by Aly Martinez
“What’s he saying?” I yelled as I helped him sit up, but my eyes scanned the room, desperate to find her.
I rose to my feet, ready to haul ass down the hall to the bedroom, but Leo stopped me. With his gun drawn, he motioned for us to leave. He must have lost his goddamn mind though, because I wasn’t going anywhere without her.
Quarry waved to get my attention. “She’s not here. He took her. I tried . . .” His hands dropped to his sides and his head hung.
Leo made fast work of clearing the suite and verifying that Quarry was right.
I focused back on my phone. When my fingers started flying over my keyboard, Leo, Slate, and Flint sidled up beside me to read over my shoulder.
Me: Where the fuck is she?
Him: Phew, that took you long enough.
Me: I swear on my life, I will kill you. Give her back to me.
Him: No cops. Tell your daddy Slate to stand the fuck down.
Slate’s head snapped back as he lowered the phone from his ear. And my phone immediately buzzed once again.
Him: Better.
Leo started looking around the room.
Him: Tell Mr. James that he should probably be more worried about his own family than where my camera is located. His daughter seemed frightened when I killed her worthless bodyguard.
Suddenly, with wide eyes and pale faces, Slate and Leo flew from the room.
Me: I swear to god, I will kill you.
Him: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve heard it all before. So now that we are alone, I have a favor to ask in exchange for your precious wife’s return.
Flint tugged on the edge of my shirt. We have to go. Don’t talk. Just sign. Leo told me to get you two to the conference room.
Me: What do you want?
Him: I need you to throw the fight. I’ve got 200k that I don’t exactly have riding on you losing in the third round. TKO.
Me: Done. Now let her go.
Flint continued to tug on my arm as he led me from the room.
Him: As soon as the final bell rings, she’s all yours.
Me: And what happens to her if something happens before then? I can’t guarantee that I’ll make it to the third round.
Alex rounded the corner as soon as we cleared the doorway. He ushered the three of us to the elevator, while I stared holes in my phone.
Him: Oh, I have a feeling you’ll do just fine.
Him: Tell me, Till. How good is her mouth?
It was followed by a picture of Eliza leaning against the leg of his slacks. Her eyes were squinted shut, and his hand was wrapped firmly around her throat, the tips of his fingers digging into her flesh.
Me: Don’t you fucking touch her.
Him: We’ll be in touch. You should go get ready. You have a fight to lose.
Me: I’ll pay you more than what you’ll make on the fight. Just fucking give her to me.
But as we made our way to the conference room, my text went unanswered.
“I really didn’t think this would be so much fun!” He laughed manically as he ripped the tape off my mouth. “Shhh. Keep your fucking mouth shut or I’ll go back for the boy.” He winked.
I’d sat helplessly, watching the camera feed on Frankie’s laptop as every single message he sent landed on Till’s face. The pictures were the worst.
“Who the hell is that?” A man I vaguely recognized asked as he strolled into the room.
“That is the insurance policy that allows you to live another day.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I thought Till throwing the fight was the insurance policy. I just need to talk to him for a few minutes. I couldn’t get him alone earlier—”
“Well, you know what? I got really fucking tired of waiting for your lazy ass to make a fucking move. The fight is tonight. I was starting to believe that you weren’t going to follow through with this at all.” He tilted head to the side accusingly. “This is both of our asses.”
“I told you I’d handle it. I’ll get you your money. Then I’m done.”
“Well, pardon the fuck out of me for not trusting a lying piece of shit who just got out of prison. You should be kissing my fucking feet right now. You’re welcome, by the way.” He shook his head in annoyance. “Clay, meet your daughter-in-law.” He clapped his hands. “Congratulations! You’re going to be a grandpa!” He mocked enthusiasm before rolling his eyes.
My stomach knotted, and bile rose to my throat. Clay fucking Page.
“Whoa. Wait just a fucking minute. You never said anything about involving his family.”
“Well, originally, I was only planning to involve your family. But I figured she would be a little more enticing than your youngest spawn.”
“You went after Quarry?” Clay yelled as he took a huge step forward.
Frankie moved to the kitchen and poured a glass of amber liquor. “You know, I have to give it to you. For such a pussy, you managed to raise some fearless kids.”
“He didn’t raise them,” I interjected into their conversation as I glared at Clay. “Till did. I did. He had nothing to do with those boys. Don’t you dare give him any credit for who they have become,” I growled. I shouldn’t have said anything, but Clay Page was somehow involved in this bullshit and it enraged me that he could do this to his own fucking son . . . again.
He put his hands on his hips and leveled me with a glare. “Bullshit. Those are my kids. I raised them all until I got locked up.”
“You are so full of shit. You’ve thrown Till to the wolves twice now. Flint’s a fucking nervous mess, and when I was dragged out of that hotel room, Quarry was unconscious in a pool of blood. Is that your idea of raising them?” I pushed to my feet, my arm still connected to the door. “You know what?” I turned my attention to Frankie. “You never needed me for insurance. Till would have been happy to throw the fight if you just promised to put a bullet in that asshole’s head.” I nodded toward Clay. My chest heaved as I finished.
Frankie burst into laughter, spraying liquor from his mouth. “That bitch is tied to a door and still talking shit to you, Page. I like the spunk.”
Clay held my eyes as his tongue slid over his teeth. Then he cracked his neck but didn’t respond.
“Oh, look! The dip-shit bodyguard is back.” Frankie leaned over the computer that showed a grainy feed of my hotel room.
I tried to lean around him to see the screen, but his back blocked my view.
Clay waved to catch my attention. I sucked in a breath as his hands brokenly signed, They’re still my kids. Sit down. Shut up.
“Why was no one watching them?” I yelled at Slate.
“They were inside the room. Leo was on the door, but he took Flint down to grab some food. They can’t be everywhere.”
“Bullshit!” I boomed. “What the fuck about Alex?”
“He’s pulling nights!” Slate explained for at least the tenth time. “Not a single one of us could have anticipated something like this happening. All that matters now is that we get her back. So calm the fuck down and let’s figure this shit out.”
Every muscle in my body twitched, but calming down wasn’t a possibility—not when she was missing. I intertwined my fingers and rested them on the top of my head.
“Found it.” Leo rushed into the room and slammed a tiny, black camera the size of a pencil eraser down onto the table. “It’s cheap. Low end that you can grab almost anywhere. This guy’s no fucking professional.”
As soon as we had gotten to the conference room, we’d found that, while Frankie obviously did know that Johnson was assigned to Sarah and Erica, nothing had actually happened to them. They were all safe and unharmed in the restaurant downstairs when Leo got in contact with him.
We all congregated in the conference room with Alex and Johnson standing guard at the door.
“He’s no pro. He’s a small-time, cracked-out bookie. I met him once when I was eighteen. This has something to do with my dad. I don’t know if he’s in on it or what, but you find Clay Page. He�
�ll have some fucking answers.”
“He was released last week and already skipped parole. It’ll take me longer to locate him than it will Eliza,” Leo answered as Flint furiously signed for me.
“This is out of control. We need to call the cops,” Slate announced.
“No!” I yelled. “No cops.”
Leo stepped in front of me and began talking, but I was forced to watch Flint fill in the words. “Till, there is no guarantee that he will even release her after you lose. We need some backup here.”
“No, we don’t. Just find her.”
“I’m working on getting access to the hotel surveillance cameras. It’s a casino. There isn’t an inch of this hotel we can’t see. But I’m hitting walls at every turn. I need a badge. I’ll explain the situation and get minimal officers, no uniforms.”
“What if he finds out? He’ll kill her . . . He’ll kill them!” I roared before I felt my throat close and I was forced to depend on my hands. I can’t risk it.
“I’m sorry, but I think you’re wrong about this. I’m calling it in.”
As Flint finished signing Leo’s words, I exploded and rushed across the room. “No! That’s not your fucking choice!” I batted the phone out of his hand, sending it flying across the room.
Slate wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind, and Flint stepped in front of me.
“That’s my wife. My daughter. Goddammit, I get to decide how this goes down.”
“Till, you’re making decisions with your heart based on fear right now. I’m trying to think logically.”
My eyes flashed from Flint back to Leo. “Fuck, your logic. I am not taking a gamble on calling in the cops when my entire life on the line. And if you even try to tell me you wouldn’t play it safe if it were Sarah and Liv, then you’re a goddamn liar.” I stopped fighting and pinched the bridge of my nose, barely clinging to the edge of sanity.
Slate released me and shoved me toward a chair in the corner. He tried to force me into it, but there was no possible way I could have relaxed. I wanted blood.
Slate signed for my benefit as he explained the situation to Leo. “If we call in the cops, the Boxing Association will cancel the fight if there is any suspicion that Till might throw it. This guy has made it more than clear he has money riding on this fight. But there has to be more to it. Till offered to pay him off, but he hasn’t gotten a response. Sounds like someone has a vested interest in the actual winner of the fight.”
“You think Matthews has something to do with this?” My murderous rage became palpable.
“I don’t know. Maybe. More than likely a big-time, dirty bookie is using a small-time, dirty bookie to make an ass-load of money. I bet this Dragon guy doesn’t even know how much money is actually on the line.”
“Someone, please just fucking find her. Jesus Christ, I don’t give a shit about this fight anymore. I just need someone to find her!” I pushed a hand into my hair. The anger was quickly subsiding as my anxiety took up root.
Flint moved to where we were all talking. “What if we do call the cops—”
My eyes grew wide, but he held up a hand to silence me.
“—but don’t tell them about throwing the fight. Just tell them that someone took Eliza. That way, if at fight time, they don’t have anything on Eliza, Till can still throw the fight. We have two outs instead of one.”
Slate turned to look at me. “Now that’s an idea.”
My eyes jumped to Leo.
He shrugged. “I’m okay with that.”
I toyed with my bottom lip as my mind ran over every possible scenario, but I came up empty. Losing her wasn’t an option. “No uniforms. No cop cars. Nothing.”
“I can do that,” Leo announced, walking forward and holding my gaze. “I’ll find her. I promise.”
I sucked in a deep breath as I read his lips. He could promise all day, but nothing would make me relax until she was in my arms again.
“Find her!” Till screamed at the top of his lungs. His words slurred from the force.
“We’re trying,” Leo explained, slapping the laptop closed.
Till had insisted on watching the video Leo had acquired of Eliza being dragged from the hotel. After over an hour of trying to talk him out of it, Leo had finally given in when Till went off and started demolishing he the entire conference room.
We’d all huddled around the computer and watched as Eliza walked willingly from the room with Frankie. Everything was fine until he tried to push her out of the hotel through a back exit. She planted her feet and tried to snatch her arm out of his grip, but it only caused him to slingshot her out the door. She stumbled and landed facedown. She immediately got back on her feet, but watching her fall on her pregnant belly had been more than enough to send us all into a fit of rage.
“Try fucking harder!” Till seethed.
“Look, we know she’s in the building. Or at least she was when those images were sent to you. We’re going through footage of every single entrance to see when and where they came back in. It just takes time,” Leo said as I translated. “You get in that ring and do what you have to do. I’ll do what I have to do out here.”
The entire thing was so surreal. I couldn’t wrap my mind around any of it. Leo had made good on his word, and everything was very low-key. So much so that it almost felt like nothing was being done at all. Two plain clothed detectives milled around, but when I found one sitting around eating a sandwich, I’d lost my shit too. It took Leo and Slate to keep me from shoving that goddamn sandwich down his throat.
We’d all spent the day in upheaval. Sarah and Erica buzzed around the room, trying to coddle us, but they were a nervous wreck right alongside the rest of us. Till was a fuming mess, understandably. He paced a lot and ranted at anyone who would listen. Quarry had been transformed into a depressed, weeping child. He sat alone in the corner, refusing to talk to anyone. It seemed my brothers had figured out their coping mechanisms, but I flipped back and forth between anger and hopelessness.
God. Eliza. She must have been so scared. It twisted my gut and sent flames through my blood. I had never experienced that level of fear before and was clueless about how to channel it.
But then again, I’d never felt for anyone the way I did for Eliza Reynolds Page.
I’d been in love with her since the day she’d first walked through Till’s front door. I had barely even been a teenager, but when she’d smiled at me, I had known I’d never be the same. And I wasn’t. There wasn’t a girl in the world who would ever make me feel the sense of belonging I felt when I touched her. She was beautiful, and funny, and so good to all of us. It was so fucking wrong for me to want her the way I did, but even the guilt couldn’t stop me.
I always knew she was in love with Till. I couldn’t even be mad about it because it was obvious how much he loved her too. At least, if they were together, I had a way to keep her in my life. But right then, with her missing and having absolutely no control over where she was or what was happening, it was excruciating.
A sudden knock at the door grabbed all of our attention.
“Ten minutes!” was shouted from outside the door.
Slate stepped in front of Till. “You need to calm to fuck down or you’re going to get your ass knocked out in the first round. What good is that going to do her? You have ten minutes to get your head in the fight.”
Till might have nodded, but I knew for certain that he wouldn’t be into the fight while Eliza was missing. I didn’t know how he was going to do it. I could barely breathe, yet he had to fight.
“Let’s go, Flint,” Alex called from the door. “Time to get you seated.”
Slate had made the decision that Erica, Sarah, and Liv would watch the fight from their hotel room with Johnson standing guard. I’d insisted on watching ringside. I needed to be there. Quarry had been given the option, but he’d only shrugged and followed the women as they’d left.
Alex had been assigned as my bodyguard for the fight, and while
I absolutely loathed the idea that they assumed I couldn’t protect myself, I hadn’t argued. I knew that my bitching would have only stressed Till out more. He had enough going on without having to worry about me too.
I walked to the door and stopped to sign to Till, You got this.
“Yeah. I got it.” He forced a tight smile then turned away to shrug into the robe Slate was holding open.
I walked toward the arena with Alex barely a step behind me. “Can you not make me look like a pussy with a babysitter?” I smiled tightly.
“Sorry, man. It’s my job.”
“Can I have a little breathing room at least?”
He chuckled but dropped back a few feet.
We navigated through numerous winding hallways, the crowd getting thicker the closer we got to the arena until it eventually bottlenecked at an intersection.
“Sorry,” a man said as he slammed into my chest.
I only glanced at him long enough to notice a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. “No problem.” I smiled—until I felt something being shoved into my hand. I looked down at a room key as the man quickly walked away. Written in black marker was the number 3716.
Confused, I watched the man weave through the tight crowd. Just before he rounded the corner away from the arena, he turned to face me. Similar blue eyes lifted to mine.
“Dad?” I whispered to myself.
He gave me a tight smile then raised his hands and signed, I didn’t know he was going to take her. Tell Till I’m sorry.
I gasped then glanced back down at the card in my hand.
Eliza.
“You ready for the big fight?” Frankie asked me as he settled on the couch with a drink in his hand.
“Are you really going to let me go if he loses?”
“I don’t know. He’ll be pretty useless to me after he gets knocked out.” He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and crossed his legs at the ankle. “Plus, the last thing I need is you popping that baby out on me. I don’t like kids as it is. I can’t imagine how much I would hate one with Page blood.” He stirred his drink with his finger and then flipped the TV on.
