Page 8 of Little Deer
She gives me a tight smile. “Just get back here with that baby, big guy. If any of the De Lucas find out about it and manage to snag it, she’ll never get them back.”
And that is exactly what I aim to never happen. I glance one more time at the bedroom door before I turn and run down thehall. I pass Alonzo coming out of his room, and he gives me a shocked look, but when I tell him to watch over the girls, he simply nods and walks down the hall. I hear a door slam, but that won’t deter him.
I need to get to Lucy’s apartment and convince her sister to come here so we can protect her and the baby too.
6
MASSIMO
I glanceat the buildings on both sides of the street as we make our way toward Lucy’s apartment. It’s a quieter neighborhood, if you can count any neighborhood in downtown New York City quiet. Still, other than a few people walking the streets this late, there isn’t much movement.
“Her building is right here,” Zeno announces as he pulls up in front of a larger brick building with fire escapes lining the front. It looks clean enough, and no one seems to be skulking around the front door. “She’s on the second floor. Apartment two-zero-four. The schematics on the building show that there’s only two apartments on that floor.”
“And the apartment across from hers? Occupied?” I ask as we make our way inside. I note with a scowl that there is no security. That’s a problem, especially in this city. Then again, since her husband passed, she may be on a limited income. Once this is over, however, I’ll be speaking with Nico to ensure that she’s taken care of and safe. Her and the baby.
“Ahhh, no,” Zeno says after a moment. “The last tenant moved out a month ago, and it’s still showing as available on the local sites for viewing.”
Well, that makes things a little easier. Won’t have nosy neighbors interfering. Still, we’ll have to be careful. I have no idea how her sister is going to react, and as much as I don’t want to have to remove her by force, I will if I have to.
When we reach the second floor, the first thing I hear is the angry squalling of a baby and a woman trying to quiet him desperately. “Soren, please,” she pleads. “I know you want your mama, but I don’t know where she is.” There’s a half sob in her voice, but also some panic.
I glance at Zeno and see his expression is sympathetic. We head to the door and I knock loudly. The baby doesn’t stop crying, even as the door flies open, a dishevelled woman standing there, holding the screaming baby in question. “Please tell me you found her,” the girl pleads, rocking the baby even as his little face somehow manages to get redder and redder.
“If you mean your sister, then yes, we found her,” I say with a charming smile.
“Oh, thank God,” the woman breathes. The more I look at her the more I realize that despite not being biologically related, the two women have similar features. They both have the same long dark hair, though her sister’s is quite curly, with dark brown almond shaped eyes, and full lips, while Lucy’s nose is a bit perkier than her sister’s, and her sister’s face is softer. I wish I could remember the name Zeno gave to me earlier so I can at least make this conversation seem a little friendlier.
“Where did you find her?” she demands, stepping back to welcome us in. “And thank you for taking the case. I know that the desk person I talked to said I have to wait a full forty-eight hours before I can report, but this isn’t like Lucy. She would never leave Soren like this.”
We step inside and shut the door behind us, neither of us yet correcting her assumption. I glance around quickly, clocking anything that might be a weapon, but I don’t see anything other than the knives in the kitchen, which are definitely too far for her to grab from here. Taking in the rest of the apartment I note that it’s small, full of baby things, and chaotic.
Bottles litter the small counters in the kitchen, the garbage overflowing with dirty diapers, and dirty clothes strewn about, with some clean ones folded on the sofa. It’s clearly been a stressful thirty-six hours for her. Still, the apartment has a small but cozy feeling, and the walls are lined with photos of Lucy and a man, smiling and happy. I wonder what kind of man he was. From all appearances they looked content.
“Where was she? Is she alright?” Lucy’s sister demands, drawing my attention back to her. “You need to take us to her. Soren needs her. I need her.”
“We can take you to her, Ms…”
“Oh, sorry, I’m Kida. Kida Delagado,” she rushes out, a tired smile on her face. “I’m just so glad you’ve found her. Did you arrest the people that took her? There’s no way she wasn’t taken or hurt to leave Soren. She would never.” She says that last part so vehemently that I feel it deep in my gut. She clearly loves and trusts her sister.
“Actually, Ms. Delagado,” Zeno starts.
“Kida, please,” she interjects firmly.
He gives her a warm smile. “Kida then.” Before he can continue, I jump in.
“Kida, we’re not the police,” I tell her, making her freeze. She stares at us, and her eyes widen, panic starting to flare as she clutches the baby tighter, making him squall and cry even louder. “It’s alright,” I soothe, holding up my palms hoping to calm her. “We’re not here to hurt either of you. We found your sister and…fuck!” I curse loudly as something comes flying atme, hitting me on the side of the head. It’s hard enough to have me seeing stars, and then I hear a loud snarling screech as I shake my head to clear it.
Damn it. Guess this isn’t going to go smoothly.
I blink my eyes a couple of times and stare as Kida, still clutching a screaming baby in her arms, continues to grab toys and books, anything she can get her hands on to toss at Zeno, who is trying to dodge, while also actively trying to get her to stop and listen. “Stop it!” he barks sharply at her. “We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here to take you and the baby to your sister. Damn it, woman, stop!” He barely manages to dodge the lamp she suddenly picks up and tosses at him, but he isn’t quite as successful at dodging the pillow she throws at him immediately after. He takes it right to the face, making him let out a loud grunt and stumble back, almost falling on his ass by tripping over the items around his feet.
“Kida,” I bellow, the sound loud even with the noise and crying baby. Kida stills, the bottle in her hand stopping before it can launch at me, but her eyes narrow at me, fury starting to replace the fear just a little bit. I can work with that. “I get that you’re scared but we are not here to hurt you,” I reiterate sternly, watching her. “Or him,” I add with a nod toward the baby. “We don’t have the time to get into everything, but we found the men that took your sister. It was her biological family. The problem is that they were planning on marrying or selling her off, and we took her out by force. As far as we know, they don’t know about you or the baby, but that will change if we don’t get you both out of here. These people, they will take you, they will kill you, and they will take the baby and raise him to be terrible or sell him off, depending on their plans.”
Her eyes widen in horror at my blunt statements. The charm is going to have to wait because we are running out of time to get them out of here before the De Lucas get wise to where we are.“W-W-Who are you?” she stammers out. “How do you know all this?”
“My name is Massimo Caruso and your sister’s biological sister is in a relationship with my eldest brother.”
“Wait, you’re mafia too?” she demands.
