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Seeing Lucia wasn’t going to answer without an incentive, he placed the tape over her eyebrows and eyes, making sure to press it down firmly.
“Puck, get my toolbox out of the cabinet.”
Puck went to the cabinet against the wall and took out a leather case that didn’t resemble a conventional toolbox. Inside, it held everything Wizard needed to make Lucia forget any vow of silence she had made.
“Usually, I reserve my tools for men,” he told her absently, concentrating on which one would break her the fastest. “I’m going to make an exception for you. Natalia protected you and Marco as if you were family, while the two of you have been systematically destroying her business.”
“She deserves to lose everything!” Lucia screamed.
“That sounds personal.” Studying the variety of tools, he chose one before walking back to her. “What did Natalia do to make you hate her so much?”
“She’s still breathing! I’ll be happy when Marco kills her!”
The woman was as kooky as a cuckoo bird. With the depth of hatred she felt for Natalia, trying to pry information from her would only produce lies. Natalia was on borrowed time. His best chance was to determine the reason for Lucia’s grievance against her.
Leaving the room again, Wizard called Shade. “Did you get the files I sent?”
“I’m reading them now,” Shade replied.
“What I sent only contains Natalia’s information from high school onward. I didn’t dig any further into her past. At the time, I was only interested in the guys she’d dated. Dig deeper. Find out whatever you can. I’ll talk to one of Natalia’s friends. The woman I took is responsible for the shit going on at the club and for sinking Natalia’s business. You don’t hate someone that much without a reason.”
“All right. I’ll dig into both women’s pasts and see how long they’ve known each other. I’ll keep in touch.”
Pacing outside the door, Wizard made several more calls. He called Tink, who seemed hesitant at first to divulge any personal information about Natalia’s past.
“Marco kidnapped Natalia,” he reminded her.
“I know!” Tink’s voice was thick with emotion. “That’s why I’m at the restaurant with Doom, going through her files. I found Marco’s address and personal information and gave them to Doom. I still can’t believe Marco kidnapped her! He hero-worshipped her. She just turned the restaurant over to him to manage.”
Wizard took slow, even breaths. He couldn’t take his fear for Natalia out on Tink when she was as worried about her as he was.
“Can you think of any reason Lucia or Marco would hate Natalia?”
“No! Not at all! Natalia has been a mentor to Marco since he came to the restaurant at sixteen and begged for a job.”
“Could Lucia be jealous of Marco’s relationship with Natalia? Maybe she pushed Marco to prove his love for her so he could win her back,” Wizard reasoned. “Men do crazy things when they’re in love.”
“Maybe …” Tink’s confusion was evident in her voice. “I heard they were back together yesterday while I was at work.”
Even though he had come up with a plausible reason, Wizard still didn’t believe it. Something was missing. He just didn’t know what it was. The plan to destroy Natalia’s business and reputation was too carefully thought out.
He tried another approach.
“Could something from Natalia’s childhood be connected to her kidnapping? Maybe something involving her parents?”
“The only thing Natalia ever told me about her childhood was that she hated her father. During my bachelorette party, we got pretty wasted, and she let slip a few things she had never told me before. She had to spend the summers with her father because of her parents’ custody arrangement. Her cousins gave her a hard time and treated her like an outsider. Her father didn’t stand up for her, so from what I understand, they made her miserable. Her mother never remarried and had several failed relationships, which Natalia blamed on her father because of how he’d treated her mother. I don’t think Natalia ever got over what he did.”
“What about Rocco? Could he be the reason?”
Tink sighed. “Your guess is as good as mine. Rocco never treated Marco or Lucia badly, but he didn’t baby Marco the way Natalia did. I should call him and tell him Natalia’s been kidnapped!” Her voice rose. “I can’t believe I haven’t already. He’ll be furious with me!”
“He better not be,” Wizard heard Doom say in the background.
“Let me take care of it,” Wizard said. “Tell Doom to head back here.”
“All right. Please, Wizard, find Natalia,” she pleaded brokenly.
“I will,” he promised.
