Page 61 of Daddy's Pursuit
“Exactly. You didn’t get your invite?”
Jack just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He didn’t care if the camera picked it up or not.
“Why did you take Iris?”
“Well, you see, Jackie-Boy, I know she belongs to you. She was on TV yesterday after that helicopter incident.”
Jack felt his hand strained as he gripped the phone tighter. “And you think you can hurt her to get to me?”
“Nope. I’ll let her go. In a little over twenty-four hours. All I require of you is to sit on your ass. Drop your pursuit of me. Give up the case. You do that—just for a day or so—and you can have your Little back. No big deal. Right?”
So many thoughts raced through Jack’s mind, but he fought hard to fend them all off. Right now he just needed to listen. Not doing so would risk missing out on vital clues.
“Frank, you know how this works. You were one of us. The LAPD doesn’t just drop cases because a suspect tells us to.”
Frank snorted a laugh. “The LAPD doesn’t know I have her. And they don’t have to, beyond you and Matteo. And Trevon, of course. But he’s not a cop. Hey, give him my regards, will you? And Athena. I miss hanging around the nursery.”
Jack drew a deep breath and exhaled before asking, “So, you expect me to actually believe you’ll just let Iris go?”
“Not only that,” Frank said, “but I’ll take good care of her. You know I don’t want to hurt a cute Little. I will. If I have to. But the choice is yours. You can just forget about me for a day or you can keep up the chase and her blood will be on your hands. I sincerely hope you pick the first option. The thought of cutting this Little girl up just doesn’t set well with me.”
Images of Iris being hurt flooded Jack’s mind and he had to fight hard to keep his composure. Again, right now wasn’t the time to lose his cool. That might just get Iris killed.
“Deal,” Jack said.
Frank laughed.
“Oh Jack. I hope you’re being honest. For Little Iris’s sake.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Iris was more afraid than she’d ever been in her life, and that was saying something.
She’d slept on the streets. Men had chased her, wanting to do awful things to her before. There had been weeks when she’d been afraid she’d die of starvation.
But she’d never beenthisscared. Ever.
The room they’d locked her in was small and had only a full-size bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and an old file cabinet. It wasn’t a bedroom as they weren’t in a house. The best she could tell, it was some kind of warehouse or industrial building.
The men had made her wear a blindfold during the trip over, so she had no idea where the place was located. But she estimated it had taken about thirty minutes to get there after leaving the party. That didn’t really tell her much. LA traffic was thick, even at night, so they might have only traveled two miles. Or, if they’d caught the streets at a good time, they might have gone ten or fifteen. It was hard to tell.
It didn’t matter. She had no way of contacting Jack and letting him know she’d even been kidnapped.
A sense of dread nearly immobilized her, and she could feel an anxiety attack coming on as she looked around the squareroom. If there was any silver lining it was that they hadn’t tied her up.
Yet.
She prayed they never would. Then they could… do whatever they wanted to her. Not that she could really stop them now. There were five big guys and she was pretty sure she’d heard even more talking once they’d arrived at the building. With the blindfold still on then, it had been hard to know.
The two guys in the room with her were ones that had been at the party, too.
A shudder wracked her body. She rubbed her arms as if trying to warm up, despite it being hot in the building.
Those two guys watching her gave her the creeps! She’d rather be all alone. At least then they wouldn’t see her cry.
And she was about to. The tears were barely kept at bay as it was.
“The boss has to burn that house now,” the taller, thinner of the two said.
