“I’ll take my usual.”
“Do you want that in a to-go cup?”
I shook my head and pointed to the table outside where Paul was sitting. “I’ll take it in a mug. I’m meeting with a client. I’ll bring it back in when we’re done.”
Brendan looked to where I was pointing, and I saw his brow crease into a slight frown. It was gone a moment later. “Sure. It won’t be long at all. Do you want me to bring it out to you?”
I shook my head. “I’ll wait for it here.”
As Brendan said, it didn’t take long, and then I was left with no excuses not to go back outside. Paul had a tablet out on the table when I got back. He looked up at me with a smile. “Welcome back. I realized I was a complete idiot and didn’t include the link to my website in my email to you.”
I set down my coffee and sat across from him. I put my tablet case on the table in front of me. “If you tell me what it is, I can pull it up on my tablet.”
He shook his head and held his device out to me. “I already have it open on mine.”
I took it from him and got my first look at his website. It was…awful. He was trying to advertise his services as a freelance programmer, but the graphics he’d used didn’t make any sense. I clicked through all the pages. The graphics didn’t get any better. It reminded me of when Tony had told me about Michael’s lack of artistic talent. Maybe that was a programmer thing?
When I finally looked up from his tablet, Paul was gazing at me expectantly. I hoped, for his sake, that he was a better programmer than graphic artist. I drank some of my coffee, wishing it were something stronger. I got a notebook and a pen out of the zipper pocket of my tablet case. “I can certainly help you. How about you tell me what you’re looking for and what kind of clientele you’re targeting.”
He went into a long-winded explanation of his area of expertise—data analysis or something like that—and what types of organizations he wanted to work with. I drank more coffee as his droning tone was threatening to put me to sleep. When he was finally finished, he asked, “What do you think?”
I blinked. What did I think? I looked down at my notebook and saw that my handwriting had gotten progressively worse toward the end. “What’s happening?” My voice sounded strange to my ears. I met his gaze and saw the cold, calculating gleam in his eyes.No. Oh god. No. “What did you do?”
He gave me a shark-like smile. “It’s just a little something to relax you. You’re so uptight, Greg.” He rose and came around to my side of the table. Taking hold of my arm, he said, “Now we’re going for a ride.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Yes,” he countered through clenched teeth.
He pulled me to my feet, where I swayed, unable to keep my balance. I tried to pull my arm from his grasp. “Let go,” I slurred. I knew I couldn’t let him take me.
I managed to hook my foot around the leg of the chair, so when he pulled me away from the table, the chair toppled over, making a lot of noise. I heard him curse as he roughly yanked me toward him.
I looked inside the shop and saw Brendan staring at me. He started to come around the counter, but it was too late. A taxi pulled up to the curb, and Paul hustled me into the back seat. As the car pulled away from the building, consciousness slowly slipped away and everything went black.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
TONY
I was reading yet another résumé when my phone vibrated with a call. To my surprise, it was Sal. I swiped to answer. “Hey, Sal. What’s up?”
“Anthony, we have a problem.”
My gut twisted. It was never a good thing when Salvatore said we had a problem. “What’s wrong?”
He blew out a breath. “I got a call from Brendan…”
Surprise overrode my common sense. “Brendan from Café Roma? How did he get your number?”
“I gave it to him at the exhibit. Anthony, listen to me and don’t interrupt.”
Oh shit. Whatever it was, it was bad. “Okay. Sorry.”
“As I said, Brendan called me. He told me he saw a man take Greg away in a taxi. He was certain Greg didn’t want to go. He got the impression Greg had been drugged.”
There was a ringing in my ears, and for a moment, I stopped breathing. “Is he sure?” I croaked.
“He’s sure,” Salvatore replied. “He said he ran outside but wasn’t in time to stop it. He did get a picture of the back of the taxi. He found Greg’s phone and tablet on the table.”
