The city was huge and she could be anywhere—if she was even stillinthe city. She could be anywhere in the goddamncountryfor all he knew.
He hurled the keys against the wall and turned and stalked from the apartment, slamming the door with enough force to shatter the sturdy wood. Her school. What about her classes? Her violin was here, so what was she using to play?
He ran back to his car and drove like a crazed lunatic, swerving through traffic, running red lights and narrowly avoiding pedestrians. He didn’t let up on the accelerator until he came to a skidding halt outside Hayley’s school.
After scaring one of the meek, pimple-faced paper pushers out of his mind, Silas managed to discover that Hayley had dropped all her classes just two weeks before the end of the term, resulting in the revocation of her scholarship. Silas left the terrified young man before thecops arrived to haul his surly ass to jail and returned to his car, where he buried his head against the steering wheel and closed his eyes.
Tears burned the corners of his eyes as he realized the extent of the damage he’d done to his beautiful, darling girl. He’d ruined her life by trying to save it. What a hell of a trade-off. She’d lost her scholarship, her dream, had broken her promise to her father all because the man she loved was a raging asshole who deserved to be shot in the fucking headafterhis nuts were cut off and shoved down his throat.
She was the most talented young woman he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing, along with the honor of having her gift bestowed on him each time she played for him. No matter how often or what hour he asked her to play for him, she always willingly complied and transported him to another place where there were no Vanuccis, no Luconis and no threat to the people he called family. She brought him the one thing he’d never known in his entire life until he met her. Peace. And he’d repaid her by ripping her to shreds and taking everything from her. Her talent, her hopes, her dreams, her entire life.
Forgive me, beautiful girl. My princess. I love you so goddamn much it hurts. I’m bleeding without you. I can’t live without you and I can’t bear to ever have you hurt or killed because of me and the man I am, the life I lead.
He had to find her. He wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t eat until he knew she was safe. He would find her. And then what? He’d taken her apart as ruthlessly as a man had ever savaged a woman. If nothing else, he’d find out where she was and he’d put a dozen men on her if that’s what it took. He’d put surveillance cameras to catch every sight line possible so that no threat would go undiscovered. If he couldn’t be with her, then he’d damn sure protect her even if from a distance.
He drove toward Impulse, only one thing on his mind. He’d use their extensive database and hack into anything that would aid him in his search for Hayley. If he was lucky, she was still in the city and he’d be able to track her through utility companies, apartment rentals, hotelrentals, telephone, whatever he could avail himself of. He wouldn’t stop until he found her. Nothing else mattered until he could be assured of her safety.
When he rolled in to Impulse and hurried up to the office, he was relieved to discover that Drake had already been in and, not knowing when Silas would make it in, had left to return to Evangeline. The only two currently in, finalizing plans for their first offensive move against the Vanuccis, were Maddox and Justice.
Silas went straight to his desk, muttering to the others that he was following up an important lead. He just didn’t specify what lead or that it was far more important than the fucking Vanuccis.
An hour into poring over utility records, apartment rentals and hotel records, he still hadn’t found a goddamn thing, to his never-ending frustration. His concentration was broken when his burner phone rang and he swore, knowing he couldn’t ignore Ghost’s call.
“What you got?” Silas demanded shortly.
“I have it all,” Ghost said just as shortly. “I’ll take photos and send them to your phone. Could take me a bit because these files are seriously thick. Judging by some of this shit I’ve found, a lot of it came directly from a leak at the cop shop. Confidential police business stamps on some of it. Fuckers are in bed tight with the cops, which is very bad news for us if we carry out our strike against them.”
Silas was already motioning to Maddox and Justice as he simultaneously fired off a text to Drake on his other phone.
“Forget taking photos. I want all of it. We may need it to cover our asses. Meet me at Impulse as soon as you can get here.”
“I can’t walk out of here with an armful of the Vanuccis’ private files. Use your head, man. I’ll be no good to you dead.”
“I want you and your two guys out of there permanently,” Silas said in a grave tone. “Shit’s about to start going down and I want to makedamn sure you don’t go down with those fuckers. Pull your two guys immediately and bring everything you’ve got directly to me.”
“You sure?” Ghost asked skeptically.
“I’m positive. Now move!”
“I’m on my way as soon as I let my guys on the inside know.” There was a moment of silence and the sound of papers rustling through the phone. “Whoa, wait, Silas? You still there?”
“You still got me,” Silas said impatiently.
“There’s an open file on the desk. Looks like Vanucci’s newest reading material. Think she might be one of yours. Dark-haired woman, looks to be in her early twenties, named Hayley Winthrop? There’s an address on the front as well. I’d say they’ve already chosen their next hit.”
Silas froze to the very core. His heart was screaming in denial. Not Hayley. God, not Hayley. Don’t let him be too late to save her. If only he hadn’t pushed her away, she’d still be with him and not out there somewhere he couldn’t protect her with the Vanuccis breathing down her neck.
“Give me the address right now,” Silas said hoarsely. “Then grab the files and get the fuck out of there now! Your departure just got moved up to yesterday. I can’t be responsible for what happens to you or your guys if you stick around for longer than five more minutes.”
He was already standing and steadily strapping on his entire arsenal as Ghost relayed the address, confirming Silas’s worst fear. It wasn’t her previous address but one unknown to Silas, which meant that the Vanuccis had already tagged her while Silas had been sitting with his thumb up his ass scouring countless records looking for any clue as to her whereabouts.
Silas tossed the phone down and turned to run from the office, when a strong hand wrapped around his arm.
Baring his teeth, Silas snarled, “Let. Go. Now.”
“I’ve got some info you need to hear,” Maddox said, refusing to let Silas go.
“It can fucking wait!”
