Exposed Target by Cheyenne McCray

Author:Cheyenne McCray
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781956103311
Publisher: Cheyenne McCray LLC

15

“What’s wrong?” Beck’s voice tightened with concern as he held Ciara in his arms. “Are you okay?”

She turned her head to stare at the newspaper. “Mamá.” Pain speared her skull, the terror for her mother about to rip her in two. “They have her.” She whipped her gaze back to Beck’s. “They have Mamá.”

He appeared confused until he looked in the direction of the newspaper. “Isabella.” He held Ciara to him. “The Sokolovs have your mother.”

“We’ve got to get her away from those evil bastards.” Tears rolled down Ciara’s face. “We need to help her.”

“We’ll figure this out.” Beck captured her face in his palms. “We will get your mother back.”

“There’s nothing to figure out. We’re leaving.” Ciara’s mind whirled as she fought to keep from falling apart. “I have to get my things. You need to get yours. We have to go.”

“Hold on.” He slid his hands down to her shoulders. “We need to think this through. Make plans. We can’t just walk out of here and go straight to the Sokolovs and land on their doorstep.”

“We have to.” Ciara tried to shove him away as her voice grew higher. She felt as if she would tear apart from the inside. “We have to find her. They can have me. They can have the broach. We can use that and me to bargain with.”

Beck gripped her shoulders tighter. “No. We are not using you as a bargaining chip.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Tears rolled down her face as she jabbed her finger at him. “That’s my mother.”

“Hold on.” Elmo’s voice drew her attention. He appeared calm but concerned. “We’ll sit down, and you can work through this and make plans like Beck suggested. I’ll tell you what I heard, and you can go from there.”

Ciara’s throat ached to scream, her eyes burned with tears, her arms tightened with the desire to throw things, her leg muscles tensed to flee this place. If she was above ground, she would run as far as necessary to find her mother and get her back.

Calm down. She sucked in a breath. Think.

She didn’t want to calm the hell down.

The Sokolovs have Mamá.

She held her hand to her chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat beneath her palm. Think.

Beck and Elmo were right. She needed more information and they had to plan just how she would trade the diamond broach, or herself and the broach, for Mamá. Whatever it took, Ciara intended to make it happen.

“Okay.” She tried to hold back more tears as Elmo handed her a box of tissues. “We’ll figure this out and go get her as soon as we’re finished.”

Beck exchanged looks with Elmo then he walked Ciara to the couch and had her sit down. He seated himself next to her. Elmo settled into an overstuffed armchair.

Ciara dabbed her eyes with a tissue and then her nose. Beck put his arm around her shoulders, but she remained stiff, unable to relax.

She pulled another tissue out of the box and wiped away more tears.

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