The door shook with the force of someone knocking, and Antonio went to open it. Damon stood outside, his face absolutely murderous. He was dressed in black, carrying a baseball bat, and Antonio thought he also spotted a gun in his waistband, but he couldn’t be sure. For a moment, nobody spoke, the air so thick with tension you could have cut it with a spoon.
“Alright, who’s driving?” Damon growled.
“I am,” Antonio raised a hand to quash any objections. “You keep an eye out for Alyssia’s car, or Douglas. One of them has got to be somewhere.”
“Agreed,” Damon nodded. “Reynolds says he’s notified every airport, harbour, train station … hell, if there’s a way out of here, he’s covered it. Only way for them to escape would be going underground at this rate.”
Antonio nodded thoughtfully. Reynolds had definitely earned his keep, and he made a mental note to offer the man a raise once his wife was safe. The thought of Maria keeping his wife and unborn baby hostage stirred an anger inside him unlike anything he’d ever felt before, and it was all he could do to keep from roaring at the injustice of it all. He knew that if had a prayer of keeping Damon on an even keel, however, he had to remain calm.
“You’d better get going,” David said, jolting him from his thoughts. He unlocked the car, made sure everyone was inside and safely buckled in, and they were off. The streets were quiet for a weekend, and he wondered if Reynolds had also managed to somehow control the flow of traffic in and out of the city.
His phone buzzed, and he nodded for Damon to answer it. Damon gave him a disgusted look, but yankedthe phone out of its holder, letting out a growl as he saw that the number was withheld. He showed it to Antonio, who took a brief look at it and shrugged.
“Put it on speaker.”
Damon did so and put the phone between them, pressing his lips together.
“Listen up, sunshine,” came a chillingly familiar voice. Antonio gripped the wheel tightly, nearly swerving into the central reservation, and took a deep breath, choking back all the curses he wanted to rain down on her head.
“Where is my wife?” he growled, the anger in his voice so sharp it could have cut through diamond. Maria laughed, her voice somehow even more maniacal than before. The two men looked at each other, wondering if she’d finally succumbed to insanity, but didn’t say anything further. The car slowed as they pulled over, Damon cursing as it started to rain.
“She decided she’d have the baby sooner rather than later, so the dumb bitch had to go to the hospital. Don’t worry, she’s safe – for now.”
“Which hospital?” Damon roared, only to be me with another maniacal laugh. “Answer me, woman!”
Maria ignored the question, and Damon gripped the phone tightly. Antonio, however, was a lot calmer, mainlybecause he was working out where the nearest hospitals were. Not many of them had maternity units, so that narrowed it down a little bit, but not much. A small part of him held a begrudging respect for the fact that Maria had taken Alyssia to hospital, although he wasn’t about to admit that out loud.
"As soon as that baby’s out of her, you’ll have to decide – your wife and child, or a lifetime of regret,” Maria continued, and he closed his eyes briefly. Surely Maria knew he’d choose his family over anything? Or was she hoping he’d still refuse so that she could inflict the worst pain imaginable on him?
It took a moment for him to realise that Maria had hung up, and he rubbed his eyes wearily, staring out at the now torrential rain that was battering the roads. Damon stared at him, his eyes black with anger, the phone still clenched in his fist. Neither of them knew what to say, although it was obvious that Maria had lost what little of her sanity she’d once possessed.
“So thatputasent my sister into labour? And packed her off to some hospital somewhere?” Damon finally growled, stuffing the phone back into its holder. Antonio nodded, feeling sick to his stomach, and slowly merged back into the traffic.
“Yup.”
“And how exactly do you plan to find her?”
“I don’t know. There’s only a few hospitals nearby with maternity units, but I can’t canvass them all.”
“Where was she supposed to be going?”
“Ricky’s house in New Jersey -”
“Englewood Hospital.”
Antonio stared at his brother-in-law, who shrugged and pointed at the in-car GPS.
“You want me to find the route?”
“I mean, we need to circle back to how you know it’s Englewood at some stage, but sure.”
“Dated a nurse there once. Blonde, blue eyes, great figure -”
“Jenny, right? I thought you guys were still together?”
“Nah, she found some hunky doctor to date. Still owes me a beer, though. Let me call her, double check and see if Alyssia’s been brought there.”
Damon grabbed his phone and dialled a number, waiting until the other person picked up. He skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point, only to hang up again a few minutes later, shaking his head.
