Chapter 13
COLE
It’s been a busy day. I’ve been checking in with all our businesses in town to get caught up so I can take a few days off after the wedding.
After checking in at the animal shelter and approving a few more upgrades, I’m walking to my car when my phone rings. I see my mom’s name on the caller ID and smile as I pick it up. “Hey, Mom, how’s it going? You two having fun?”
“Cole.”
The one word is all she says, but I stop dead in my tracks and squeeze the phone tighter. “Mom. What’s wrong?”
Her voice is thick with emotion, and that’s not like my mom. She can always hold it together. “They took her. Luna is gone. She was trying on wedding dresses, and now she’s gone.”
“Are you still at the Wedding Boutique?”
“Yes,” she says.
“I’m around the corner. I’ll be right there. Have Paul pull any surveillance footage.”
I don’t even bother getting into the car. I start running. Stone is hollering after me, but I don’t stop. I hear his feet clomping behind me.
A few seconds later, I’m bursting through the front door of the boutique. My mother is standing in the back, and I run to her. “Where? How?”
Paul comes forward. “She was trying on dresses here. Her clothes and purse are still in there. As far as I can tell from the video, they lured her outside with a kitten and then put her into the trunk of a car.”
My whole body tenses. “Show me.”
Paul leads me to an office in the back, and when I walk in, I see Luna on the screen approaching a cat.
Paul hits play, and I watch the scene unfold.
My hands fist at my sides when I see the man come up behind her and lift her up.
She’s screaming and fighting, but she’s no match for a man twice her size.
He carries her down an alley to a car. The video only shows half of it, but it’s enough to see the license plate and watch him drop her into the trunk and slam it shut.
My voice is calm even though I feel anything but. “Has someone called my father?”
“Robert is on his way.”
Paul has his phone held up. “Your father said not to call the police.”
If we call the police, we will have to do everything by the book. And I won’t want to turn these dirtbags over to them. I shake my head. “Don’t. We’re going to take care of this on our own.”
Stone comes into the office and hands me an envelope with my name on it. “Some kid handed me this to give to you. He said some guy gave him ten dollars to make sure you got it.”
I rip into the envelope and pull out the letter inside. I scan the letter and then reread it out loud. “We have your fiancée. You want to see her again you will send one million dollars to this account in the next two hours. No money and she dies.”
Underneath is the routing and account number for a bank account.
“Fuck!” I scream and then punch the wall to my side.
My father walks in and grabs my arm before I punch the wall again. “Son, stop. Punching things is not going to fix anything.”
I mutter out the words. “Is this the Sterlings? Did they take Luna?”
“We’ll know soon. I sent Bennett and Knox over to Victor to talk to him, but I don’t think so.”
I ram my hand through my hair. “I have two hours to find her.”
My father grabs the letter from my hands. He takes a picture of the account number. “I’m going to send this to our tech guys and find out who that account belongs to.”
He types into his phone. “We’re going to find her.”
I shake my head. “You were right, Dad. You told me she was innocent and that by marrying her, I’d be putting an x on her back. I didn’t… I shouldn’t have…”
My dad firmly shakes his head. “We’re going to find her, son. I promise.”
My mom comes to the office. “I’ve gathered Luna’s clothes and purse. What can I do?”
My father walks toward her. “Go to the house with Paul.”
She instantly shakes her head. “No, I’m not leaving until we find Luna.”
My father puts his hand on her shoulder. “Eleanor, we don’t know what we’re up against, and I need to take care of this. I can’t do that with you out on the street.”
I walk over to my mom and dad. “Mom, I know you wanna help, but Dad is right.” I let out a breath. “When we bring Luna home, she’s going to need you.”
Mom lets out a loud sigh. “Okay, but you promise you’ll let me know as soon as you find her.”
My dad nods. “I do. I promise, sweetheart.”
The men around us seem surprised by my father’s softness, but I’m not. Yes, he’s a hard-ass, but he’s always been soft with my mother. She’s the only one he’s like that with.
“Paul. Take my wife home, and don’t let her out of your sight.”
Mom opens her mouth to argue, but she nods. “Fine.”
She looks between my father and me. “You two be safe.” She looks around the room full of men. “Where is Bennett?”
My father tenses. “I sent him, Knox, and some others to the Sterlings to see if they had anything to do with this.”
My mother doesn’t like it. Hell, I don’t like it. My dad sent my brother straight to the enemy’s house.
She groans. “Fine. I expect all four of you and Luna at the house tonight.”
My father nods. “I promise.”
She turns on her heel and walks out of the room with Paul following her.
My father’s phone rings, and he puts it on speaker. “Bennett? I’m here with Cole. You’re on speaker.”
“It wasn’t the Sterlings.”
“How do you know?” my father asks.
“They were pissed I even asked. Not nervous, guilty, or anything. If they had her, they wouldn’t be quiet. That’s not how they work. You know that, Dad.” He blows out a breath. “If they got one up on us, they would want everyone to know it was them.”
“Shit,” my father curses.
I search my mind as my father tells Bennett, “Get here to Main Street.”
My father disconnects, and then his phone rings.
“Yeah?” he answers. After a moment, he nods his head. “Send me the address. Got him,” he says when he hangs up.
I step toward my father. “Where is Luna?”
My father laughs. “We’re dealing with amateurs. We traced the bank to Chris and Jess Crisp. They live three miles from here.”
My father calls Bennett to tell him where to meet us, and then we all run outside and pile into vehicles. I slap the dashboard. “Let’s go. Let’s go.”
We get to the Crisp house, and I ignore my father’s request to wait. I kick in the front door, gun drawn, and run through the house in search of Luna. I run room to room, finding each one empty. My brother comes down the stairs. “Upstairs is clear.”
“Fuck,” I grunt.
“Check this out,” my father calls.
We walk through the house, following my father’s voice. His men are standing outside the room, and they gesture for Bennett and me to go in.
Dad is looking at a wall covered with pictures of Luna, and my heart starts to race. These fuckers have been watching her.
My dad taps on a sheet of paper in the corner. “Here. This is their whole plan. The dumbasses wrote it all out.” He points at a drawing. “They’re keeping her here.”
I stuff the gun into my waistband. “Let’s go.”