by Shaw, LK
“It means that until we get more intel, my hands are tied.”
Which didn't help us in anyway. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“I wish I had more news.”
“This was at least something more than I already had.”
“You have my number. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to do anything, but I will try my best to assist anyway I can.”
“Thanks again.”
“Good luck.”
I set down my phone. I needed to talk to Jonathan, but it was too late to call. I’d sort it all out tomorrow before our shift started. Needing to be near Estelle, I turned out the light and headed to the bedroom. I quickly disrobed and crawled under the covers. She murmured in her sleep, and I pulled her tight against my chest. Her body relaxed against me. I laid there for at least another hour thinking about what I was going to say to my partner tomorrow. The little bit of sleep I managed to get caught up with me and my eyes grew heavy. The sound of Estelle's steady breathing soon lulled me into a restless slumber where I tossed and turned half the night.
Chapter 27
Had it really only been yesterday that Victor told me he loved me? A day since I hadn’t said it back? The words had clogged in my throat. I was so pissed at myself. It was like I kept waiting for everything to fall apart. Not that I was an eternal pessimist or a glass half empty kind of gal, but the cynic inside me kept whispering in my ear. Taunting me.
Her voice grew louder with each passing day, chipping away at this happiness inside me. She whispered things like how it was only a matter of time before Victor disappointed me. Before he changed his mind. How he didn’t really love me. In the end, we’d only grow to hate each other. Man, my inner cynic was a real bitch.
I ignored her and went out to the front room to find Victor. He was sitting, stone-faced, on the couch.
“Morning.” I leaned down to give him a kiss.
“Hey.”
I stopped at his tone. “Is everything okay?”
Was he regretting telling me he loved me? I could feel a burning in my eyes. Had I fucked things up between us? He pulled me onto his lap, but I couldn’t relax.
“I got a call last night from Brody’s former handler, Landon.”
I blinked. “What did she want?”
“According to her, Álvarez was never arrested, and he’s in Chicago somewhere.”
“Oh my god. So it could have been him behind everything after all?”
“Yes. She said he’s allegedly been here for three months.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to take you back over to our house, and then I’m going to figure out what the hell’s going on.”
Knowing that Álvarez had been so close all this time had me terrified. It had to have been one of his men that had broken in two nights ago. I climbed off his lap.
“Let me go pack some things.”
“Okay. I’m going to call my dad and let him know.”
I hustled into the bedroom and threw clothes and my toiletries in my bag. I’d just unpacked and here I was packing again. Would this nightmare ever end? Once I was satisfied I had everything, I went back out into the living room to hear the tail end of Victor’s conversation.
“Yes, sir. I’m on my way.” He slammed his finger down onto the phone screen. “Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?”
“That was my Captain. There’s a lead on Álvarez’s whereabouts. Someone spotted him in the north side of the city. My boss is sending us over there right now. He’s going to have a patrol officer stop by and keep an eye on you until I can get back. I’m also going to have Manuel come by as well. Will you be okay until the officer gets here? Shouldn’t be long.”
“I’ll be okay. The door will be locked, and I’ll engage the chain.”
“I don’t want to fucking leave, but he said to get there ASAP.”
“Don’t worry.” I laid my hand on his arm. “It’ll be fine.”
“Okay. I love you.” He kissed me, and then bolted out the door.
For the next twenty minutes I alternated between pacing, something I seemed to have picked up from Victor, and sitting on the edge of my couch. I hadn’t been lying when I said I was okay. I really was, but it was still slightly nerve-wracking knowing Victor could be going into danger.
My doorbell rang. That had to be the patrol officer he said was on his way. I peeked through the curtain to see who it was. I recognized the light-brown haired man dressed casually in jeans with a black t-shirt and black leather jacket over it. It took me a minute, but I got the chain unlatched and the door unlocked.
“Looks like you drew the short straw.” I opened the door and stepped back. “Come on in.”
Officer Gladstone didn’t say anything for a minute. He just casually strolled around my living room stopping once to pick up a picture frame, glance at it, and set it back down.
“Can I get you something to drink? I have orange juice or water. That’s about it.”
He looked up, and I shivered at the darkness in his eyes. Something wasn’t right.
“No, thanks.”
He stepped closer to me, and my brain screamed danger. I backed up, slowly.
Then he spoke again. “You are the key, you know.”
I spun and dove for the door. The knob turned, and I tried to jerk it open. Only a sliver of sunlight peeked through before it slammed right back shut with the force of my body being thrown against it. Gladstone’s vicious fingers snatched my hair and yanked my head back. The tendons and muscles of my neck screamed in pain, and I hissed in agony. He pressed himself against me, pinning me against the wood with no room to move or defend myself.
“You really did a number on Martín the other night. Broke the poor bastard’s arm.”
“Good,” I spat out. “Too bad I couldn’t bash his brains in.”
He chuckled evilly. “Bloodthirsty bitch aren’t you? It’s kind of hot.”
Gladstone rubbed his erection against me. I tried jerking away. He yanked my hair harder, and tears burned my eyes. “Mr. Álvarez is anxious to speak with you.”
“I told you before, I don’t know anything.”
His lips touched my ear, and I shuddered in disgust. “You may not, but Victor does. Which means you’re coming with me. Oh, and in case you get any ideas…”
The gun rammed into my side spoke volumes. “Keep your elbows to yourself. Álvarez wants you alive. Didn’t say anything about slightly damaged.”
Gladstone loosened his grip on my hair, and my head throbbed. His hand skimmed down my side, pausing for a moment at my breast, before traversing down. He wrapped his hand around my hip, his fingers far too close to my center, and ground his cock against my ass again. I swallowed back vomit.
“I see why Victor likes you.”
“Go fuck yourself.” I refused to let him see my terror.
Before I could blink, he’d snatched my hair again and slammed my face into the door. I cried out in pain and felt warm wetness drip from my nose.
“You have a smart mouth for someone in your predicament. That right there was just a love tap. Talk to me like that again, and I’ll cut out your fucking tongue. You got me?”
I swallowed back my tears and nodded. With fingers still clutching my hair, Gladstone jerked me away from the wall.
“Let’s go. Don’t forget, I will shoot you if you try anything.”
He dragged me out of the house and into his car. The gun he kept jammed against my side was incentive for me to do what he said. The only thing keeping me sane right now was Victor. I needed to stay alive long enough for him to find me. And he would. I had to believe that. I couldn’t die without telling him how I felt.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked from the passenger seat.
My eyes remained on the scenery in front of us as we left my neighborhood.
“Working for Mr. Álvarez is a lucrative business.”
I glanced over at him and the gun sitting in his lap. He caught my eye. “I
wouldn’t try it if I were you. I’d hate for this thing to go off accidentally.”
My eyes darted away. Why were we heading out of the city? Where was he taking me? I needed to keep him talking.
“So you’re betraying your partner and the entire police force for money? How original.”
The sarcasm was lost on him. “Money talks. What can I say?”
“How long have you been a dirty cop?”
“Tsk, tsk,” Gladstone scolded. “Such name calling. I think of it more as a business venture really. Easy work for really great pay. I don’t plan on slumming it inside a raggedy old patrol car for the rest of my life. Waiting for some lowlife to gun me down because I’m wearing a uniform. I’m saving for early retirement.”
“You’re a piece of work.” He disgusted me.
Gladstone only laughed. “Be that as it may, but I’m a rich one.”
The car slowed and turned down a narrow alley. Burnt out and rundown warehouses surrounded us on both sides, blocking out any sunlight that may have tried to reach the ground. It was dark and ugly down here. We stopped in front of a blue metal building. He honked the horn in a series of long and short beeps. Within seconds, the garage door slid up. We crept slowly forward into the darkened abyss. The second the back fender breached the threshold, the door slid back down, locking us inside.
Dim fluorescent lights barely illuminated the interior of the building, some flickering and creating an almost strobe light effect. It was like the static on your TV. Standing on the concrete floor in the middle of a room were several men. It was the one in the center that commanded my attention. I’d seen pictures of him on the news before, but none of them did Miguel Álvarez justice.
Gladstone parked the car and gestured with the gun. “Time to get out, sweetheart.”
My fingers trembled against the door handle. I stepped out and stood next to the car, not daring to move closer to the threat in front of me. It didn’t make a difference, because he came to me.
Upon closer inspection, he was just as handsome. I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. I could barely pick out the flecks of gray in his dark hair. His face was almost free of any age lines, so it was difficult to tell how old he was. Under any other circumstance, I’d appreciate how attractive Álvarez was. Instead, I shook in fear, because this man was deadly.
“Martín tells me you’re a un demonio. How do you say…she-devil, si?”
Was I supposed to answer the question or was it rhetorical? I chose to remain silent.
“I understand you do not know exactly where that traitorous puta is, but you are her best friend. This means you are important to her.” He traced a path down my cheek with his finger. I flinched at the touch and jerked away. Álvarez grabbed my face in his hand, squeezing it so hard I was afraid he was going to break my jaw. I whimpered in pain as the tears poured. “You may not know where she is, but she knows where you are. She will come to your aid, and when she does, I will kill her.”
He shoved me away from him. I stumbled backward and fell on my ass. Rough hands jerked me back to standing, fingers digging painfully into my arms, dragging me through the warehouse. It was stupid to resist. There were worse things they could do than kill me. The two men who handled me threw me into a metal chair in the middle of a small room off the warehouse floor.
I gagged when a piece of fabric was shoved in my mouth. My hair got caught in the knot he made to bind the gag making me wince. Rope wrapped around my body. My wrists were bound behind me, my ankles bound to the legs of the chair. There was nowhere for me to go. I didn’t want them to see my fear. I tried desperately to hold back the tears, but I could feel them slide down my cheeks anyway.
Chapter 28
“Son of a bitch.”
The fucking lead had been a dead end. My phone beside me rang. Manuel.
“Hey, are you at Estelle’s yet?”
“Victor, you need to get over here. Now,” he barked out.
I jolted upright in my chair. “What’s wrong?”
“She’s missing. There aren’t any signs of a struggle, but there’s a small smear of blood on the back of the front door.”
“Fuck. I’m on my way.”
I disconnected and raced through my call history. My thumb slammed down on the entry I was looking for. While the phone rang, I dodged in and out of vehicles, gunning the engine and speeding past them, cursing to get out of my way, with a desperate need to get to the house. There was no doubt in my mind that Álvarez had her.
“Yes?” My sister answered.
“He has Estelle.”
“Oh my god. Are you sure?”
“Last night, I got word from Landon Roberts that Álvarez is in fact back in Chicago. Has been for months. Someone also broke into Estelle’s house late the other night.”
“Damn it, Victor, why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to worry. Manuel is at her house. I’d had to go on some bogus call following an alleged lead on Álvarez’s location. A patrol officer was supposed to go over there and stay with her until I got back. I’d also asked Manuel to go over there. He’s the one who discovered her missing.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m on my way to her house. Let me call you back when I find something out.”
“You better. You have to find her, Victor.”
“I will. Gotta go.”
I skidded to a screeching halt in Estelle’s driveway. Manuel opened the door before I even got to it.
“The door was unlocked when I got here. No signs of forced entry.”
Just then my cell phone chirped signaling an incoming text. I didn’t recognize the number, but there was a video attachment.
Estelle was gagged and tied to a chair inside a room. The blank white brick walls behind her did nothing to help to discern her location. The video zoomed in on her face. Tears streaked her cheeks and her nose looked bloodied. I roared out my anger. Thirty seconds had barely gone by before my phone rang. Same number from the text.
“If you harm a fucking hair on her head, you’re dead.”
“I don’t think you’re one to be making any demands, señor,” the caller spoke with a heavy Spanish accent.
“What do you want?”
“Ines Rodriguez. As you can see from the video, I have a guest. I propose a trade. You give me what I want, and I give you back what you want.”
“Ines isn’t here. I don’t know exactly where she is,” I hedged.
“Then my guest is of no use to me. Adíos.”
“Wait! Wait!”
“You have remembered something, I take it?”
Fuck his condescending tone.
“It’s going to take a few days for her to get here. She’s not close.”
“You have twenty-four hours. I will call again with instructions soon.”
“Hello?”
He’d hung up. I roared and moved to throw the phone across the room, but Manuel stopped me.
“Don’t let him get to you like that. We need to be smart about this. Now, what did he say?”
I tried to focus on slowing down my breathing by taking in a few cleansing breaths. Finally, I got my rage under control. “We have twenty-four hours to get Ines here. No mention of Brody. I’m not sure if that’s intentional or if Álvarez still thinks he’s dead.”
“Let’s go in assuming he knows Brody’s alive.”
“God damn it. I need to call Brody’s handler.”
Manuel nodded. “Do that. I’m calling papá and Pablo.”
I found Landon’s number again.
“Agent Roberts.”
“It’s Victor Rodriguez. Someone’s taken Estelle. I got a video sent to me by text. She’s alive. They called shortly after I received it. We have twenty-four hours to set up an exchange. Estelle for Ines.”
“Son of a bitch. Did he mention Brody?”
“No.”
“Do you have a number where the text and call came from?”
&nbs
p; “I do. It’s not a local number though.”
“Send it to me. Forward me the video as well. Let me see what I can do. I’ll call you later.”
I disconnected the call and sent her everything. I paced the floor, pulling at my hair in frustration.
Manuel had already disconnected his call. “Dad and Pablo want us to meet at the house. There’s nothing we can do until we hear back from Álvarez.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I snapped, then quickly regretted it. “I’m sorry.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t be. I can’t imagine how you feel right now. But, Vicky, we’re going to find her.”
I swallowed hard. We had to. “Let me lock up here and we’ll head to the house.”
For several minutes, I stared at the house key in my hand. Had it really only been yesterday since Estelle had given this to me? A single day since I told her I loved her? Jesus, it seemed like a lifetime ago. With a shaking hand, I inserted the key and locked the door. Manuel and I jumped in our vehicles and headed to our father’s house.
* * *
Ines and Brody were on their way back to Chicago. It had been a quick phone call, especially once they heard the demands. It would take them about fifteen or sixteen hours to get here from Colorado, which left us only a small window of time to formulate a plan. I’d spoken to my captain and let him know everything that was going on. From Jonathan’s incorrect intel on Álvarez to Estelle’s kidnapping. He was prepared to organize a special task force, including a S.W.A.T. team. I let him know we’d be in touch once we got more information. I prayed there was enough time for backup. We still didn’t know where she was or where the exchange was supposed to take place.
I hadn’t sat down since I got that video. A lot could happen to Estelle in a single day. I’d been testy and short-tempered all night. It wasn’t long before everyone left me alone. My phone rang a little after eight p.m.
“Hello?”
“Bad news. There’s nothing in this video or in the call that indicates this is Álvarez. Not once was his name mentioned. I didn’t expect it to be.” Landon sighed, and I knew that wasn’t the end of it. “I talked to my superiors. Without proof that it’s Álvarez, the D.E.A. isn’t going to risk their time and resources on a kidnapping that doesn’t directly tie into the cartel. Especially one that doesn’t involve drugs or an exchange of products. What they’re calling a simple kidnapping of some random woman is going to be left to the locals.”
