
"Quiet," I snapped, my eyes scanning the rooftop. Glints flickered at the edges, and I saw them, snipers, perched on the buildings around the rooftop.
My stomach twisted in disgust at the cartel's game to draw us in, make us vulnerable before they strike. My double life was their weapon. They knew I couldn't risk a full-scale war, so the world would see my true face. We were exposed, outmaneuvered, and every second we stood there, the noose tightened.
"Zane, what the hell is this?" Sienna's voice shook, her gaze locked on Belinda.
I didn't answer, my mind racing with questions. I needed to out-think them.
"Zane," Liam whispered. "Snipers, northeast and southwest. At least four. We're pinned."
"I see them," I muttered.
"We can't just stand here," Sienna said. "She's my sister, Zane! Do something!"
Her words cut deeply through me. She didn't understand the stakes and was too emotional to see the trap closing around us. The cartel wanted us to act, to make a mistake. I needed a way out, a way to save Belinda without losing everyone else.
"Zane, we're out of time," Ethan said. "We move, or they do."
"Move how?" Sienna snapped, yanking her arm free. "You're all just talking, planning, while Belinda's sitting there! What's your brilliant plan, Zane? Stand here and wait for them to kill her?"
"Sienna, I'm trying to keep her alive. You think I don't care? You think I'm not tearing myself apart over this? The cartel wants us to rush in. We do that, we're dead. She's dead."
Her eyes blazed, tears spilling over. "Then what? Zane. I'm not losing her because you're too scared to act!"
"Zane, she's got a point," Damian growled, his hand on his gun. "Screw the snipers. We rush the chair, grab the girl, and get out."
"Bad idea, brother," Liam cut in. "We move, they open fire. We need a play, not a suicide run."
"Then what's the play?" Sienna demanded.
"Sienna, I need you to trust me. I know what she means to you. I'm fighting for her and all of us. But we have to be smart."
Before she could respond, a voice cut through the silence, "Now let us play a game, Zane Calloway, your folks can stay back and watch you gamble away at Belinda's life."
Sienna's scream tore through the night, raw with fear, as she recognized the voice. " It is him," she said.
"Who?"
"The same guy at the warehouse. The scarred-faced man," she said as she started to run towards Belinda.
֍ ֍ ֍
"Sienna, don't," I tried to grab Sienna's arm, but she was already moving. She tore free and ran forward.
"Damn this girl," Damian yelled just as a sharp gunshot rent the air. I followed the direction it came from, Sienna. They had shot at her, intentionally missing her. That was a warning to stop her from walking closer.
Dust kicked up near Sienna's feet. She paused for a second, but then she took another step. Another shot rang out, closer this time, the bullet grazing the ground inches from her toes. I saw her body jerk with shock as she stumbled to a stop.
"Sienna, get back!" My voice was a growl cutting through the haze of her panic. My eyes flicked to the snipers perched on nearby buildings, their scopes trained on us. My brothers stood next to me, all tense, but had their weapons ready.
Sienna turned her gaze, locking it on Belinda. Tears streamed down her face, but she backed away to join us, getting the cue that the two shots fired at her meant.
"What's the game about?" I asked, screaming into the empty space.
The scarred-faced man stepped forward, his grin a twisted slash across his pockmarked face. His eyes gleamed with the expression of a predator savoring his prey.
"I changed my mind. Not you, Calloway," he said. "Her." He pointed at Sienna, his pistol dangling loosely in his hand. "Since she betrayed my trust. Now she gets to play the game. Now listen"
He paused, then continued, "You have three chances to pick the number three from those cards." He gestured to the desk, his grin widening. "Fail, and your sister gets a bullet in the heart."
"Please," she begged. "Don't do this. Let her go. I will do anything but this." Sienna wailed out in fear.
The man's laugh had a heartless tone, and it made me angry. He raised his pistol, and before I could react, he pointed it towards us, firing a shot.
"What the heck?"
The shot grazed Sienna's cheek, and a thin line of blood welled up. She gasped, letting her hand fly to her face in shock.
My blood boiled, my hands clenching, but I forced myself to only reach for Sienna. I held her until I felt her shocked shivers reduced to a few shakes.
"Sienna," I said. "You have to play. We will figure this out. Together."
Her eyes were wet with tears. "I can't," she whispered. "What if I choose wrong? I am not good at gambling. She will die, Zane."
"You won't," I said. I wasn't sure if I had made the right choice or if the game was rigged. "Go. Try."
She nodded and slowly stepped toward the desk. Damian's hand twitched toward his gun, his fingers tapping as he scanned for signals, for anything that could give us an edge. Ethan and Liam's gaze was fixed on the snipers' positions.
Sienna reached the desk, her hands trembling as she picked up the first card. Her breath caught, her fingers shaking as she turned it over. A five. Her face crumpled, a sob escaping her lips.
The scarred-faced man laughed hysterically. "Two chances left, princess. Better make them count."
My chest tightened, my mind racing for a way out. The cards were a distraction, a way to keep us focused while the snipers waited. I needed to turn this against them.
"Enough!" Damian snapped. "You want to cry about it, or do you want to save Belinda? Pick the damn card, princess."
"Damian, shut up," Liam hissed, his eyes still on his tablet. "Zane, we've got movement, northeast corner. They're repositioning."
"Snipers?" Ethan asked, his gaze fixed on the shadows.
"Likely," Liam replied. "We're running out of time."
Sienna picked up the second card as her tears started to fall onto the desk. She turned it over... "A four," she said through sobs. It was louder this time, as she dropped the card, her hands covering her face. "I can't do this," she whispered. "I can't."
"Tick-tock," the scarred-faced man taunted, pacing slowly while he swung his pistol. "One more try, or your sister's heart stops beating. You should have known better than to cross me, Sienna. You thought you could hide behind Calloway? You're nothing but a scared little girl."
Her head snapped up, her eyes blazing through her tears. "Stop it!" she screamed. "Just stop! There has to be another way!"
The man's grin vanished, his face twisting with rage. "Another way?" He raised his pistol, aiming at her chest. "Pick the damn card, or I'll shoot her now!"
She was about to pick one when I felt the weight of the moment crash over me. The cartel's game was rigged. I knew it in my bones. The cards, the snipers, the scarred-faced man's glee, it was all designed to break her. I couldn't let her make that choice for the weight of Belinda's life.
That was it. I couldn't watch the shit show anymore.
I stepped forward. "Wait!" My eyes locked on the man wanting to draw my Glock and empty it all on him, but I knew it would be suicide.
The scarred-faced man turned to face me. "Scared your little girl has no luck."
Sienna's hand hovered over the remaining cards with trembling fingers. I stepped forward, placing my hand on her shoulder, "No, I will pick up the last card."
