Still, he was glad when Randal walked out, shaking his head. "Nothing."
Damn it.
Luca turned and started walking toward the next door. He could hear Randal's heavy footsteps thudding on the hardwood floors behind him. The man was not a quiet walker.
Must be a bear thing.
When they reached the next door, Luca reached for the handle and found it locked. He glanced left and right and then looked at Randal. "It's locked."
"Maybe there's a key."
Before he could go find one, Harvey came hurrying down the hallway. "Come on," the beta said. "Rob wants everyone downstairs. We have a lead."
"On my nana?"
"On Ralph."
Luca's heart sank. He had really been hoping it was a lead on his nana.
"Hey, a lead on Ralph is a lead on your nana," Randal said. "If we find him, we'll probably find her."
"Yeah." Somehow, he doubted it.
Randal held out his hand. "Come on. Let's go see what they found."
Luca grabbed Randal's hand and started to walk away, but a small scraping noise behind the locked door made him pause. He frowned as he turned back toward the door.
"What is it?" Randal asked.
"I thought I heard something."
Randal took a step closer and cocked his head, turning his ear toward the door. After a moment, he shook his head. "I don't hear anything."
After a moment of listening and not hearing anything, Luca figured he must have imagined it. "I guess it was just my imagination."
He jumped when a loud crash came from inside the room. "Randal!"
Randal pushed past Luca to get to the door. He tried the door handle, but it was locked. Luca's jaw dropped when Randal turned his shoulder into the door, slamming into the hard wood over and over again until it splintered and he fell into the room.
It wasn't until he flipped on the light that Luca realized it was some sort of linen closet. There were wooden shelves filled with towels, sheets, and personal hygiene products. And sitting right smack in the middle of them, taped to a chair, was Luca's nana.
"Nana!" Luca shouted as he raced into the room. He dropped to his knees next to her and started pulling at the duct tape restraining her to the chair.
"Let me, Luca," Randal said as he began cutting the tape away.
When he pulled the tape off Nana's mouth, she started talking almost instantly, and she was pissed. "That slimy egg sucking bottom feeder!"
Luca's eyebrows shot up. "Uh, Nana?"
"Ralph Kersey kidnapped me. He knocked on my door and the moment I answered, his idiot bastard shoved inside and shot me up with something that knocked me out. When I came to, I was locked up in here, trussed up like a Christmas turkey." Her eyes narrowed to angry little slits of rage. "Oooh, if I ever get my hands on him, he's going to wish he'd never been born."
Luca might actually pay to see that.
"Hold on to my arm, ma'am," Randal said. "If you've been sitting here for awhile, your legs might be a bit wobbly."
Nana did as Randal said, but the moment she stood, she glared at him. "You're one of his boys, aren't you?"
Randal swallowed hard. "Technically, yes, but—"
