Chapter 48
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
New York—Present Day
Declan was ready to climb the walls as he listened to yet another presentation to bring him up to speed on Bloom Communications’ current priorities. In this case, it was a financial snapshot of their European subsidiaries. He didn’t remember the job being this boring.
He rolled his shoulders. This was what he wanted, Declan told himself. What he’d fought so hard to get back. This was the third meeting in a row that felt like a major waste of time. None of the decisions he made would have any immediate impact on the company.
The thing Declan enjoyed most about streamlining the companies his private equity firm bought was the challenge. Here, he felt like a cog in a giant system. All they expected from him was to make a check mark next to a decision that had been made months ago.
“The milestones for Q3 and Q4 are in the same range…” The man droned on, and Declan found his mind wandering.
I wonder what Olivia is doing?
Declan sighed. Having more fun than him, he would bet. His phone buzzed on the glass conference table, and he turned it over to see the name illuminated. He sent Luke’s call to voicemail.
When the phone immediately rang again, Declan lifted his hand to the man still presenting.
“Excuse me for a moment,” Declan said, walking from the room. Normally, he would never walk out of a meeting unless something needed his immediate attention, but he was going stir crazy and grabbed at the excuse. “What do you need?” he asked his brother.
“Courtney’s dead.”
“What?” Declan halted in the middle of the hallway.
“Her housekeeper found her this morning. Looks like an overdose.”
“I thought she was in rehab,” Declan snarled. “Wasn’t that the whole reason we couldn’t get to her?”
“She checked herself out last night.”
Frustrated rage coursed through him. He felt robbed, cheated of his revenge.
“Where’s Chris?”
Declan heard a heavy sigh and murmuring. “Luke?” he snapped.
“Hang on.” Luke’s voice was just as sharp. “James is on the phone with Brady. I think something is happening.”
Declan’s breath came faster as he clutched the phone. “Problem?”
“Fuck!” Declan heard James shout in the background.
“What’s happening?” Declan was already moving toward the elevators. His instincts telling him he needed to move.
“He had a fucking decoy.” James took the phone from Luke. “And someone rammed the car following Chris Keller. Brady’s guys were hurt, so we are just now getting the information. They’ve lost him and they aren’t sure how long they were actually following the decoy.”
Fear settled over Declan, so oppressive he couldn’t breathe. “Olivia?”
The elevator door opened, and Declan thrust out a hand to hold the door open.
“Brady says she’s still at work. Two guys are in a car out front.”
“They were supposed to go in with her.”
“Apparently she disagreed.”
“I’m heading back now,” Declan said, stepping into the elevator.
“We’ll be?—”
The call disconnected, and Declan looked down at the phone, resisting the urge to punch the elevator wall when he saw he had no coverage. The doors slid open in the parking garage, his phone already vibrating.
“There’s a fire at the Armstrong building.” Luke sounded breathless, like he was running. “They can’t find Olivia.”
In an instant, Declan’s world crashed around him.
The flight back to Atlanta felt like a lifetime, his phone attached to his ear the entire time. Declan dialed Olivia’s phone over and over, his panic rising each time her voicemail immediately clicked on.
He struggled to hold on to his composure when Brady called to give him a status report. “A delivery van with the logo of an approved vendor entered the parking lot and pulled to the back of the building. It was out of sight for less than five minutes. Three minutes after the van left the facility, the fire alarms went off. My men went in immediately, but it was chaos as everyone evacuated. Her receptionist told them Olivia had gone to meet Stuart in the manufacturing area, but the man denied ever calling her. By that time, the warehouse was fully engaged, and they called in back up to search. Once the fire department arrived, they couldn’t get back in the building.”
“I don’t fucking care what they did after they lost her,” Declan roared. “She should never have been out of their sight.”
Declan’s chest heaved.
Where is she? Chris? Kyle? The Albanians?
“What do you want us to do, Dec?” James asked, his voice coming over the line.
Declan’s free hand gripped at his hair. This was what he feared all along. She was in danger because of him. Olivia would pay the price for the life he’d led.
“Fuck,” Luke hissed through the speakerphone. “I got a text from one of my sources. The police found Kyle Armstrong’s body behind the wheel of a delivery van at Peachtree Executive Airport. Five flights have taken off since the fire was reported. All but one filed a flight plan.”
“She’s on that plane.” The fissure in Declan’s chest cracked open, the pain unbearable. He paced the aisle of the Bloom Communications jet, helpless rage coursing through him. Declan was stuck in the sky, and Olivia could be anywhere.
“I’ve got a guy at that airport,” Brady said. “Let me see if I can get a copy of the security video before the cops get their warrant.”
Alex called next to assure him that the Albanians weren’t involved, and offered his brother’s men to help with a rescue. Declan had no desire to owe the Bratva anything, but if it meant getting Olivia back, he wouldn’t hesitate to sell his soul to the Russian mob. Vincent also confirmed that Alan Carrol was still in the city, and Fiona was on her way to a facility in Switzerland. With Kyle dead, the only person left was Chris.
Declan’s chest ached. Chris knew Olivia was Rose—he knew what she meant to him and Declan only had himself to blame. Intent on his revenge, he’d discounted what Chris would do when he was backed into a corner.
“Call me as soon as you have the footage.” Declan dropped the phone into the seat next to him and buried his head in his hands. Olivia. It had been almost two hours since the fire. Two hours.
The phone vibrated in the seat, and with a weary sigh, he lifted it, expecting to see an email from Brady. Instead, his heart turned over when he realized it was a video call from Olivia’s phone.
“Olivia!”
Chris Keller’s smirking face filled the screen. “She’s a little busy at the moment.” Chris squinted at the phone. “Are you on the company jet? How convenient.”
Declan locked his jaw, knowing he couldn’t let his emotions get away from him. He needed to keep his head in order to save Olivia.
“What’s your plan, Chris? If I were you, I’d be on my way somewhere without extradition, instead of playing games with me.” Declan swallowed the questions he wanted to ask.
Where is Olivia? Is she hurt?
A gun appeared on the small screen as Chris scratched at his jaw with the barrel. Declan’s blood ran cold.
“If it were anyone else, Dec, I might fall for the whole I don’t care about anything vibe, but…” His smile turned cruel, and Chris extended the phone the length of his arm so that Declan could see Olivia tied to a chair behind him, completely limp.
Declan clamped his jaw against the bile rising in his throat.
She’s not dead. He wouldn’t call if she were dead. Would he?
“I see.” Declan’s voice was strained.
“Playing it cool.” Chris chuckled, then stepped backward until he was standing next to Olivia. Declan’s heart stopped as the gun lifted. With a wink at the phone, Chris stroked the gun over Olivia’s hair before he used it to push her chin up.
Olivia’s lashes fluttered, but she didn’t make a sound. A tiny flicker of relief took root inside him.
She’s alive.
“Not even going to ask if she’s all right?” Chris dropped her head, and it rolled back at an awkward angle, making Declan’s teeth clench. “Not even an ‘if you touch her, I’ll kill you?’ I expected more from you, Declan,” he mocked.
Declan felt sick. Fear and rage battled for supremacy inside of him.
“What do you want?”
“You groveling at my feet.” Chris gave a dramatic sigh. “But also, money. Starting over is going to be expensive.”
Declan’s heart was pounding so hard he was sure Chris could hear. He wanted to negotiate. That was a good sign.
“Did you have an amount in mind?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll have it all set up by the time you get here,” he said before ending the call.
Declan’s hand trembled as he dialed his brothers. He didn’t waste time on a greeting. “Chris has her at Dad’s estate.”
“We can be there in a little more than an hour,” Luke said. “Olivia brought your jet back to Atlanta, right?”
Declan nodded, not trusting his voice, but then realized his brothers couldn’t see him. “Yes.”
“Wait for us, Declan.” Brady’s voice was serious. “You can’t go in alone. We don’t know what kind of manpower he has there. I have people nearby. I’ll get them moving to meet you.”
Declan stayed silent. He couldn’t stop seeing the image of Olivia’s limp body. It didn’t matter how much money Declan gave Chris, his old friend was going to kill her, because Chris knew losing Olivia would destroy him.
“Dec,” Luke’s voice was quiet. “I know what you’re thinking. If it were Dahlia… But if you rush in there, he’ll be ready. The chances of either of you getting out alive are pretty slim.”
“I’m not leaving her there.”
“We are only asking for an hour,” James said, and Declan heard an engine roar to life. “Wait for us.”
Declan’s breathing slowly evened out, acceptance bringing a sense of peace. “I’m going to get her.”
“This isn’t something for you to strategize your way out of, Declan. This is what Vincent and Brady and their people do. They are professionals,” Luke persisted.
“ Fuck !” James exploded. “It’s a trap, Declan. He’s going to kill you.”
“I’m aware.” Declan didn’t care, if it meant there was a possibility she lived.
Ending the call, he walked to the cockpit to let them know the change in destination. Declan estimated his brothers and Brady would be in the air within the next thirty minutes, and then another hour to Rhode Island, and then twenty minutes to the estate. Realistically, they wouldn’t be there for two hours. Declan could be there in a little more than one.