“We don’t know yet,” Jase says quietly. “We’re waiting for an informant to send descriptions of the bodies.
“Fuck.” I grip the back of the chair in front of me for support. Cruz places a hand on my lower back, and I’m thankful he’s here.
“There’s more.” Ryan flips the cooler open, which at first looks normal. But as he moves the top back, a string of numbers is revealed. I know immediately what it is; coordinates. Foreboding sends an icy shiver skating down my spine, chilling me from the inside out.
The morning’s newscast replays in my mind, all those people nailed to crosses. I try to remember how many people were in The Duke’s and Zach’s teams, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t.
“Have you looked up the coordinates?” I ask, hoping I’m wrong. My jaw clenches as my conscience whispers to me,It’s your fault they’re all dead. They were helping you and they’ve lost their lives for it.
Ryan nods and a part of me wants to go crawl back into the dumbwaiter where I can be ignorant again. Where I don’t feel the crushing weight of responsibility threatening to suffocate me. My breath starts coming out in sharp pants, and I feel like I’m going to throw up. “Was it … was it in Yonkers?”
Cruz grabs my arm, holding me steady. He knows I won’t want to show weakness in front of everyone, and I’m grateful to him. But he can’t stop the panic that rises like black waves, threatening to pull me under. “There’s more,” Ryan says softly, and I cling to Cruz like a lifeline.
“More?” I ask, barely computing what he’s saying. Ryan hands me a piece of paper that’s splattered with blood.
My darling daughter,
Daddy’s coming to take you home where you belong.
See you soon, princess.
- V
I should have just blown him up at the docks. Then this wouldn’t have happened. He was right there, right in front of me! Why didn’t I just kill him when I had the chance? How is my revenge more important than all those lives? People that were just trying to help me?
Tearing the paper into shreds, I feel my heart harden. The panic subsides, and I toss the guilt into a box and lock it tight. I’ll deal with it later. Rage rises within me, and I meet each of their eyes in turn.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.”
Chapter 45
Dutch
AfterRyangetsthechaos under some semblance of order, he sends everyone home that wants to go. As he says, the Charon Group isn’t going to go under if the phones aren’t manned for one day.
The parts under the umbrella of the Group but not formally part of it, such as the restaurant and caterers, are still running as normal, unaware of the turmoil in other parts of the building.
Our small group stays behind in the dining room, and Ryan’s ordered lunch for everyone. It’s a somber affair, everyone quietly lost in their own thoughts. No one wants to be alone right now and it’s an unspoken agreement that we’ll wait together for the phone call.
It’s another hour before the phone rings, and Ryan closes his eyes briefly before answering it. He puts it on speaker, and we gather around it, pens and paper handy.
“Ivan, thank you for getting back to me,” Ryan greets.
“Afternoon, Grant. I have to be fast, so forgive my bluntness. If anyone catches me calling you with these details, they’ll have my head.”
“I understand and appreciate you taking the time.” Ivan quickly starts talking while Kian, Cruz, and I take notes. Jase has his laptop out, searching employee records. Unfortunately, although we knew The Duke’s men by sight, they hadn’t been a social bunch, and we don’t have full names or photos to help identify them.
Ryan gets more and more distressed, his hands nearly pulling the hair from his head. As Ivan begins winding up, he interrupts. “Ivan, wait. Was there a woman, about five-foot-five, long blonde hair, in her mid-thirties?”
“No one matches that description, no.” Voices can be heard in the background, and Ivan quickly says goodbye, the line going dead as we stare down at all the information.
Letting out a deep sigh, I glance up and flinch when I see the despair written all over Ryan’s face. “If The Duke isn’t amongst the dead, where is she?” I ask, and Ryan shrugs back despondently.
I’ve noticed for a while now how Ryan looks at The Duke. The way his eyes light up when she walks in the room, how close he stands to her when they’re together. And I’m pretty sure she feels the same. So I’m careful of fanning the flames of hope. The fact she wasn’t amongst the others leads me to believe one of four things: she escaped and is in hiding; she’s dead and Vincenzo hasn’t released her body for who knows what nefarious reason; she’s Vincenzo’s prisoner; or she sold out her friends and colleagues to Vincenzo, allowing him to capture and kill everyone.
I hesitantly replay these thoughts to the others. Ryan stands so quickly his chair falls to the ground. He leans across the table, fists clenched as he glares harshly at me. “She would never betray us or her team!” he shouts.
Cruz jumps up, growling, “Don’t talk to her like that.”
