28. Azrael
TWENTY-EIGHT
AZRAEL
I stretched my arms with a big yawn and turned to my side to cuddle my man in bed, but when my hand landed on just Max, I opened my eyes.
Max raised his head and looked at me with big puppy-dog eyes.
“Morning, you ball of fluff.” I patted his head and ran my hand along his spine for a good scratch.
I looked around for any signs of Duke before I called out his name. The bathroom light was off, so he couldn’t be in there.
Had I overslept? Surely, Duke would wake me if I missed my alarm clock. I reached for my phone on the bedside table and checked the time. It was past seven.
I hadn’t overslept, but Duke must have gone down already.
When would this boy learn not to overextend himself so soon after chemo?
I gave Max another pat or two before I got up and jumped into the shower. When I came out, I brushed my teeth and was greeted by Clover, who sat up in his bed with a big yawn and looked at me with a semi-waggy tail.
“Morning to you too, sleepyhead. Like father, like son, huh?” I knelt to stroke him before picking him up and taking both dogs out to pee.
The first floor was quiet on my way out, meaning Duke was busy downstairs or out on the farm, already hard at work on cat litter duty or restocking Calliope’s hay.
It was when I walked into the kitchen that I paused. The coffee maker was off and the pot was empty.
Strange.
Maybe the chemo had made him queasy again and he couldn’t drink it, although it took a lot for him to not drink coffee, and surely, if he was feeling crappy, he’d have woken me.
I turned the machine on, and in a couple of minutes, I was sitting at the kitchen table with Clover curled up in my lap with a fresh cup of coffee. He’d been so clingy and needy since I returned from San Diego. One would have thought I’d been gone for months, not days.
“I know, puppy boy. I know. You thought I abandoned you like your previous daddy.” I cooed at him, stroking him from top to bottom in a calm and soothing manner, which he reveled in.
I hadn’t officially adopted him, but considering he was my shadow and I couldn’t go a day without him without feeling separation anxiety myself, it was as much of a done deal as anything.
After a few more strokes and a couple of kisses from the lucky dog, I got up and went in search of Duke. Only I didn’t get farther than the hallway when my phone rang.
I checked the caller ID and frowned.
“Hey, baby. I was just about to come find you. Are you?—”
“Hello, Azrael. What do you value the most? Your family or your boyfriend?”
Cold sweat beaded instantly along my spine and goosebumps formed like pimples on my skin. I froze on the spot, and when I spoke again, I croaked.
“Wh-who is this?”
“Don’t concern yourself with who I am. Just answer my question.”
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
“Where is Duke?” I asked, fighting with myself to not fall apart, to keep standing and talking.
“He’s here with me, safe and sound. For now. But you have to choose. Your family or your man.”
I shook my head. What was going on? How had this happened? How had I let it happen?
Max turned the corner and looked at me with a sad expression that made my stomach clench and Clover went up and sniffed him. It was a small, normal act, but it gave me the oxygen I needed.
I put the coffee down on the display table in the hallway and rushed downstairs.
“I don’t believe you,” I told the man, trying really hard to suppress images of Duke, of Noah, of my family tied up or…or worse. I wasn’t going to let this happen. I wasn’t. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
I bounded down the stairs and turned the lights on in the exam room. No volunteers had shown up yet. Good.
“If proof is what you want, proof you will get,” he answered, and seconds later, my phone buzzed.
I lowered it and opened the message. My stomach sank, and I froze on the spot.
There were two pictures. One of Duke and Penny gagged and tied up with zip ties. The second had all of my family in a similar state, Lola holding a crying Noah in her arms the best she could. Remi was missing from the picture though.
“You bastard! If you touch a single hair on any of them, I’m going to send you to hell with my bare hands. What have you done to my…?” I paused.
I needed to find out if Remi was okay or if he’d hurt him. But what if he didn’t know about Remi and asking about him would tip this guy off?
“Let them go. Now. You hear me? Let them go.”
“Of course. We’ll let them go. Once you’ve chosen.”
I huffed and clenched my fists. I took a deep breath and crossed the room into Duke’s office, sitting on the chair and grabbing the landline.
“Chosen what? What is this? What do you want?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want. It matters what you want. Do you want your family to die? Or Duke and his sister? If you don’t leave this island, they’ll all die.”
“That’s not a choice. Duke is family!”
The man laughed. I turned the speaker on, muted the call, and dialed Slade’s number.
“Bullshit. He’s not family. He’s just your little fuckboy. What’s more important to you? Your fuckboy or your son? Your mother? Your grandmother?”
“Hello!” Slade answered, his voice sounding like a boost of adrenaline right about now.
“Slade. It’s Azrael. Shut up and listen. Okay?”
I unmuted the call and lifted the phone to my mouth.
“They’re all important to me, motherfucker. You hear me? So don’t you dare touch my family or Duke and his sister. Okay? Let them go, and I’ll let you live.”
The man laughed again.
“I don’t think you know what’s happening here, Mr. Ramos Reyes. You’re not the one holding all the cards. I am. And if you don’t leave this island, I’ll play them all.”
Before the man was finished, my phone buzzed and flashed with a message notification.
Slade
It’s me. Open this message now!
I never tapped something harder in my life. As soon as I did, the screen went dark for a second and then returned to normal before a new message came through. This time, my phone didn’t buzz.
Slade
Keep him talking.
“H-how do I know you’ll let them go if I do what you say? What guarantee do I have?”
“You don’t, but do you really want to play with your baby son’s life, Azrael?”
“No. No, I don’t. My son’s done nothing. My family’s done nothing to you. They don’t deserve any of this.”
The man hummed.
“Well then, you better make the right choice.”
I laughed.
“It’s not really a choice though, is it? It’s not like if I choose Duke, you’ll let my family go. There’s only one choice here, or it ends in disaster for everyone, isn’t there?”
“You’re catching on quick. Get off this island, or we’ll make the choice for you. Oh, and don’t think about getting your friends involved. Because if we find out they’re involved, you say goodbye to our deal.”
Slade
Got him.
“Okay. Okay. I don’t want anyone getting hurt. What do I have to do?”
The man stayed quiet for a moment, but it was as if I could hear him smirk, mocking me and my weakness.
“There’s a ticket at your front door. You better get it. You’ve got a ferry to catch.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me and sighed.
“Okay. I hear you. Loud and clear.”
The line clicked, and I stared at my phone as if it were about to explode. It may as well have.
“Slade, are you still there?”
“I’m here, man. I’m here.”
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, but it didn’t work. I started shaking. I shook and shook, and tears ran down my face before I could control them. Not that I could.
This was a royal fuck-up of the biggest proportions, and I didn’t know what to do.
Please, God. Please, I need a miracle right about now .
“Azrael? Are you okay?”
“Of course not, Slade. Please…please tell me you have a plan.”
“I don’t. But when I call you next, I will.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Just hang tight, don’t do anything, and wait for further instructions.”
I nodded, and the call ended, but he was wrong.
There was something I could do and that something was called praying.