He nodded, fingers rattling across his keyboard as he sent a text.
Deep down, I knew that call was from whoever was stupid enough to have kidnapped my wife.
I answered, “Hello?”
“Demyon Tarasov,” a distorted voice called on the other line.
“Who is this?” I asked, calm and collected.
“No one of consequence.”
I knew I had to keep him talking so I’d buy my men time to track his location.
“What do you want?”
“Simple,” the voice said. “Fifteen million dollars in cash.”
I walked over to the window, my shoes scuffing against the wooden floor. “And why would I do that?”
“Because we have your wife.”
I tightened my jaw, struggling to remain composed so I wouldn’t scare them off. “I need proof of life. Put her on the phone.”
I could hear them in the background yelling at her to cooperate.
“Let go of me, you hungry bastards!” she screamed.
The next sound that followed was muffled, as though her mouth was gagged or sealed with tape. But she kept struggling, frustrating her captors’ efforts.
I heard them complaining about how she was such a pain in their asses.
“Stay put, you stubborn bitch!” one of them groaned in the background.
“Keep your fuckin’ voices down. I’m trying to negotiate here!” the one with the phone yelled at them.
I could tell that these guys were amateurs—just a bunch of greedy men looking for easy money. No wonder she called them hungry bastards.
“Psst,” Ilya whispered, drawing my attention back to him. “Almost there,” he mouthed, gesturing at his phone.
“You heard her voice; that’s proof of life, isn’t it?” the man on the other end asked me. “Now, about that fifteen million….”
“Tell me where and when,” I said, stealing a glance back at Ilya.
He nodded, signaling that we’d found them. Quietly, he stepped forward and showed me his phone’s screen, then zoomed in on their location.
I raised my brows in disbelief. These guys were just blocks away; they hadn’t even left the neighborhood.
Fuckin’ amateurs.
The man was still talking when I cut the call and put my phone on DND.
“Gather the men,” I said. “Let’s teach those fuckers a lesson.”
I couldn’t care less that they were amateurs just looking to grow rich overnight. These people kidnapped my wife, putting her and our baby in harm’s way. There was fresh blood on the floor and a knocked-out tooth that may or may not belong to Eva.
They were all going to pay dearly for ever going after my wife. The monster I’d kept on a leash for a while was now unleashed. And this time, there would be no mercy.
Those hungry bastards wanted my attention; now they had it. They had my full attention.
