Page 44 of Dark Things
“And how will you do that? He could be half-way across the state.”
I shift my weight and keep my eyes on Stan and his second, Vince. Vince is as much of a dirt-bag as he is, that’s why they’re best friends or as close as Stan has to friends.
“I placed a tracker on Gino’s car. He’s at awarehouse two towns over. I’ll scope it out to see if they took the husband there. My guess is Gino kidnapped him. Mario may know you’re in town, and what better way to start fucking with you, than taking one of your guys. The husband wouldn’t take off, not with a sick kid in the hospital. He’s a piece of shit, sure, but maybe not that big of a piece of shit.” I let my gaze harden. “And if he is…well, then we use the wife.”
Stan stares into my eyes before he mulls over. He knows if the woman goes missing it will be a lot more trouble for us. Her parents and the hospital knew she was going to look for her husband. If she doesn’t show up, they’re going to ask questions.
“You have three hours before I kill this bitch. You find me Michael, and I’ll let her go.”
He pushes past me and leaves the room. I go back into the sheeted room and crouch down so the woman doesn’t have to look up at me.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
She shudders. “Stella. Please let me go. I won't say anything. I need to get back to my girls. Patty only has weeks to live. I can’t let her die alone. After that I’ll let you do anything you want to me. I swear it. Please!”
She starts trying to get out of the chair, but it’s no use; she’s tied to it tight. Just like Michael was an hour ago.
I whisper so that no one can hear besides the two of us. “I’m going to find your husband. If I can then we might be able to get you back to Patty. But you have todo whatever they want. Think of your daughters. Stay strong for them. I’ll be back for you, promise. Just don’t antagonize him until I get back.”
She nods and I stand leaving the room. Now to make it look like I’m searching even though I know exactly where Michael is and where he’ll end up.
18
Rebelle
Haunt’s been gone for too long. I look out the window again and don’t see his truck in the driveway. I don’t like him going off alone, but I understand sometimes it’s how it is. Stan separates us for different jobs, and while I hate it, there’s nothing I can do.
I walk down into the kitchen and grab a bottle of water from the fridge and a protein bar from the cabinet. I might as well check on the cameras at the guys’ house while I have nothing else to do. Cat is out of the house, and I’ve finished up my homework for the rest of the week. One thing that’s stayed with me all these years is my ability to pre-plan my assignments so I don’t get backed up when shit gets crazy around here.
I close my bedroom door and pad over to the desk near the window. My computer is already open, so acouple of clicks brings me to the program I set up to watch the house. I haven’t checked the feed in a while, so there’s a bunch of hours to go through.
At first, it’s boring things. Colter eating at the breakfast table, Brooks doing laundry, Staff studying in the living room. Nothing of note. But then I see it—a call comes through a few hours ago and Colter’s whole demeanor changes. I slip on my headphones and raise the volume.
“Yeah,” he says.
I can’t hear the other person on the line, but from the scowl that crosses his face, I can only assume that it isn’t good.
“We’ll be there in twenty,” he replies, and hangs up.
Raking his hands through his hair, I can see the stress from here. Through the screen it’s easy to fall back into old habits. My heart wants me to reach out and hold him, but then my brain kicks on again, and I growl at myself. I can’t afford to be distracted by what needs to be done.
They don’t get to walk away scot-free, not like last time.
He walks downstairs, and I follow his movements until he’s in the living room where Staff and Brooks are playing some sort of video game. I switch the audio to the living room and listen in.
“Boss just called. He’s got something for us. A guy who was supposed to be working for them has decidedto dabble in shit he isn’t supposed to. We have to bring him in so that they can have a chat.”
“Fucking great. This is the last thing I wanted to do tonight. If we didn’t need that asshole so much, I would say fuck it and we could just leave,” Staff says, throwing the controller down on the couch before getting up.
“Who is this clown?” Brooks asks, shutting down the game and getting up to stand with the other two.
“Have no idea, all he did was give me a first name, which is super generic. I have an address and a few places to check out. We have to bring him in and not do too much damage,” Colter says.
I suck in a breath. What in the fuck have these boys been doing since I’ve been gone? It’s not like I’ve been an angel, but for them to be involved with something this dark? How did my boys become like this?
I want to scream through the screen, make them see reason, but the other part of me delights in their misery. Wants them to feel the pain of being trapped with no escape. But why do this? Why go this route? It’s not like they need the money. They weren’t the bad boy type, either. There’s got to be another reason for all of this.
But this is an opportunity. A chance to find a way to make everything crumble around them. If I can find out who they’re working for, I might be able to use it to my advantage, and then I could destroy everything they’ve built here.
