Punk laughed. “Good one. You know good and damn well we can’t be trusted withanychildren.”
“This is Lorie,” Kelly said.
It hit me just like that. My mind briefly flew back to the photo from the file Milli had looked up for me. “Avion’s best friend.”
She was shaking where she stood and there were tears in the corners of her eyes. “Y-yes. Please don’t kill me. Avion told me you wouldn’t hurt me. I promise I won’t tell my dad…”
“Whoa,” I said. “It’s okay. I would never hurt someone Avion cares about.”
Kelly and Punk exchanged confused glances before saying, in unison, “Wait. What?”
I ignored them. The confusion that I was certain was running through their heads was warranted, but I didn’t have time to explain to them how the last month had changed me. “What are you doing here, Lorie?”
“She tracked us down using our contact information on the website,” Kelly explained. “She said that we had to bring her to you. She has an important message for you.”
I rushed a little closer to her and she recoiled, whimpering. For the daughter of a police chief, she certainly didn’t have Avion’s bravery. “Is it about Avion? Is she safe? Where is she?”
Punk tilted his head to the side. “Uh, what the fuck is going on?”
Lorie put her hand over her chest. “God, my heart cannot handle this.”
“Lorie,” I barked, and she jumped sky-high. “Sorry. I’m not trying to scare you. What’s your message?”
“Avion is at her brothers’ compound in Todt Hill. She sent me the exact location. She told me that she doesn’t feel safe and thinks her brothers are up to something and wants you to come and get her,” Lorie explained.
“Wait,” Kelly and Punk chorused again, “what?!”
Snatching my phone out of my pocket, I quickly unlocked it and opened up the maps app, and handed it to Lorie. “Put the address in here. I’ll be right back.” I rushed past Kelly and Punk shouting, “Keep an eye on her,” and ran from the room.
As quickly as I could, I dressed myself in comfortable enough clothes to maneuver in and grabbed two of the pistols my father had gifted me in my teen years. I didn’t believe in good luck, but if I did, I’d believe they brought me good luck. In all the times I’d used them, they’d never once missed their mark, and apparently the same was true when they were my father’s guns. Getting Avion back was going to take sharp aim, and I was going to need my best to get to her.
After getting dressed and getting my guns, I searched the house for Kova, who had unexpectedly risen to a position of power within my ranks. When I tracked her down, she was racing around, equally as frantically, almost as if she was looking for me.
“Mr. Raines!” she said, but then she noticed my own urgency and asked, “Is everything okay?”
“I’ve got a tip on Avion,” I said. “I’m going to find her. I need you to hold things down here. If anyone comes here or there’s anything suspicious in the slightest, I need you to tell me.”
“I was actually coming to talk to you,” she said. “Three of our house staff have disappeared.”
I’d been walking and talking but came to a halt when she said it. “What?”
“There’s no sign that they were injured. I believe they took off,” she said.
“Do you know which three?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. They were here during the fifth-floor meeting, but now they’re MIA.”
“Fuck, okay.” I started walking again, bound for the gym. “I need full profiles on the three who are missing. Don’t tell anyone else that they’re gone. No one, do you understand.”
“Yes sir,” she said.
“Try not to do anything that would tip anyone off that we know they’re missing. It’s business as usual until I tell you otherwise.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’m leaving. I’m gonna have Punk and Kelly drop off Avion’s friend at home and then come back here. The two of them and Milli are the only ones who should be allowed in the compound,” I said. “If anyone else tries to enter, you need to call me immediately and donotlet them in. Use force if you have to.”
She gave me a nod. “Yes sir.” Then she started off down the hallway and I walked back into my gym.
