Winter Love (Seasons in Montana: Winter)

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Emmanuelle

I’m in a house, I wish I could see outside. The room I’m in has no windows and I don’t like that. Maybe I’m in a basement? I focus on thinking about Lukas and his handsome face. That smile he gives me, it can light up a dark room. And that’s what I need right now, a light in this dark. I know they’ll find me, the question is will they find me before William or Pinky decide to do something to me.

I keep dozing off, it’s hard to stay awake. The slam of a door jolts me awake and I hear Pinky yelling at William. I’m not sure how long they’ve been gone, but something’s got them riled up.

“See what you fucking did? We can’t even leave this shithole town!”

“You’re such a baby. We got food. Wasn’t that what you wanted?”

“Do you understand that we’re stuck in this shitty little town?”

“We’ve been in Wintervale for three weeks. Why does it matter now that we can’t leave?”

“It matters.”

These two act like they’re a couple with all the bickering they’re doing. I wonder why they can’t leave Wintervale. Is it because of me? It makes me smile to think that Pinky’s stressing out over all of this. Maybe it’ll keep them from hurting me. The door to the room I’m in opens.

“I know you’re awake. There’s no way the sedative we gave you is still working,” Richard says as I feel his hand slide up my leg.

My eyes open and I stare at him. I refuse to show him any fear. I don’t care what he does to me. I will never let either of them break me. I will survive this and get back to Lukas and my family.

“You’re very pretty. I’m sure William won’t mind sharing you. After all, brothers should share.” He smirks at me.

Oh, gross. I really hope he’s not serious. If William got jealous over someone he knew and assumed I liked…would he really do something like that? I say a silent prayer that they find me before anything can happen.

Lukas

It’s only been six hours, but it feels like days. As soon as we realized Emma was missing, the guys sprung into action to help the police. Road blocks were up in no time, and the neighboring towns were alerted. We don’t think they’ve left town. At least I hope they haven’t. It had only been maybe thirty minutes between when Galen saw Emmanuelle and when he realized she was missing. So I have a lot of hope that we’ll find her soon. We’ve been asking around and there are some residents that have seen either William or Richard. That’s a blessing because now they know to keep a lookout for them.

Jared told us not to put up missing person flyers or ‘have you seen this person’ type of flyers. Because we don’t want to spook them and force them to do something to Emma. If they touch one hair on my girl’s head, I will end them. I’m not usually a violent person. But this is my Emmanuelle. There are no boundaries when it comes to her.

“We just got a call that the cashier at McDoodles is serving William and Richard,” Jared tells us. “I asked the manager that called to stall them as long as they can.”

“Let’s go!” I yell.

“No, you stay here. Let us do this part. Noah, Galen, Celestino and Mitchell, get over there and follow them. You know what to do,” Enea says to them.

“Sì, Papà. We’ll call when we know something.”

“Wait. I need to go with them.” I frown.

“No. You need to stay here and let us do this. What happens if you see them and go after them? Sure, you’ll feel good about getting your hands on them. But that doesn’t mean they’ll tell you where Emma is. And that is what we need to know. Where they’re keeping her. So my boys will follow them and find out where they’re going.”

“I need to be there when you take them,” I say to him.

“You will be. You just have to be patient for a little while longer. You said you trusted us, I need you to keep trusting us.”

“I do. It’s just so damn hard to do this. It’s my Emma and I don’t know what they’re doing to her. What if?—”

“Don’t do that, figlio. Those ‘what ifs’ will drive you crazy. And you don’t need that right now. You need to focus on when we find her. You have to be ready for anything.”

I know that Enea is right. The problem is, I don’t know how to just sit and wait. He says try not to think of the ‘what ifs’, but it’s all I can do. I should never have left her three years ago. Then she’d never have met this asshat. And we wouldn’t be in this situation. I can’t help but feel like this is my fault.

Waiting feels like an eternity. In reality, it’s been about an hour. Celestino finally calls.

“You’re on speaker, figlio,” Enea answers.

“It’s definitely them, we followed them to the other side of town. I think they rented a house, I texted you the address. We’ll stay here and watch. Galen and Mitchell are walking the neighborhood.”

“Okay, keep me posted. We’ll check out the house and be there ASAP. Be safe.”

“Sì, Papà. See you soon.”

“I’ll map the house and then we can leave,” Francesco says to us.

I watch all the guys getting ready. Giacomo tosses me a kevlar vest. I don’t say a word, I just put it on and follow their lead. It’s impressive and a little scary how they work in sync. Like one cohesive unit. Listening to their stories is one thing—but watching them in person? Damn.

“Looks like it’s one of those vacation rentals. Salvatore, can you find out who owns it and the rental details?”

“Yeah, let me make some calls.”

The rest of us keep getting ready as we wait for Sal to make his phone calls.

“Your job is to find Emmanuelle. Noah, Francesco and Antonio will be with you. The rest of us will take William and Richard. We don’t have all our equipment so we’re going in blind. You do everything—and I mean everything— they tell you.”

“I promise. I won’t do anything unless they say I can. I just want Emma back.”

“Okay, it’s definitely William and Richard renting. I called the owner and we got lucky. He’s got a floor plan he’s sending to me now. So we’re not going in blind,” Salvatore says to us.