Chapter 86
Gino’s laugh cut off mid–breath. The bar was still loud, the air thick with heat and bodies, but something in his chest went cold.
Red hair–gone. The spot at the bar where Lola had been was empty except for the round of drinks she should be walking to this table.
No. No, she was just here.
He started moving without thinking, scanning the crowd for that flash of cherry and the curve of those ridiculous glasses.
Dom clocked him instantly, the two women he’d been humoring forgotten in an instant. “What is it?”
“She’s gone.” The words came out like gravel.
Dom didn’t ask who. He just fell in step, shoulders cutting a path through the press of people while Gino’s eyes raked the room.
She wouldn’t just walk off. Not here. Not without one of us even as defiant as she is.
They reached the bar, the smell of lime and cheap whiskey curling under Gino’s nose. He grabbed the nearest bartender by the wrist, hard enough to get his full attention. “The girl who was here–red hair, bandanna, glasses–where’d she go?”
The bartender frowned, thinking. “Left with a guy. Looked like they knew each other.”
The cold in Gino’s chest turned sharp. “No, she didn’t.”
Dom’s jaw tightened. “Side exit?”
The bartender nodded.
“Call Nico,” Gino said, already pushing toward the door. “Tell him we’ve got a problem.”
They moved faster now, every step making the music and laughter behind them sound faker, smaller.
Hang on, Red. I swear to God, hang on.
The side door slammed back so hard it ricocheted off the wall. Cold night air hit Gino’s face like a slap–sharp, sour with dumpster rot and exhaust.
The alley was narrow, lit in stuttering patches by a single flickering bulb. Empty.
Then he saw it.
One of her stilettos, tipped on its side like it had been dropped mid–step. The delicate strap was twisted, heel scuffed.
Gino’s gut dropped. She didn’t take those off.
“Fuck,” Dom muttered, already scanning.
Gino crouched, scooping the shoe up like it was evidence–and it was. Couldn’t have been there long.
That’s when he noticed it–two faint, uneven lines carved through the thin layer of dirt and grit, running from the door toward the street. Drag marks. One deeper, like her heel catching over and over.
His chest went tight. She wasn’t walking.
They followed the marks halfway down the alley before they just… stopped. No tire tread, no footprints–just nothing. Like she’d been lifted.
Chapter 86
Tires squealed in the distance, the echo bouncing off the buildings, Gino turned the corner just in time to catch the tail lights disappearing onto the main
Too far to chase. Too close to have missed her by more than seconds.
Dom was already yanking his phone out. “Jake–it’s us. Side alley off Kincaid’s–Lola’s been grabbed. Pull every camera within six blocks. Traffic, street, private security, I don’t care–find me a plate and a face.”
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