There wasn’t a word in the English language to describe the sheer and utter fury that rushed through my veins.
“So, let’s see. She’s got two arms, two legs. Hmmm, two hands, and two feet. Two ears—”
“Don’t you dare hurt you.”
I heard him counting on the other end of the line. “Ah, let’s make it a cool million, and we’ll be finished here.”
“Israel, it’s a trap,” Bonnie yelled.
I heard a resounding crack over the phone, and the beast within me finally rattled free. “You’re going to die for that. I’m going to hang you from the beams of your own fucking ceiling.”
Pava sighed. “You’ve got four hours to transfer the two million dollars—”
“One million.”
“Consider it interest. You’ve got four hours to transfer the two—”
“One and a half.”
He chuckled. “Now, it’s three.”
Bonnie started crying. “Just leave me, Israel. Go be happy.”
Pava chuckled. “Four, because she just won’t shut up.”
I wasn’t paying him a dime. “Four million. Got it.”
“Good boy. I want you to transfer it into the account I’m sending you. And if it’s not done within the next four hours, I’ll start sending the pieces of her you haven’t paid for yet straight to your doorstep. Understood?”
“Stop this, Pava,” Bonnie screamed. “Cut it out! Leave him alone!”
And then, yet another resounding crack sounded on the other side.
Your entire family is dead.
“I’ll be waiting,” Pava taunted and then hung up.
“Fuck,” I roared.
I threw my phone to the ground and slammed my fists against the leather seat I sat on. I felt torn as if two sides of me were trying to rip me apart. On the one hand, my family never indulged in ransoms like this. We didn’t negotiate, we didn’t shovel out money for shit like this, and we sure as hell never showed how much it got to us. But this was Bonnie. This was the woman I had fallen in love with, whether I wanted to say it out loud or not.
And I couldn't let this happen to her.
“Sir?” my driver asked.
I held up my hand. “Just give me a second.”
“We’re five minutes out, sir. Are you sure you still want to go there?”
And for once in my life, I didn't know what to do.
I actually didn’t know where to step next.