Page 35 of His Brother's Wife
All the radio report said was, “Murder at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music …two young women attacked. One has been confirmed dead. The other is missing …”
He knew instantly.Ama.Jackson had followed through on his threats. As he turned towards the conservatory, he strained to hear the radio through the roaring of blood in his ears.Please no …
His cell phone buzzed loudly and he pressed the hands-free. “Gallo.”
“Enda, it’s me.” Olivier. “Ama’s missing. Have you heard about the killing?”
“Yeah,” Enda said, relief flooding through him. Missing. Not dead. “Ama’s been taken?”
“Yeah. Jackson had someone on the inside, we think. Ama’s assistant. Ama’s security detail was drugged. They told us the assistant went out for coffee, as they were working late. The two bodyguards drank theirs, but they found Ama’s coffee cup still full. Look, where are you?”
“I’m on my way to the conservatory.”
“Don’t go there. Come home. The F.B.I. are all over the scene and you being there will complicate things. The security guys are being checked out in the hospital, but they’re coming here after. We’ll coordinate the search for Ama and Selima from here.”
Enda pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped. He hesitated for a moment. “He’ll kill her, Olivier. He’ll kill them both.”
He heard Olivier sigh. “Not necessarily, Enda. Ama’s a smart girl. She’ll know to play up to his fantasies. To convince him she’s ready to be his. If he falls for that…who knows what Ama can make happen. We have to believe in her now.”
Enda nodded, closing his eyes. “I do. I believe in her. But I can’t stay here doing nothing.”
“I know. Come home, brother, and we’ll get on it tonight.”
Raff stroked his wife’s hair away from her face. Hours of surgery had saved her again, but it had drained her, and she had been sleeping on and off for a few days now, barely able to hold a conversation. A worried Raff asked the doctor about the possibility Inca may have suffered brain damage, but the doctor reassured him that wasn’t what was going on.
“She’s just exhausted, Raffaelo, and in my opinion, she’s probably rocking back from the assault. I’ve been worried that she hadn’t seemed to process what happened, and I think this is that. PTSD is common in victims of assault, and especially with Inca’s past, this doesn’t surprise me. She’ll rally, I promise. In the meantime, Psych will help her.”
Raffaelo had been relieved it was something they could handle together. It killed him that Inca had been targeted yet again; how much was one woman supposed to take?
Stella tapped him on the shoulder as she came to visit Inca. Raff smiled at her. “Thank you, Stella. It’s good of you to come.”
Stella nodded. “It’s my pleasure. Why don’t you go home and get some rest?”
Raff looked back at Inca. She was sound asleep again, her breathing regular. “I will, I think. Call me if you need anything.”
He was almost home before the call came. “Raff …I have them.”
Raff’s adrenaline spiked. It was his underworld contact. “Where?”
The contact named an abandoned warehouse outside the city. “You’re sure it’s them?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Raff’s jaw clenched. “I’ll be right there.”
As he drove out of the city, he tried to stay calm and remind himself that these men might have information that could help them find Ama and Selima. That he, Raff, could ruin everything by killing them. Because, right now, that’s all he wanted to do—rip the bastard who had stabbed his beloved Inca limb from limb with his bare hands and smash the brains of the man who had held her, making her helpless to resist.
You’re not helping yourself here, buddy. But he couldn’t help remember the terror in his wife’s eyes as these men tried to kill her.
When he reached the warehouse, he sat in his car for a few moments, trying to steady his nerves. Como, his contact, came out to see him. “Hey.”
Raff nodded. “Hey. Thanks for doing this.”
Como half-smiled. “This scum hurt your lovely girl. It’s my pleasure.”
Raff followed him into the warehouse. The two attackers were on their knees, bruised and bloodied. Como’s men had obviously beaten them. Raff didn’t care. His eyes fixed on the man who had knifed Inca so mercilessly. The man stared back and smirked.
“Well, if it isn’t the whore’s husband.”
