He loved her.
He fucking loved Antonia and wanted nothing more than to be able to tell her that. He should’ve said it earlier. This morning when he kissed her goodbye. God, he hoped he had the chance to tell her.
“Robot?”
Tex’s voice pulled him from his inner thoughts. “Yeah?”
“I can only see into the reception area of her workplace. Everything looks fine. I can also see action happening on her computer. I’m confident she’s safe.”
“For now,” he muttered, before looking up at the guys. “T-Rex, is Brielle at work or working from home today?”
“She’s home. And I should mention she’s quit her job. She’ll be finishing up in a couple of weeks.”
Robot sensed there was more to that story, but he’d ask T-Rex about it later. “Right, good. Italy and Joker, you need to get in contact with Erin and Suzie. Get them to go to Brielle’s place. The security there is tight and Tex can keep an eye on them.”
“He could do the same at my place you know,” grumbled Italy.
“Yes, I know, but these assholes know Antonia has been there. At least at Brielle’s place we will know for certain that they’re safe,” Robot insisted.
“Fuck, you’re right.” Italy dug into his pocket, pulled out his phone and strode down the hallway.
Robot noticed both T-Rex and Joker were doing the same. Cowboy and Red, now the only single guys on the team, still sat at the table.
“Shit.” Tex’s voice boomed in the room.
Immediately the itching at the small of Robot’s back increased. “What? What’s wrong, Tex.”
“Fire alarm is going off in Antonia’s building. They’re evacuating.”
“Fuck.” Robot clenched his hands into fists. “Can you keep eyes on her, Tex.”
“Yes, I’m pulling up all the traffic cameras in the area. But you guys need to haul ass. I don’t like this.”
“Fuck, this is not good. Not good at all,” Robot muttered as he thrust back his chair.
He looked at his five teammates back in the room with him. All of them had their game faces on. One of their own was in danger and they were ready for action. “It’s go-time.”
“Why do these sirens have to be so obnoxious?”
“To make sure we don’t ignore it.” Antonia said, laughing as she walked with, Lonie, the new girl who’d she’d been training.
As they walked, she noticed Lonie had her handbag with her. “Oh, Lonie, company evacuation policy is you have to leave all personal belongings behind, can’t even take a cell phone because of the threat of remote detonation if this is a bomb scare. Why don’t you leave it on this table, and we’ll pick it up once we’re allowed back into the building?”
In a flash the woman’s hand shot out and grasped Antonia tight around her upper arm. “Hey, what are you doing?” Antonia tried to break free but, Lonie tightened her grip.
Her normally pleasant features turned sinister and her lip curled in disgust. “Listen to me, bitch, you act normal and don’t bring any attention to us. If you do, I’ll kill you.”
Antonia’s adrenaline spiked and she wished she’d thought to grab her cellphone, even though it was against the rules. “Who are you?” she asked figuring if she got out of this alive, having as much information as possible would be a good thing. “Is your name even Lonie?”
“Who I am or what my name is doesn’t matter. What matters is that we get out of here and I deliver you to the guy who paid me. Once that’s done, I’m gone and you never have to see me again.”
“Hey Antonia, everything okay here?” She looked up and found her boss Evan striding over. Lonie released her tight grip a fraction, but not enough for Antonia to break free.
She glanced at Lonie, her sinister expression gone and she’d transformed back to the friendly woman Antonia known the last two weeks. God, she couldn’t believe she’d fallen right into the woman’s trap when she was clearly unhinged. The question was, did Antonia try to indicate to Evan she was in trouble or did she believe that Lonie would kill her?
Lonie squeezed her arm and that gave her the answer she needed. She couldn’t potentially put Evan at risk too. “Sorry Evan, this alarm is giving me a headache. But we’re fine, Lonie is a little anxious in crowds so I told her to hang on to me. We’ll see you out the front.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Of all the times for Evan to be observant he had to pick today.
“Yep, we’re sure. Thanks Evan. You probably need to get out there quickly, seeing as you’re the boss and all.” She attempted to laugh but it sounded more like a shrill than a genuine chuckle.
She breathed out when he finally upped his pace and strode ahead of them.
“Good,” Lonie murmured as she reached into her bag. “Put these on.”
Antonia looked at the items in her hand. “You have got to be kidding me? I thought you didn’t want to draw attention. If I put on those glasses and ballcap I’m going to stand out like a sore thumb.”
Antonia was going to fight with everything she had. She needed to let Lonie believe she was going to go along with everything she wanted. Antonia had no doubt that Tex was aware of the situation going on in her building. The guy was probably looking at ways to hack into all the security cameras around the area. She needed to give him a message, let him know which direction she was being taken.
Glancing up she spied the security camera over the side door they were exiting through. If she could somehow look up and say something maybe it will help Tex. Fortunately there was a crowd of people slowing them down so she had a little time.
Keeping her head up and eyes straightforward, aimed directly at the camera, asking the question she’d already asked before. She had to give Tex as much information as possible. “You’re working for the guy who killed the woman in my apartment complex, aren’t you?” She’d pitched her voice low but had made sure she pronounced each word slowly and clearly.
“I told you before, it doesn’t matter who I work for. I’ve got a job to do and I’m doing it. Now put these on the second we get through the door.” Lonie shoved the items into her side again.
Antonia snatched them. “You won’t get away with this. You will be found, and I wouldn’t like to be you when you are.”
“Honey, I wouldn’t worry about me. I’d worry about what’s going to happen to you when I hand you off.” Lonie’s words held a wealth of menace and Antonia strived to keep up the bravado she’d clung to the last few minutes.
As they passed under the camera she looked up and mouthed help me, Tex and prayed the man got the message.
The second they stepped outside, Antonia put on the glasses and the plain black hat. She supposed the good thing about wearing the items was she’d be recognizable in the cameras and Tex could track her movements.
Lonie pulled them in the opposite direction than everyone else was going. Sirens wailed in the air as police and fire trucks descended on the scene.
They veered down the side street next to her building. Antonia darted her gaze around, looking in every direction for a way to escape and not getting herself killed in the process. She was also hoping to see a team of guys dressed in black to jump out of the shadows and rescue her. She longed to see Robot’s familiar silhouette bearing down on them, ready to pluck her to safety.
They stopped beside a black Dodge Challenger. The back passenger door opened. Before she had time to think, Lonie pushed her forward and a tanned hand grabbed her just above her wrist and yanked her into the car.
Antonia yelped at the violence of the movement. She was rewarded with a slap across her cheek. A sting of pain shot through her and she bit her lip to hold back her cry. She was shoved across the seat.
“I delivered the bitch as requested. Where’s my money?” Lonie spat the words at the man sitting next to Antonia.
The guy pulled out a gun and shot Lonie straight between her eyes.
Antonia screamed as the woman hit the pavement with a dull thud.
“Fu
cking drive.” The shooter shouted, and the car shot off with a squeal of rubber.
How the hell was she going to survive this? The guy sitting next to her just committed cold-blooded murder and appeared not to give a shit about it.
“Who are you? What do you want with me?”
“I would’ve thought it was obvious what I want to do with you, Antonia Rocca, but if it needs explaining here it is. I’m going to make sure you’re no longer a factor in the murder of that bitch Ricki. The cops haven’t come close to finding me. To make sure it stays that way, I’m cleaning up all the loose ends before I move on to my next project.”
Every word that came out of the man’s mouth was without emotion and very eloquent. At odds with the plethora of tattoos covering each of his arms and climbing up his neck from the collar of the shirt he wore. His long hair fell across his face in a familiar way. He looked like a guy who belonged to the roughest gangs in the city, and probably did. But he sounded like a man who would be comfortable sitting a board table surrounded by some of the richest men in the country. It just proved how wrong it was to judge a book by its cover. You never know what lay between the pages.
“You’re the guy I saw that day?” Fuck why did she go and say that? Why didn’t she say she had no idea what he was talking about? Not that he’d believe her, he didn’t look like a man who made mistakes when it came to important things like eliminating witnesses to a murder.
“An unfortunate outcome and now I must deal with you.”
Her heart dropped to her stomach and she wished Robot had taken it upon himself to act as her personal bodyguard and stayed with her all day. “What are you going to do with me?”
How the hell could she sound so calm? Her insides were shaking like jello just out of its mold.
He leaned forward and smiled, his teeth stained yellow with nicotine. “Where would be the fun if I told you that.”
In a blur of movement his arm rose and fired across her cheek. Her ears buzzed and black spots dotted her vision as pain racked her whole face.
“Now I think it’s time you slept.” A cloth covered her nose and mouth and the pungent aroma of chemicals surrounded her. She fought against his hold, but it was hopeless. Her head was still swimming from his blows and she sank into the blackness.
Chapter 11
Robot paced out front of Antonia’s office building. The threat to the occupants had been proven to be unfounded and everyone was slowly returning to their work places. Everyone except Antonia. He and his teammates had combed through the mass of people, but hadn’t been able to locate her.
It didn’t help that he wasn’t familiar with the people she worked with.
“I didn’t find her,” Italy said as he walked up, the rest of the guys in the team following. From the looks on their faces, Robot knew they had the same news.
“Have you heard from Tex?” asked Joker.
“Not, since just before we arrived. He said once he had something, he’d call us back.”
“Why’s it taking him so long? We’ve been here over forty minutes,” commented Red.
And Robot’s anxiety levels had risen with every passing minute. His instincts were screaming at him that Antonia had been taken and the fire alarm was just a diversion.
Four cops sprinted past them, quickly followed by two paramedics.
“What the fuck?” he said and started to follow them. Whatever they were going to wasn’t good.
He didn’t need to look to see if his men followed him. He knew they would. He raced along the sidewalk and down the side street, screeching to a halt when he spied a pair of legs on the ground. A pair of feminine legs wearing shoes he’d seen in Antonia’s closet.
His knees buckled when he spied the line of red coming from the body. A silent No echoed in his mind. It couldn’t be her. He couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not when he’d decided he was going to do anything to keep her at his side.
An arm banded around him and hauled him upright.
“It’s not her,” Italy said in his ear. “It’s not Antonia.”
The words finally penetrated the black haze that consumed him, and he turned to his team mate. “How do you know?”
“Because this is a blonde and Antonia is a brunette.”
He made a move to get closer, to reassure himself what Italy said was correct. He needed to know without a doubt the woman lying dead on the ground wasn’t Antonia.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t let you get any closer.” One of the policemen who’d raced through the building held up a hand stopping him from proceeding any further.
“Please, you need to let me just check to make sure the victim isn’t my wife. She works in the building you were just in. I can’t find her.”
Logically, his mind was telling him it wasn’t her, but his heart wouldn’t let go of the what if it was her. Some of his desperation must have shown through, because the officer gave a quick nod and stepped to the side.
Having been given the all clear he should’ve been rushing past the man, yet his feet wouldn’t move. The directions from his brain to his feet seemed to have been lost.
“Sir, you can go check the victim.” The officer repeated.
He got about three feet away when he stopped. The women’s eyes stared unseeingly up at the sky. Why hadn’t someone closed them? Her facial features were as different to Antonia’s as sun and rain.
Relief slammed through him with the force of recoil from a dessert eagle gun. The officer stepped up next to him. “Is this your wife, sir?”
“No,” he whispered then cleared his throat. “No, it’s not.”
He nodded. “Do you know who she is?”
“Sorry, I can’t help you.” Now that he had confirmation, Robot needed to get back to the task of trying to find her. And to phone Tex. It had been too long without any communication from the computer wizard. “I hope you get to the bottom of who the victim is.” He nodded to the police officer then walked back to his team.
“It wasn’t her, was it?” asked Italy.
“No, you were right,” he sighed. “I don’t know who it is. What the fuck is going on here? A false alarm with her building and now a murder just around the corner from it. I don’t like this shit.”
“We all don’t like it,” said Cowboy. “My wrist is itching like an ornery bull waiting to fly out of the chute at a rodeo.”
Robot shook his head at Cowboy’s analogy. The guy had been an upcoming rodeo star until he gave it all away and joined the Navy. He never did explain why he’d changed careers and the guys never asked. They all had their own reasons for doing what they did with their lives. Just like he hadn’t elaborated on why he and Antonia got married.
His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at the screen. “It’s Tex.” The guys all crowded around and hit accept and then the speaker button. “Tex, Antonia’s missing.”
“I know, put me on speaker so I can speak to everyone.”
“You’re already on speaker. What can you tell us? Why has it taken so long for you to get back to us?”
“I know, for some reason there was an issue with the cameras in the area around her building. It happened just after I told you about the alarm.”
“Fuck.” Robot didn’t like the sound of that. He’d been counting on Tex having access to the cameras to be able to pinpoint what happened to Antonia. “Do you have any footage at all that can help us. My wife is missing.”
“I haven’t lost anyone yet, and I’m not going to start now.”
Running a hand over his head, Robot took a couple of deep breaths to quell his anger. “Sorry, I know. I know. I think I need to step back.” He looked over at Italy. He’d always considered the man his closest friend and the perfect second-in-command, as well as had the rest of the team. Italy nodded in answer to his silent message. “Italy’s going to take the lead.”
“Right, here’s the status,” Tex continued. “Whoever tried to take down the system didn’t do a very good j
ob at it. It took me awhile, but I was able to piece together footage from the foyer of her company office, to the building foyer, to the cameras around the building.”
Robot bit back the orders he wanted to bark out, but he knew Italy would ask the questions he would.
“Do you have an idea where Antonia is or not?” Italy questioned.
“Robot, your girl is a smart one. She looked at the cameras and gave me silent messages.”
“What did she say? Did she give you any idea of what was happening to her?” Robot demanded, uncaring that he was supposed to be taking a backseat.
“When she passed a camera she said something to the blonde next to her.” Robot’s spine tingled and he glanced back down the alley where a blonde woman lay dead.
“Her name is Lonie and Antonia asked if she worked for the guy who’s killing she witnessed.”
“And what did she say?” This came from Italy.
“Because she wasn’t enunciating her words as deliberately as Antonia, I only caught a few, but she something along the lines of it didn’t matter who she worked for and then she handed Antonia what looked like a hat and glasses.”
“Making her unrecognizable,” murmured Joker.
“Yep, that’s what I think. She gave me one final message when she passed the camera over the fire exit door—she said, help me Tex.”
“Fuck. She’s amazing.” Robot murmured. Even amidst the danger of the situation she’d found herself in, she had the wherewithal to leave messages she knew Tex would be able to find.
“Tex, we’re still at Antonia’s building. The woman she left with is lying on the pavement, shot through the eyes,” T-Rex commented.
“Fuck, really?” he said incredulously. Somehow Robot suspected Tex wasn’t easily surprised.
“Yeah, not sure that’s the type of payment she was expecting,” muttered Robot.
The sound of fingers flying over keyboard sounded over the phone. Robot had no idea what the man was doing, but hopefully he was finding out where Antonia was. Or at least where she was headed. The longer they stood twiddling their thumbs, the further Antonia got away from them.
Guarding Antonia Page 11
