Page 45 of Marcellus: House of Drakos
Marcellus, who had been in contact with Scottie all night, exhaled. “We have a name, but we haven’t found him yet.”
“Why don’t you call in the FBI,” asked Peggy. “They can find anybody. Scottie’s a security guy. We need law enforcement.”
“Here here,” said Natalia. “I was thinking the exact same thing.”
“If Scottie hadn’t confiscated my phone,” added Peggy, “I would have called the FBI myself as soon as I found out.”
“And you would have killed your son had you done so,” Scottie said from the back of the room. “I got this, Peg.”
“No FBI agent is going to work harder to return Niko than his own brother,” added Freddy, whom all the baby mamas respected. “Scott is the chief of security for Drakos Aeronautics.He’s got more contacts than any FBI agent would ever have. So let’s cut that shit out. We can’t be divided. We’ve got to stand together as one family for Niko’s sake.”
Marcellus always appreciated Freddy’s leadership abilities. That was why he put him in charge of the day-to-day running of his entire corporation even though he was only twenty-eight years old. He, like Olivier, was a leader of men. “Everything is being done,” said Marcellus, reassuring them, “to bring Niko home. But Fredrick is right. We cannot involve law enforcement. Whomever abducted Niko has made it clear that they will kill him on the spot if we bring in anybody connected to law enforcement. Let us handle this.”
“Then handle it,” said Peggy as tears came. “I just want my boy back!”
Juliet, Olivier’s mother, hugged her. But it was obvious to Savannah that Natalia and Peggy were the two ringleaders. Juliet and Sharon seemed to be more than happy to let them take all the fire. But in their quietness was sneakiness, in Savannah’s view, and she wouldn’t trust them as far as she could throw them.
Scottie got off the phone and came into the living room. Everybody looked at him, but he shook his head. “We’re still trying to get more intel,” he said.
“No phone call from the kidnappers overnight?” asked Olivier.
“Nothing or I would have notified you.”
“What if they’re bluffing?” asked Freddy. “What if they have no intentions of returning Niko?”
“But what would be the point of kidnapping him?” asked Olivier.
“The same reason they may be tampering with all of those airplanes,” said Savannah. “Revenge.”
The ladies looked at Savannah with frowns on their faces. “What are you talking about?” Peggy asked. “How could planes crashing have anything to do with my son’s abduction? Why would you think such a hideous thing?”
“She doesn’t believe in coincidences,” said Marcellus as he leaned back and crossed his legs. Savannah remained on the edge of her seat. “And neither do I.”
“Ollie, will you please get this woman straight,” said his mother Juliet. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Why is she even here?”
“And she’s got Marci going right along with her,” added Natalia.
Savannah glanced at Marcellus as he stared at Natalia. It wasn’t lost on her that he had two children by Natalia, and only one by the rest of those women. Why did he favor her, she wondered, as she watched his reaction to her. She also noticed, unlike his reaction to the others, he didn’t correct her the same way he did Niko’s mother. He just stared at her. And what was with theMarcinickname? She didn’t hear any of the other ladies use it. Was that her special name for him? And he allowed it? Savannah knew she had no claims on him. None whatsoever. But she also knew how deeply she felt for him and, she assumed, he felt for her. But she had a motto: Time would tell the truth.
“Whether she knows what she’s talking about or not,” said Olivier, “we’ve been considering the possibility of sabotage with our planes since the first series of malfunctions. Fifteen crashes in a matter of months? How could we not consider it?”
Marcellus nodded. “Right,” he said.
“What about those people he was close to a merger deal with?” asked Kalayna as she got up from her window seat and walked around to the sofa. She sat beside her father. “Maybe they have something to do with it.”
“We contacted them already,” said Scottie. “They’re a European subsidiary of Bakkus, which is a major fabrics company. They’re one-hundred-percent legit. They aren’t involved in any kidnapping of our brother.”
Then Scottie’s phone rang. When he looked at the Caller ID, he put it on Speaker and answered quickly. “What you got for me?” It was one of his detail chiefs.
“We’ve got Boris Escabatti, boss.”
Everybody looked anxiously at Scottie. Scottie smiled. “Now we’re talking,” he said. “Where did you find his ass?”
“At that hookah bar on Saudie Street.”
Scottie frowned. “How did you know to check there? I didn’t authorize that.”
“But your father did,” the detail chief responded.
