“Fuck.”My stomach drops in fear, but I punch instructions into the keyboard.“I think Alessia and Madison might have had a confrontation in the parking garage.Alessia has disappeared.”
“How could Alessia disappear?”Seth asks.“I thought we had a guard on her.”
“We did—Kristoff.She ditched him.He already talked to me about it, but we can see it happen.”I point to the monitors.“Look, right here, she’s telling him to go back upstairs.Probably because she wants to confront Madison.”
We watch as Alessia dismisses Kristoff.A couple minutes later, Madison appears.First, she walks to the elevator.Then, she pauses, turns, and hurries out of the frame.Moments later, she reappears, running toward the elevator.She’s barely in view before someone grabs her.My heart stops beating as she’s tugged out of the video frame.
There’s nothing else.No clues.No view of who grabbed Madison.Probably not Alessia—the arm around Madison’s chest is muscular and in a dark jacket.Alessia had been wearing a dress.
“Fuck.”Seth pounds the desk.“Where do they go?Where is he taking her?”
I flip through the cameras and to view the parking garage exits—there are two, one on the north side and the other on the south.One by one, we watch the cars that exit the garage.
“That one.The white SUV.”Seth gestures to the screen.
I freeze the frame so Seth can write down the license plate.He says, “Let’s check a few more.”
It’s a good idea, although my instincts are telling me this SUV is the one.Still, we go through the next few minutes, checking cars that might be big enough to hide and hold two full-grown women.There aren’t many.
“You think it’s Francesco?”Seth asks.
I nod.
“We should be prepared that he switched cars after leaving the garage,” he says.
“I don’t think he’s that smart.”Hatred pulses through my veins, matching the terror.I should have listened to Alessia when she said Francesco was here.I dismissed her claims because I thought she was stirring up drama.I stand up and gesture to Fozz.“Can you do a search?Anything you can find for these plates?”
“Sure thing.”He takes his seat back.His fingers fly over the keyboard.
Seth and I watch him work.I want to urge him to go faster.How much time have we lost already?Kristoff said it had been forty minutes since Alessia sent him upstairs.Since then, Seth and I spent about twenty minutes reviewing the feeds.An hour.We’ve lost at least an hour.
“I found something.”Fozz points to the monitor.“That SUV’s plates are listed at a motel—the Fantastic Motel.”
“The one in Bellefleur?”I ask, searching for the address.
“No, Fair Heights.”
Seth and I are already heading out the door.
14
MADISON
The bruise on Alessia’s cheek has grown dark and angry.I imagine my matching bruise is close to the same color.
We sit on the floor in the motel room.The whole place is shitty, with furniture that has probably been here since the early nineties.The maroon and forest green bedspread has a nineties feel, too.Water stains have left yellow splotches on the ceiling, and the shag carpet beneath me has a crunchy texture.This place is a physical representation of misery.
Francesco paces in front of the window, muttering to himself.I’m afraid to talk to Alessia, but we need to figure something out.Nobody knows where we are.Probably nobody even knows we’re missing yet.I had no plans this evening.Damiano didn’t know I was on my way to his building—I’d foolishly hoped to surprise him.
I don’t think Francesco planned on having me here.He keeps sending me dark looks.His eyes soften when he focuses on Alessia, though.
She and I both tense up when he stops his pacing and moves toward us.He squats in front of us, his dark eyes locked on Alessia’s.
“It is good we are back together, no?”He strokes her unbruised cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.“We will return to our home.We will make a family, just as we planned.”
“Sì, Francesco.”Her watery smile is unconvincing, but he smiles back anyway.She takes a shaky breath.“A family.”
What a fucking nightmare—imagine trying to raise kids with an abusive, crazy asshole like this guy.She’d have to keep herselfandthe kids safe.The daily violence those babies would be subjected to...the idea is horrific.
