Them.
He knows this isn’t Domina. So do I, but for a split second, hope flared white hot. Now, my heart is nothing but ice.
“Where is she?” I ask when I jab the button on screen. “If you’ve hurt her, I’m going to cut out your tongue and feed it to you before I kill you.”
“You are in no position to make demands, Mr. Basher,” a man says. His voice is refined, a thick, Panamanian accent lending an almost musical quality to his words. “Listen carefully. Manuel Cortez will vote tomorrow sometime between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Trinity.”
“So will a hell of a lot of other people. The polls close at five, and after that, Muñoz will be shit out of luck.”
“That is why you are going to kill Cortez before then.”
Suddenly, everything makes sense. The man who broke into Domina’s apartment. Being detained and tortured after the rally. All of it. I feel sick. But I have to play along.
“In what universe, shithead?”
I know the answer. I know exactly what this coward is going to say next, but I need to keep him talking. And get proof of life. I have to tell Domina I love her. That I’m coming for her no matter where she is or how many people I need to kill to get to her.
“We have Domina Sanchez. If you do not assassinate Vice President Cortez by 3:01 p.m. tomorrow, she will die. Painfully.”
It doesn’t matter that I knew it was coming. The words still shake me to my core. “I’m not a killer. Even if I were, what makes you think I can get anywhere near the Vice President? After today, he’s in fucking lockdown. No one—not even his staff—knows where he is or how to get in touch with him. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
The man laughs—the kind of laugh you hear from deranged murderers in horror movies—and it raises the hair on the back of my neck. “You are very much a killer, Mr. Basher. Or do I need to remind you—and the men you are with—of the former Loma Collectivo members you shot in cold blood less than six months ago?”
Trevor and Austin turn to me, and I sink down onto the sofa. There’s no way anyone could know what I did. I was alone and I never told a soul.
“I will keep your secret, Leo. I promise.”
Except Domina. Betrayal and fear battle for control in my head. Did she volunteer the information willingly? Or did they torture her until she had no choice?
“Leo,” Austin hisses. “Say something!”
“I don’t know where you’re getting your intel, fuckwit, but you’re wrong. I’m a disabled, retired has-been who hasn’t been able to shoot straight in years. Even if I were physically able to get to Cortez, why would I believe you’d let Domina go?”
Another chuckle, and Mr. Smooth Talker is getting on my last nerve. “Once the Vice President is dead, we will have no reason to kill Domina. Ournetworkhas people everywhere. If she keeps quiet, she will be allowed to live the rest of her life in peace. If, however, she makes trouble for us, she will disappear.”
Muñoz is behind all of this. I’d bet my one good eye on it. But that knowledge does us no good if we can’t find Domina before tomorrow. I lock eyes with Trevor, and he mouths,“Proof of life.”
“I want to talk to Domina. Now. Or this conversation is over.”
“I am afraid that is not possible, Mr. Basher. We cannot have yourfriendslearning where she is. But I did record a short video of her not long ago.”
My phone vibrates with a new message. I tap the screen, and my world grinds to a halt.
Domina sits in a wooden chair, her hands resting on her thighs. A dark red mark on her cheek sends my rage boiling over, but I keep quiet. I have to. Her blazer is gone, and her white silk blouse is dirty and untucked. But there’s no blood, and she isn’t bound that I can see.
A guy dressed all in black and wearing a full face mask stands behind her, his gloved hands on her shoulders. “Say hello to your lover,” he says. His accent is different than the asshole on the phone. And where do I know that voice from?
“Leo?” She’s terrified and trembling as she darts a quick glance at the man behind her.
“Tell him how we are treating you.”
Domina squeezes her eyes shut for a long moment, then stares directly at the camera. “They haven’t…hurt me. But, I’m scared, Leo. I want to go home. The first night we spent together—”
The man grabs her hair and wrenches her head back. “Enough, bitch!”
“Don’t do it, Leo!” Domina shouts. The asshole clamps his hand over her mouth, hauls her out of the chair, and shoves her against the wall. She crumples to the floor, cowering.
“Another word, and you’ll be sorry,” he snarls. “Stop the video.”
