Luca receives a new package in the mail. The moment I see it, I know it’s not a good sign.
“We don’t know who this is from,” he cautions me as he slowly opens it.
“Susanna has been missing for a day. She’s been kidnapped by Gabriel. I know it. Who else? You have to take this seriously, Luca.”
“I am.” He steps back from the box on the kitchen table.
“What’s in it?”
He sighs deeply before reaching into the box and pulling out a piece of blonde hair. Susanna’s hair.
I gasp, covering my face with my hands. My sister. She’s been taken. Maybe tortured and raped. Maybe even killed.
“We don’t know it belongs to her yet.”
I shoot Luca a hard look. “Who else’s hair is it? Susanna has blonde hair. Gabriel sent a severed hand to her house. And now she’s missing. Just because you don’t like my sister, doesn’t mean she deserves to be treated like this. You love me, Luca. Help me get her back.”
“There’s something else.” He pulls out a phone from the box.
“What does that mean?”
With a heavy expression, he turns the phone on and opens the video tab. A video starts playing… one of Susanna on her hands and knees, completely naked, scrubbing at the floor. Luca swipes to the next video which involves Gabriel touching Susanna with a knife. The video ends with him pulling away from her, so that tells me she’s alive. At least for now.
“You shouldn’t have looked at these,” Luca says as I slump to my knees and start crying.
“That’s my sister, Luca. She’s in danger. Get her back. For me. Please.”
He cups my face, looking worried, though I know it’s more for me than it is for Susanna. “I will find her. I promise. But I’m not sure where Gabriel is keeping her. I’ll have someone look over these videos. See if they can figure it out. But I will find her.”
“Thank you. Susanna needs to know that someone cares for her. That someone is coming for her.”
“You really believe she thinks no one is coming for her?”
“I think my sister knows she’s been a problem in the past. That she has pushed people away. But she’s worked hard to better herself over the years. I just need her to know that I will fight to save her.”
“That’s what makes me proud of you. You’re a good sister. A good person.” He gives me a gentle kiss on the head. “I will findGabriel. I will send a hitman after him to end his life. That I promise you.”
“But find Susanna first. If you kill Gabriel and we can’t find her… then we’ll never be able to.”
“I will get her back. I promise. And I will kill Gabriel for this. That’s a fact.”
It’s one I have to believe because the other outcome is too scary to even contemplate.
Gabriel
“That girl of yours is a bitch,” Chip grumbles before he bites down on his burger. We’re at some shitty diner halfway across town from where Susanna is being kept. I don’t want anyone finding her. Not yet. Luca needs to feel the sting of me. Needs to know that I have the power to decimate him.
“Susanna isn’t my girl,” I respond, popping a French fry into my mouth.
“You kidnapped her. You won’t let us touch her. That makes her your girl.”
Isacc frowns. “Why did you tell us not to touch her? It’s not like you care for the girl.”
“It’s not out of love, trust me. I just don’t need her raped and tortured for my plan to work.”
Chip scoffs. “You? You’re the man who hasn’t hesitated to torture people in the past.”
“Always men,” I remind them. “I’ve never tortured a woman before. I have a soft spot for them.”
