Chapter 5
Five
Luca
From silence to the sweet symphony of her voice.
She’s alive.
“Where are you taking me?”
The voice through the phone is slightly muffled, and there’s a strange sound before it becomes a bit clearer.
“Where are you taking me?” Harper asks again, this time with more grit.
“Shut up!” Nico shouts.
I’m careful not to say a word until I put my phone on mute, listening as I allow her conversation to be on speakerphone for Ashton and Dante to hear.
I grabbed Dante the moment chaos ensued with Nico.
“Take a car out toward Blue Sky Resort, see if you can intercept them,” Dante orders. “Call me the minute you find out anything.”
Ashton and I head out together. There are other men of Dante’s, but learning of Nico’s betrayal, it’s clear as day he’s unsure who he can trust.
I don’t know what he intends to do with his men.
Interrogate them.
I’d punish each of them until they come clean with the truth.
I don’t wait around to find out. Ashton and I are in the vehicle, already on our way, the phone on speaker and mute, so that we can hear every word, every gasp and plea through the phone.
It’s agonizing to listen and not be able to do anything.
But our silence is the only way to save her.
Nico can’t know that we’re listening in and Harper is doing her damndest to relay as much information as she can, without making it obvious.
“At least drop off Moreno at the hospital,” Harper pleads. “You can take me, do whatever you want, but don’t let Moreno die.”
I glance at Ashton, relieved that he’s still alive.
“That would waste valuable time,” Nico says.
“Then leave him on the side of the road,” Harper says. “Let someone else deal with him. Isn’t that better for you—not to have to clean up his dead body?”
I grimace, praying that she’ll give me more information. My foot is like lead on the gas, and while I drive, Ashton texts Dante with any new pertinent information.
Right now, there isn’t much. But if Moreno gets dumped on the side of the road, we’re not going to have time to take him to the hospital and chase after Nico to rescue Harper.
I’ll always choose Harper first.
“His dead body makes little difference to me. You, on the other hand, bringing you in alive brings me a sweet deal.”
I glance at Ashton, unpleased with this little bit of information from Nico.
“What kind of deal?” Harper asks the question I want to know as well.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Nico laughs a dark and sinister snigger that sends my stomach plummeting.
Silence ensues between Nico and Harper.
“Please,” Harper begs, “drop Moreno off at the hospital.”
“I have a better idea,” Nico says, and silence follows.
There’s the slamming of a car door.
“Luca, if you can hear me, we just pulled over. Nico got out of the car. We’re still on Route 93 heading south.”
For an instant, I unmute my device. “I can hear you,” I say, but I’m unsure if she can hear me. She doesn’t respond, indicating she can.
“Luca? Is that you? I can barely hear you. Shit, he’s—” she grows quiet. “What are you doing with Moreno?” Harper asks.
Ashton mutes our end of the call.
There’s the obvious slam of a car door. “Let me go!”
It sounds like she’s fighting him off. We’re half an hour out at best.
“Get off me!”
The door slams shut and then it does so again.
“Luca, he just dumped Moreno on the side of the road!”
Ashton retrieves his phone, smirking when he pulls up Harper’s location, showing it to me.
“How long have you been tracking my wife?” I sneer in disgust.
“Since Dante put a tracker on her phone. The first night they met.”
Shaking my head, I should be angry about the betrayal, but I’m grateful knowing that so long as they have battery power and cell service, we’ll know where they are.
“Text Dante, let him know where they stopped and dropped Moreno off.”
He taps at his phone, silent, and sighs.
“What?” I glance at him. Clearly, Dante sent him a text in response.
“You’re not going to like this,” Ashton says, his expression grim. “He wants us to pick up Moreno and drop him off at the hospital. Since we have a location on Harper, she’s secondary priority.”
“Secondary priority, my ass. I’m not—”
Ashton types something quickly into his phone, and then it rings. He puts it on speaker for me to hear.
“Luca, you’re picking up Moreno. This isn’t up for discussion.” Dante is curt in his demand, to the point. “You’re the nearest and you have the exact location.”
“Ashton can drop you a pin and someone else can grab Moreno.”
“I don’t trust anyone else right now, Luca.”
“Fuck!” I slam my fist against the steering wheel. “Nico has Harper, I can’t let them get away.”
“We won’t. I’ve got Liam and Sophia en route to the compound to assist.”
I glance at Ashton. “That’s not good enough. You’re bringing in the two newest recruits to what—exactly?”
“Luca, understand that I’m as troubled by her abduction and betrayal as you are.”
“You never even liked Harper!” I shout through the phone. “You’re probably relieved your little problem has been taken care of.”
I hit the gas pedal harder, wanting to get to Moreno quickly so that we can continue to go find Harper.
“On the contrary, I find her quite … admirable. She’s certainly kept up her end of the bargain. Keeping our secret, which reminds me, we have a location on Harper.”
I huff under my breath. “I’m aware, Ashton told me a few minutes ago about the tracker you installed on her phone.”
“Yes, but we also know where Nico is taking her. Pick up Moreno, head to the hospital, and I’ll meet you there.”
“No. I can’t risk Nico getting too far ahead. I’ll drop off Moreno, but I can’t stop for a chitchat.” I grind and hit the gas harder.
“Up here!” Ashton tells me when he tracks the location on the phone. “He should be somewhere nearby.”
I slow the vehicle, keeping an eye on both the road and the grass nearby.
Ashton points several yards up ahead. “Over there!”
I flip the hazard lights on. They flash as I put the vehicle in park, and we hurry to get Moreno off the side of the road and into the backseat. We lay him down, his body motionless, but he’s still got a pulse.
I’m not sure whether he can hear us or not. He appears to be unconscious. His eyes are closed, he doesn’t so much as make a sound, but he’s alive, for now.
“Hang in there,” Ashton says to Moreno. “Nova will kill me if anything happens to you.”