Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
A few hours later, they convened in the living room.
Doc, Scorp, Drax, Digger, Kuzgun, and Odin should be arriving shortly.” Cowboy said as he typed away on his computer.
“Good, that’ll give us more manpower. Now Ali…” Kade sat forward on the couch and stared straight at the man. He knew his white eyes made the man uncomfortable and he counted on that. “Tell me everything you know about Abdullah Hassiem, and if I think you're lying or leaving anything out I will let Torres have his way with you.”
Torres stood straighter. He’d love nothing more than to get his hands on the man for scaring his son, but he was trying to play nice. He could sympathize with the man, he’d do whatever it took to get his son back. Except you, use another child to do it.
Ali sighed and raked a hand through his greasy hair. He really should have taken a shower, but he didn’t want to waste any more time. “All I know is that he is a member of the Arabic Mafia. He’s a middleman. He’s not the boss. He’s in charge of trafficking the guns, drugs, and children, while his brother is in charge of trafficking the men, women, and antiques.”
“Who’s the boss? Who’s the brother?” Cowboy asked, his fingers hovering over his keys, just waiting for a name.
“Ahmed Abuzier is the boss. Asid Hassiem is the older brother. Abdullah is slowly rising up the ranks and I think it’s only because his brother, the man, is a pig. He drinks too much, whores around too much. He just acts big because he has his big brother protecting him.” Ali said. “How the man has survived this long, I’ll never know.”
Leo cocked his head and studied Ali. His English was amazing and he didn’t seem to have an accent that he could place. “You didn’t grow up in Jordan, did you?”
Ali met Leo’s eyes. “No, I grew up in America. My mother was a first-generation Arab American. She met my father on a trip back to the homeland when she was in her teens. She never told my father, but I found him when I turned twenty and went to Jordan to meet him.”
“You have no accent.” Leo stated.
Ali scoffed a little. “No, I don’t.”
“Can you tell me what happened the night your son disappeared?” Kade asked, his voice softer.
Ali swallowed hard. “I’m not sure of the whole story. I wasn’t in Jordan when it happened. I was in a meeting in London when I got the call from my brother to tell me a white man killed our grandfather and that Yousef was missing. He said he had seen Yousef giving the white man bread for change earlier in the day before my grandfather was killed.”
“Do you know when he was taken?” Cowboy asked.
“At sunset, he went to the corner to sell bread.” He gave a watery smile. “Yousef loves to bake and he would always sell his bread for change to buy candy.”
Leo wanted to hug the man. Someone in this type of pain always called to him. “Well, do what we can to get him back.”
Ali nodded and wiped his eyes before sucking in a deep breath. “There is a meeting underground tonight. Abdullah will be there. I think it’s one of his shows to sell off the people he has taken.”
“And this is where you were headed tonight…with my son?” Torres demanded, the last part coming out as a growl.
Ali held up his hands. “I admit it was a stupid plan, but Yousef is all I have left at this time, his mom…my wife is dead.” He made a choking noise as he held back his sob. “Yousef is all I have left. I wasn’t leaving without him. Yes, I was going to use your son to get in, but I sure as fuck wasn’t leaving him there.”
“What the fuck was he supposed to do if you died?” Torres roared, as Kade shot to his feet and grabbed him around the waist as he tried to grab Ali. “What the fuck was he supposed to do man? You would have left an innocent kid in there with those monsters and not only would your kid die, so would mine.” The fight drained out of him as he felt Leo’s warm hands on his neck.
“That was a chance I was willing to take. I didn’t know of anyone who would help. I’ve spent the last couple days with your son listening to him tell me you would help. How was I supposed to trust that? Every kid thinks their dad is a hero. He’s the reason I waited to do any more recon.” Ali fired back. “I was teaching him what to do if we got separated and how to get away.”
“He’s ten.” Torres hissed. “You pitted a fucking child against monsters.”
“Enough,” Kade barked. If he didn’t calm Torres down now, he wouldn’t be able to. “He fucked up Vince, we know, and while I still wanna kick his ass, Gabe is safe. We need to focus on that and doing whatever we can to find this kid.”
Ali snorted. “You’re blind. How could you kick my ass?”
“Oh, shit.” Sniper muttered as they all moved quickly out of the way.
Torres felt a sick sense of satisfaction as Kade took the man down hard with a back-heel sweeping kick.
“That shows me you would never have made it out of this situation alive, and that you put not only your kid but my godson in danger.” Kade said calmly. “Never underestimate anyone in the room. Especially the ones you would normally assume weren’t a threat.”
“What the hell did I just walk in on?” Doc asked, grinning from the doorway, the others behind him.
“This idiot is the one that kidnapped Gabe and he was going to pretend to sell him to a human trafficker to get his son back and he just asked how Kade could kick his ass when he’s blind.” Torres said, guttering to the man gasping on the floor.
Doc leaned over Ali and grinned. “Yeah, that was a mistake there, bud.” He grinned over at Torres. “Now where is Gabe?”
“He’s sleeping through there.” Leo said, pointing to their room.
“Awesome,” Doc Smiled, grabbed his bag, and headed to the room, chuckling when Scorp followed close behind.
“Have you learned your manners yet?” Drax asked in his deep rumbling voice as he easily pulled Ali to his feet but the lapels of his jacket and tossed him on the couch.
“Yeah,” Ali rasped, eyeing the big man with suspicion.
“Good,” Drax stated sitting on the couch across from Ali and spreading his long legs out. Even on a chartered flight he still was cramping on the plane so being able to spread out felt amazing.
Digger snorted as he sat on the arm of the couch next to Drax. “Don’t take it the hard way man, you insulted Kade. He showed you the error of your ways.”
Ali grunted.
“We need to make a plan so quit yapping and let’s get to it.” Kade’s voice was Loud and firm.
“Got it. Gabe is ok, he’s just sleeping off the adrenaline crash.” Doc assured Torres as he came back in with Scorp to join them.
“Thank you, man.” Torres slapped his shoulder.
“No problem.” Doc waggled his brows. “Need me to check for broken ribs?” Doc asked Ali, snickering.
“Doc,” Kade warned.
Doc held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, sorry man, just having some fun.”
“What’s the plan?” Scorp asked.
“That’s what we need to figure out.” Kade said. “I refuse to use Gabe as bait, but we need to figure out something.”
“Use me.” Leo said, clearing his throat. “I can shave. I look like I’m twelve, so maybe it could help.”
“Leo,” Torres started but stopped when Leo held up his hand. “Vince, that kid is out there, going through God knows what because of my husband. I need to do this.”
Doc tsked. “He’s right, Torres, if he shaves he’ll look really young. You’ll have to shave everything.” He grinned wickedly at Leo when he blushed.
“Wax don’t shave.” Kade called out. “Trust me on that, you won’t break out as much, and while it fucking hurts, it’s better in the long run.”
Leo raised a brow. “Do I even want to know?”
“Nope,” Kade said, popping the p sound and completely ignoring them.
Leo snorted. “Alright then, I guess I’m waxing.” He grimaced.
Torres smiled softly at him. “I’ll help.” He teased in his ear.
“I’ll count on that.” Leo retorted.
“It just so happens I have some wax in my go bag.” Doc said then paused when everyone turned to look at him. “What?” He demanded.
“I think they want to know why you have wax in your bag, but they’re too afraid of the answer.” Scorp said easily.
Doc raised a brow. “I carry a wax melt with me everywhere I go.” He huffed.
Leo grinned. “That actually sounds very homey.”
Doc smiled sadly at him. “Yeah, it helps with homesickness.” He pulled out a pack of unscented wax beads. “I use these to help it burn longer and to take out the harshness of the smell. Use these and it’ll help. You know what to do?” Doc asked, looking at Torres, who nodded.
“Yeah, I do.” Torres rasped. “Although I want to clarify, I am not ok with this.”
“I’m not either Vince, but we’ll all be on him at all times. It’s either him or Gabe because none of us can pass for younger.” Kade said calmly.
Leo saw Torres’ face fall. “Hey, I’ll be ok. I promise to do everything that’s asked of you guys, but I draw the line at putting Gabe anywhere near this. I want to do this, Vince.”
Torres looked down at his feet, his emotions warring against each other. On one hand, he wanted to kiss Leo for stepping in to protect Gabe, and on the other, he wanted to shake him for daring to jump in. “Kay,” he mumbled and headed to the bedroom to check on Gabe. His son was sleeping peacefully, still sprawled out over the bed, dead to the world. He would never admit it, but he was envious of the oblivion his son was experiencing. He sighed as he sat on the bed caressing Gabe’s curls. They were growing so fast and whenever he slept he woke up looking like he’d been electrocuted. Torres smiled. Goddamn, he loved this kid.
“Are you ok?” Leo asked softly, staying next to the door in case Torres wanted to be alone.
Torres sighed and faced Leo. “No, I’m pissed this guy fucked up everything and now the two people that mean the most to me are dragged into it and I can’t do anything about it.”
Leo eased closer. “I can see that, but I hope you know I wouldn’t be doing this if I could see another way out.”
Torres smiled softly. “Your big writer’s brain couldn’t think of anything else?” He pulled Leo close and urged him to straddle his thighs.
Leo chuckled, wrapping his arms around Torres’ neck before kissing his big man’s forehead. “Nope, I am fresh out of ideas, but the new book will be a hit.” He waggled his brows.
Torres smiled and kissed Leo gently. “Are you going to tell me what it's about?”
Leo hummed as he tapped his bottom lip. “It follows a young prince who falls in love with his battle-worn knight.” He ran his hands under Torres’ shirt and up his chest, flicking his nipples with his nails as he passed, making the man jerk and moan beneath him. “When the young man's family, the king and queen, are killed by his half-brother, the knight saves him and takes him across the world to find an army to come back and take his throne.”
“Fuck, can’t wait.” Torres groaned.
Leo grinned wickedly. “Why don’t you take me into the bathroom and help me wax…all…over.” He let out a choked giggle as Torres quickly rose, grabbed the box of wax and the portable heater, and bolted for the bathroom.