Chapter 37
The line went dead in my ear, and I threw my phone across the apartment. It landed somewhere on the thick rug as I let out a wild-sounding roar of frustration.
It wasn’t until I flipped over a glass table, shattering the top, that I was able to gain some semblance of control over myself. With a few deep breaths, I tried to center myself and figure out the best course of action.
The first thing I needed was proof. I couldn’t believe it was true. Not until I saw it with my own eyes would I believe that Eddie had been taken by the fucking Irish mob.
Until I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt they had her and hadn’t just cloned or even stolen her phone, I couldn’t tear the city apart looking for her.
If it was true and they had her, then I would break every law, ripping this city apart to get her back. It didn’t matter what it took, who I had to pay off, blackmail or even hurt. She would be back in my bed safe and sound by the end of the day, and whoever had dared touch her would be wishing I would only arrest them. They would never see the inside of a cell. Prisoners had rights, and these monsters didn’t deserve such consideration.
I would be their judge, jury, and executioner.
I left my apartment, convincing myself that it had to be a joke. It had to be some type of sick prank. My driver was still sitting in front of the building, waiting to pull into traffic to park the car. Instead, I jumped in the back seat and told him to take me to Eddie’s apartment.
“The one by the park, sir?” he asked.
“No, the shithole where we found her,” I said, running my fingers through my hair and trying to do breathing exercises so I didn’t give myself a fucking heart attack on the way to get my girl back.
I closed my eyes and remembered how she was this morning, nearly naked in my bed, reading dissertations and police reports, how she chewed her bottom lip while going through bank and other financial statements, looking for discrepancies. She had even found a few I had missed. She was perfect, and she was mine, and I was not about to let some low-life thug who should rot behind bars fucking take her from me.
Ten minutes later, we were pulling up to the building, and the stoop was surprisingly absent of neighborhood thugs. I didn’t have time to think about that. Hopefully, someone else finally reported her slumlord. I hadn’t found the time and didn’t consider it a priority since she was staying in the safe house.
I ran up the stairs, heading straight toward Eddie’s apartment. The door had been replaced but was unlocked, so I pushed my way in. It was empty.
Her stuff was still lying around, and there was a large black garbage bag in the middle of the room. It looked like she had been shoving clothes inside of it. I made a mental note to buy the poor woman some actual luggage when I got her back. And I would be getting her back.
“Who are you?” a feminine voice asked behind me.
I turned around to see a short, pretty woman with dark hair pulled into a high ponytail on top of her head.
“Harrison,” I said. “Who are you?”
“Are you the one she was seeing? The Neanderthal who threw her over his shoulder like some kind of caveman and put her up in a swanky apartment by the park?”
I nodded, not really feeling the need to explain my actions to some random girl in the hallway. “Do you know where she went?”
“Some guys came and took her. Two men dressed in dirty clothes with thick accents came and carried her off.”
“You saw them? Where did they take her? Why didn’t you stop them?” I couldn’t sit still. The violent mix of fear and rage flooded my veins, and I had to move.
I paced around the small room, running my fingers through my hair, pulling it at the ends, needing some type of outlet other than yelling at this poor girl.
“I didn’t stop them because I’m not stupid.” She rolled her eyes before leveling a bored expression at me. “Eddie kicked off one of her shoes, making sure it hit my door so I would see the men who took her. I didn’t call the police because I figured you would be here in a matter of minutes and look, just like magic, poof! Here you are.”
“How did you know I was coming?”
“Because Eddie is my bestie, and she tells me everything. From what she says, I think you are an overbearing asshole, but she likes you a lot. And the one thing you can always count on with overbearing assholes is, they have a protective streak. Who the fuck else would have her arrested for dating another man?”
“Why would she kick off her shoe?” I didn’t have time to address any of the shit she said. I knew Eddie had to consider her a friend, and she’d given me enough information to go on. Still, none of this was making any sense.
“There is this old story about a female reporter who was investigating the mob. She told her brother that if she were ever abducted, she would try to leave a shoe behind so they would know what had happened to her. She was abducted and left a shoe.”
“Did they ever find the reporter?” I asked, not sure why the answer felt so important at the moment.
“That reporter didn’t have the district attorney personally looking for her.” I wasn’t sure if the look in her eyes was confidence or a challenge. Either way, it helped keep me focused.
“What more can you tell me about the men that took her?” I asked, staring her down and meeting her glare.
She gave me a single nod like she approved of my determination.
“I can tell you there were two of them. One was a redhead. They both had thick Irish accents, and they got into a new black sedan. No license.”
“What do you mean by no license? You didn’t get their license plate number? How could you not have gotten their license plate number?” I was yelling and rambling, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting Eddie back.
“No, I didn’t get their license plate number because they didn’t have one. There was no license plate, front or back, and there was nothing posted in the windows.”
“Still, you should have called the police. At least they would have been able to chase them down faster.”
“I doubt it.” She shrugged. “You arrived maybe five minutes after they left. The police don’t respond to calls in this neighborhood very quickly.”
I nodded, still pacing the small room, trying to figure out what my next steps would be. There had to be something I wasn’t thinking of. I needed help and I needed it immediately.
“You seem awfully calm about this.” I looked at Eddie’s supposed friend, who was casually leaning against the door.
“The way I figure it, Eddie will be fine as soon as you do whatever it is they want. She doesn’t have anything they could want or need. She doesn’t even have the power to be a blip on their radar. So this isn’t about her. It’s about you. They hurt her, they lose leverage over you. Ergo, this is all your fault, and you will get her back unscathed, or the guys who took her will be the least of your problems.”
“Are you threatening me? Do you know who I am?”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are. You are just some guy who will break down when I butcher you, just like any other pig. Save her, and I won’t have to break out my knives, got it?”
“Threats aside, I’m going to find her, and if I have my way, she will never be back in this dump again,” I said honestly. “And you should know I will do everything I can to make her safe. If you think of anything else, call me.” I handed her a business card after writing my personal cell phone number on the back.
“I did actually manage to grab a picture of them when they were down in front of the car. Maybe it’ll help?” She took her phone out of her pocket, an outdated model, but at least it had a camera, and typed away for a moment on the cracked screen before sending me two pictures.
The first one of them showed the car very clearly. The other one was a little grainy, but it showed the men who took her, and Eddie in the car, trying to get out. My heart stopped, and I realized how unbelievably scared she must have been. She probably still was, and I needed to make sure that no one could ever do that to her again.
“When you get her back—and you had better get her back,” the girl threatened, “I never want to see her in a place like this again. You take care of her and make sure she takes care of herself, is that understood?
I nodded and honestly felt a little better knowing that Eddie had at least one good friend in her life. I made a mental note that when this was all over, I would find out more about this friend and see if I could help her in any way too. It was the least I could do if she’d looked out for Eddie before I was able to.
With a deep breath, I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to do this on my own. I didn’t have the resources, and I knew who took her. I knew how little of the police force I could trust.
So instead of calling a police chief or a captain or even the goddamn mayor, I called the two people I knew who were well-versed in dealing with men like this.
I called Luc first to see if he was still at the club.
“Yeah, I’m still here, but I was about ready to head home to the wife,” he said.
“Don’t leave, I need your help. In fact, I’m on my way back over there now. Get Marksen to the club immediately. I’m going to need both of your help. Someone took Eddie and I think I know who.”
“We’ll be here waiting for you,” he said as I hung up the phone.
I marched down the stairs again, looking for signs of anyone who might have seen her, who might have seen what direction the car went, but the street was surprisingly clear. It was almost like they had intentionally made sure the street was empty at the time they took her.
I got back in the car and in the midst of telling the driver to go to the club, I realized that my hands were shaking and a cold sweat had broken out down my back again. I couldn’t be seen like this. It would draw too much attention, and God only knew what would happen if that got back to whoever took Eddie.