A heavy weight settled in his stomach as he moved farther into the suite. Bowie wasn’t in the bathroom or the walk-in closet. There was no sign of any struggle. Javier was just being paranoid. Nobody was getting past four armed guards, three sentries, and Hurley to somehow steal Bowie right out from under his nose. He’d probably just gone downstairs to wait for them. Javier had promised to be back in a few minutes.
But Bowie wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen. Daniela was sitting at the counter eating a mango.
“You seen Bowie?” he asked.
Daniela finished chewing her food before saying, “Yeah, he was with Manuel a few minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“In the upstairs hallway. They were heading down the backstairs. I figured they were going to the car.”
“Why would they be going down the backstairs to get to the car? We always leave out front.”
The teen looked at him with a mix of boredom and borderline hostility. “How should I know? The car was parked outside the door over there.”
Javier frowned as he followed her finger to the side door before darting towards it. The car wasn’t there any longer. The car wasn’t there and Bowie had been in it. Bowie was gone. Manuel had taken him? That made no sense. Why?
The sound of heels on tile filled the space, hisTíaSylvia saying something to Daniela, but it didn’t compute. He couldn’t think of anything but Bowie. He’d lost Bowie. Fuck.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,conejito?” Sylvia said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Where’s Bowie? We really should go. We’re going to be late.”
“Gone,” Javier muttered, still staring out the kitchen’s glass door.
“Gone? What do you mean ‘gone’?” Sylvia asked, her tone making it clear she thought he was being dramatic.
“Daniela said that Bowie left with Manuel.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Sylvia said, turning to her daughter. “What does he mean? Why would Bowie leave with Manuel?”
Once more, Daniela looked at them like she was the wronged party. “I have no idea. They were on the stairs, then they went out that door. The car was parked out there. I didn’t ask why. I figured you knew. Why are you guys all acting so weird?”
“Ay,dios mio,” Sylvia murmured. “Manuel wouldn’t do something like this. He wouldn’t.”
Javier didn’t know if she was trying to convince him or herself. “Well, he has. He never liked Bowie. Didn’t like that he was gay. Was always giving him looks.”
“There’s a difference between not liking somebody’s orientation and handing them over to killers,conejito.”
“Does it matter why he did it? What else could it be? Do you think Manuel just ushered Bowie into the car to go for a drive ten minutes after we were supposed to leave for the ballet? No. He took Bowie. He took him to Giordano.”
“I’ll get Angelo.”
Daniela followed her mother from the kitchen, leaving Javier with his own dark thoughts. He collapsed at the tiny kitchen table, holding his head in his hands. If anything happened to Bowie, it would be nobody’s fault but Javier’s. He’d decided to kill Giordano Junior. He’d decided to lure his father to Mexico. He should have just confronted the man directly or at least put it out there that he was the real killer and moved Bowie as far away from him as possible.
But Javier was selfish. He hadn’t wanted Bowie away from him for another minute. He’d told himself nobody could keep Bowie safer than he could, but the truth was he couldn’t bear the notion of being separated. Those two weeks alone had felt like torture, even though they’d barely known each other. Now, it felt like he was missing a limb. He slammed his hand down on the counter. This was bullshit. He needed to go, to find Bowie. He couldn’t sit here waiting for them to contact him.
He stood, walking towards the front door, determined to figure out what the fuck had happened. He only made it to the foyer before Angelo cut off his path. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.”
“Would you say the same if it was Sylvia?” Javier snapped.
“No. I wouldn’t. But you would tell me to think logically. You would tell me that going off half-cocked is a death wish. Just stop. Breathe. Let’s think logically about this.”
“I don’t give a fuck about logic. I just want him back.”
Angelo gripped his shoulders tight. “We don’t even know where he is or who has him,mijo.”
Mijo. Shit was bad if Angelo was resorting tomijo. “Well, I’m not going to figure it out here.”
“What are you going to do,conejito? Where are you going to go?” Sylvia asked.
