by J. G. Sumner
I’m not usually a man who cries. I’m stoic and I pride myself on that. However, the words Charles Anderson just spoke hits me deep in my soul. I’m family to him. Whether or not I deserve his kindness and generosity, I have it. I haven’t had a family in quite some time, and it’s special to be a part of something so amazing again.
Chapter Thirteen
Tony
As soon as I leave Charles’s office, I call Jasper. I’m crossing all my fingers and toes and praying for some news—something that tells me Kate is okay. My heart is like an abyss of darkness. I’m amped up and searching for someone to take my fear, anger, and hurt out on. Unfortunately, I can’t. I have to stay levelheaded if I want any realistic chance of saving her before it is too late.
Jasper picks up on the first ring. “Hey. How did it go with her dad?”
I assume his caller ID came up with my name and photo on it. “He handled it remarkably well. He’s on the same page and will contribute whatever resources are necessary to bring her home.”
He sighs into my ear. “Great, because we’re going to need all the bloody help we can get.”
Jasper’s reaction doesn’t do anything to calm the storm that’s brewing inside of me. “Please tell me you have some new information.” I wait with bated breath for a response.
“Unfortunately, mate, there’s nothing.”
My hands ball up into fists. I’m silently cursing as I walk down the street trying not to attract attention to myself. Chances are whoever’s got Kate, is also watching me and knows my whereabouts. I can’t give them any reason to suspect I’m hot on their trail. I need to make them every bit as nervous about me finding them as I am about not knowing where Kate is. “I thought of something while I was at Anderson Industries. Have you checked the cameras on the building yet?”
“Nah, mate. I totally missed that. I’ll pull them up right now and check anyone suspicious for the last twenty-four hours. I’ll apply the facial recognition and see how many names and addresses I can get.”
My heart rate speeds up. Perhaps we’ll find a clue. I’ll take anything big or small at this point. “How long until you can get through the recordings?”
“It shouldn’t be long. Maybe an hour at the most.”
I bite my bottom lip, anxious for answers. I know we’ll find something. I’ve got this gut feeling. My pace quickens as I search for a taxi. It’s amazing, when you don’t need one, they’re everywhere. Now, they’re as scarce as can be. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. I want to look them over with you. Perhaps I’ll recognize someone.”
“All right, I’ll get working on them. Hopefully I’ll have something for you.”
I hang up the phone and hustle over to Lexington. Surely I’ll be able to catch a cab there. If not, I’ll sprint the twenty-five blocks to the apartment building. I don’t care. I just need some god damn answers. The longer it takes us to find anything, the more likely Kate won’t make it out of this.
As soon as I turn the corner onto Lexington, I spot the yellow vehicle with an advertisement for a Broadway play on the top. Some passengers are exiting. I run over to it before someone else can claim it. I shut the door behind me and give the driver the address to my building. Fortunately, traffic isn’t bad. We arrive in about ten minutes. I throw him a fifty and don’t bother to wait for the change. I don’t give a crap about twenty bucks at this point. My time is way more valuable.
The new doorman I hired last week opens the glass door for me. I’m sure he’s already been briefed on the current circumstances. He doesn’t waver in his duties, as he’s not supposed to draw attention from the other staff. I give him a nod before entering. As much as I want to sprint across the lobby, I can’t. Other people live in this building, so there’s no reason to put them on alert.
I choose to take the stairs two at a time instead of waiting for the elevator. Sometimes that damn thing is so slow. All of my patience has run out. My jaw is ticking and hands are balling into fists. I need answers, and I need them now.
Finally, I get to Jasper’s door and barge in without even knocking. He’s not normally one to leave it unlocked and to make himself vulnerable. I’m sure he just wanted to keep it open for me. I wipe the sweat from my brow as I rush to the monitors. “What do you have?”
“Nothing yet, mate.” His eyes never leave his computer screen. He’s typing away and a green square wrapped around a man’s face appears. He presses a few more buttons and the name and address of the individual quickly pops up. Jasper records the information on another screen.
“Right now, I’m going through each individual. After we get through the last twenty-four hours, I figured I would do a more thorough background check on each of them. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some pertinent information.”
I pull a chair up next to Jasper and stare at the screen. It’s not lost on me that I’m completely useless here. I don’t know how to use any of this equipment and I wish I could do something—anything to help. “What can I do?”
“Settle down, Romeo. Why don’t you just watch as I go through these people? Maybe one of their faces will be familiar.”
I guess it’s a good start, but I want to do more. I want to break down doors and find the fucker who has my woman. What I wouldn’t give to have the opportunity to beat the shit out of him. Since I left Italy, I’ve been studying self-defense and martial arts. I vowed never to get in the position I was in last time. I was weak and unsuspecting. I was scared and didn’t know what to do and wasn’t able to protect Kate when she needed me most. I watched completely powerless as she was brutally beaten. Never again. Now, I’m prepared for war. If Matteo has Kate, he won’t live to get another opportunity to hurt her.
“What the…Is that who I think it is?” Jasper leans forward and squints into the screen. He presses some buttons and the pictures blow up. I focus on the man Jasper is pointing to.
“That’s the little shit who keeps following Kate around. The one you kicked out of the bar the other night!” I squint, but not because I can’t see. My lips purse and I refrain from wanting to beat the crap out of something.
“Yeah, it is. He was standing in front of the building at about two in the morning. What time did you guys get back?”
I try to recall when we left Times Square. It wasn’t too late. I remember wanting to get Kate alone and see her beautiful naked body for the first time as my fiancé. “I think it was about midnight.”
“Hmm. It’s weird he’d be standing there still.” Jasper fast-forwards the recording. “Look, at four in the morning he gets into that car.” Sure enough, Demetrio gets into what looks like a white Hyundai Accent. Instead of driving off, he puts the driver’s seat back and appears to go to sleep.
“Fast-forward some more. Let’s see when he leaves.”
Jasper presses a few buttons and the screen moves quickly. Cars pass by, and people walk up and down the sidewalk. As morning approaches, dogs and their owners take leisurely strolls. “Stop! There’s Kate.” She’s holding her cell phone as she walks under the camera toward Starbucks. She lifts her hand and admires her ring. Even from the recording, it sparkles in the sunlight and I can tell she loves it. My heart melts. She looks so happy and carefree. This is what I’ve wanted for her all along. For one brief moment, the memories of the past and possibilities of the future didn’t control her thoughts. She was a normal woman who was experiencing and enjoying what was possibly one of the happiest moments of her life. Little did she know in a matter of minutes everything in her life would change.
I bite my bottom lip, drawing blood. Adrenaline surges through my veins and the anger bubbles to life inside. He took this from her. I’ll never forgive Matteo or Demetrio or whoever is responsible for this latest attack on Kate.
I watch her without blinking until she’s no longer on the screen. My heart grows heavy. This is the last time anyone saw her.
A few minutes go by before we see any action in the video. “Look, he never gets out of the car. He
’s pulling out and driving the opposite direction. Where’s he going?” Jasper zeros in on the license plate and takes a snap shot. “I’m going to run the plate. My guess it’s from a rental car agency.”
Jasper switches to another screen and types in the number. “Yeah, it is. He rented the car last week and hasn’t brought it back yet.” The keyboard makes a clicking sound as Jasper rapidly presses buttons. “He checked it out under the name of Demetrio Maggiano.”
I’m a little surprised by this. “Okay, so he didn’t lie about his name.”
“Let’s see what else we can find out about him.” Jasper starts to feverishly type away. “It says here that he just graduated from Cambridge University. He graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice.”
I look at Jasper. The pieces don’t seem to be fitting together like I would’ve suspected. Why would this kid come here and try to cozy up with Kate? Why would he stakeout our building?
Jasper switches to another site that I’m not sure is legal. He enters a password and the screen for the MI6 pops up. I’m not sure how Jasper is able to get on this site. I don’t know if I want to ask considering it is England’s equivalent to America’s CIA. “Um, we’re not going to have any strange men in suits knocking down our doors, are we?”
“Relax, mate. This is all legal. I gained security clearance years ago.” Jasper chuckles as he keeps typing.
“How and why don’t I know about this?” I thought I knew just about everything I could about him. We’ve been friends for years. I don’t ever remember him working for the MI6.
“There are some things I’m forced to keep quiet. This is one of them. Just think of it as if I tell you how or why, I’m going to have to kill you.” Jasper laughs again, but I’m not so sure he’s kidding. There’s a reason I hired him for this job, and this happens to be it.
“Ah…look here. It says his mother died about six months ago. She was found dismembered and stuffed in the trunk of her car.”
I gasp and my eyes pop wide open. This is certainly not what I expected to find. “Jesus! What the fuck is going on here?”
Jasper isn’t laughing anymore. “Well, based on the way she was killed, I suspect she had a run in with the wrong people.”
I know what that means. Mafias and cartels, this is the work of a career criminal. “Where was she found?”
Jasper turns to look at me, white as a ghost. I know it’s going to be bad because nothing shakes Jasper like this. “His mother was found at your factory.”
My stomach feels heavy with the weight of this information, and it’s getting heavier by the second. My words are caught in my throat, and I don’t know what to say. All these thoughts are swarming around in my head. It’s like a tornado. I can pick out images from the big cloud of debris floating through my mind. None of what I’m thinking is making sense. “Why or who?”
Jasper takes a deep breath before speaking. “I think the ‘why’ is the million-dollar question. The ‘who’ is probably Matteo.”
I rub my hands over my face. This is a lot to process. This is a connection from home, who has been following Kate for God knows how long. But why? “What’s his mother’s name?” I’m not sure why I ask other than to find out if it’s someone I know.
Jasper scrolls back through the information on the screen. “It says here she was Luciana Maggiano.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I’ve never heard of her. “What about his father? Does it say anything about him?”
Jasper continues to type. “That’s strange. There’s not a word about him. Let me see if I can pull up his birth certificate.” Jasper continues to type as though his life depends on it.
“Bloody hell! You’re not going to believe this!” Jasper swivels his chair to face me as he points to the screen.
“What?”
“Look who his father is.” Jasper puts his finger on the line I’m supposed to read.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Holy shit!” I sit back in the chair and contemplate the information that was just revealed. My heart beats a million times a minute.
“How did you not know your cousin had a bloody kid?” Jasper raises one of his tattooed arms to his face.
“I don’t know. Up until recently, I haven’t seen him since we were kids. How old is Demetrio?”
Jasper looks to the screen. “According to this, he’s twenty-one.”
“That would mean Matteo fathered him when he was about sixteen. I would guess my uncle didn’t take well to this news. Chances are, he covered it up and nobody knew about him except for the mother and her family.”
Jasper rubs the soul patch on his chin. “I’m guessing then Luciana must’ve done something recently that put her in a bloody body bag. I wonder what she was asking for and from whom?”
All this new information is rolling around in my brain like dice on a craps table. I’m trying to process what this means for Kate. What would this kid want with her? How does he even know about her?”
“Well, mate, that could be the key to finding Kate. We need to get to this kid and fast.”
I contemplate my next move. I’m not sure I want to get the local authorities involved, but they might be able to find the rental car before we can. “Should we contact NYPD or the FBI?”
Jasper speaks up without hesitation. “We definitely need to go with the FBI. They can get the PD involved if they want. The FBI is going to have more leverage since this is their case.”
My mind is made up for me. I motion for Jasper to make the call. Time’s wasting and as much as I’d like to be the knight in shining armor saving the damsel in distress, I’m going to need as much help as I can get to get my woman back. This is so much bigger than I thought, and I certainly have no problem giving up a bit of my pride to make that happen.
Chapter Fourteen
Kate
I slowly wake. I open my eyes, but there’s only darkness. Dark fabric covers my face, eliminating any chance for me to know whether it is day or night or even try to figure out where I am. I try to remove my blindfold, but my hands are restrained behind my back. I attempt to stand up, but my legs are tied to what I presume is the chair I’m sitting in. Not this again! How could this possibly be happening? Who in their lifetime gets kidnapped twice? Why frickin’ me?
I’m definitely more angry than I am scared. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’ve been through this song and dance once already. In my gut, I know it’s the green-eyed monster who has me tied up. He’s dangerous, but I’ve survived it once; I know I can again. This time I have a definite advantage. I’m on my own soil. The guy is a complete idiot if he thinks he’s going to get away with it.
I tug at the ropes knowing full well I won’t be able to get out of them. Matteo has excellent knot-tying abilities. What he isn’t prepared for is the fact that when I got back from Italy, I started MMA classes. I wasn’t going to be a victim anymore. I was going to be a survivor. I never told Tony because he’s already freaked out by what I’ve gone through, and I stopped attending as soon as he returned to me. I’m not going down without a fight this time.
“Ha! I see you haven’t changed.”
I freeze at the familiar voice. Sure enough, it’s the green-eyed monster. “I’d say the same, but I can’t see you. I take it you didn’t get your fill of torture the last time we met.”
Footsteps approach rapidly. He grasps ahold of my hair, yanking my head back. “And I see you’ve forgotten your manners once again. Do you need a little reminder?”
God, nothing’s changed. It’s the same old game with him. He likes to be in control, and if he isn’t, he’ll force his dominance and inflict pain until he regains it. “My apologies. That was rude. I’ll work harder to show you the respect you deserve.” To me it sounds as though the sarcasm is pouring from my mouth. I guess it was exactly what he wanted to hear, because he let go of my hair.
“That will be your only warning.” The sound of footsteps move to my front. His breath warms my face. “You’r
e more beautiful than I remember. Your lips, they’re so full. I can imagine how they’d look wrapped around my cock.” He brushes the back of his hand against my cheek before he forces his mouth on to mine. I attempt to pull my head back, but the back of the chair prevents any movement. His tongue begins its assault on my mouth. The taste of cigarettes and ash trays fill my taste buds. I instinctively try to pull my body away from what feels like a sausage shoved into my mouth over and over. There’s nowhere to move. I’m starting to panic, and I can’t breathe. My heart is racing and I think I might pass out when suddenly, he pulls away, leaving me gasping for air.
What in the world was that? He never did anything sexual to me before. The green-eyed monster’s M.O. for torture was always a physical beating. I’m not mentally prepared for anything else, and a whole new level of fear washes over me. I take a few deep breaths and try to remain calm.
“Did you like that?”
I can’t speak. I’m at a total loss for words. Instead, I shake my head.
“Good. Remember how you feel right now before you decide to open that trap of yours. I’m sure I can find a way to make things even more pleasant the next time.”
