Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Dante
Reino walks into my study with two mugs in his hands as I round up my morning video call. He’s wearing his favorite leather jacket over a roll-neck T-shirt. Ripped jeans are tucked into his Mexican boots.
I shut the laptop and push my chair back from the desk. The despondency bearing down on me is like a ten-ton weight plate that crushes my chest.
Reino places one of the steaming mugs at my elbow. “Was that Sav?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing?”
I take the mug and sip the coffee without tasting it. At this point, I’m only drinking the strong brew because I need the caffeine to stay awake.
I grit my teeth. “Sav’s informants came up as empty-handed as ours.”
Reino blows out a long breath. “What about his men? How much progress have they made?”
Rubbing a hand over my burning eyes, I shake my head. “They’re combing through the east side of the city while our men are handling the rest. No one knows a fucking thing.”
Reino grips my shoulder and squeezes. “We’ll find her.”
I open the laptop again. “I’ll check the hospitals.”
“Boss.”
Hating the pity in his voice, I snap at him. “What?”
“You’ve called every hospital in the state two hours ago.”
“Something might’ve come up in the meantime.”
“Why don’t you have some breakfast? Jazz made pancakes.” He adds with humor, “Or I should say, she tried to.”
My phone vibrates where it lies on the desk. Emily’s name pops up on the screen.
I swipe the button and activate the speaker. “If it’s not an emergency, I don’t want to hear it right now.”
“Dante.”
Her tone gives me pause. “What happened?”
Reino tenses. He puts down his mug, poised for action.
“It’s Tatiana.”
I’m on my feet in a flash, gripping the phone hard in my hand. I brought Emily up to speed with the situation in the rare event that Tatiana shows up at her childhood home.
My hope ignites. “Is she there?”
“No, but I know where she is.”
I leave the phone on the desk and make it to the built-in safe in two long strides. With Noah in the house, I keep the weapons locked away.
“Tell me,” I order as I punch in the code and open the safe.
Emily recites an address.
I grab one of the Glocks and throw it at Reino. He catches the gun by the shaft, checks the magazine, and clips it into his body holster.
I take a Glock for myself, making sure the magazine is loaded before slipping the gun into the back of my waistband. “Tell me exactly what she said.”
Reino already has his phone out and his maps app open. He shows me a location in Manhattan as both of us rush to the door.
“She’s in trouble, Dante. She sounded scared.”
Every muscle in my body goes rigid at the sound of that. “What did she say?”
Reino motions for the guards at the door to open it, his phone pressed against his ear as he gives orders for men to meet us out front.
Emily hesitates.
I storm across the porch and down the steps to where one of the SUV’s is parked.
My tone is harsh. “What did she say, Emily?”
The man who leans on the hood jumps to attention and opens the back door just as two cars with four men in each stop outside the gates.
They would’ve been on watch in the street.
I have three times that many men patrolling the grounds and surroundings.
Wisely, Reino left enough manpower to guard the house.
Emily’s sharp exhale is loud in my ear. “She asked for her mother.”
The words stop me dead. “What did you say?”
Ulysses comes charging from the guesthouse at the back where he slept for a few hours, pulling on his sleeveless jacket over his gun holster in the run.
“She asked me to put her mother on the line.”
Fuck.
What am I supposed to make of that?
Emily continues in a tremulous voice. “I didn’t know what to say.
I was worried she’d hang up, so I thought it was best to play along until we knew what was going on.
I didn’t want to contradict her and risk upsetting her more, so I told her that her mother was busy and that I’d send you to fetch her. ”
Ulysses hops into the front with the driver while I get into the back. Reino takes a seat in the row facing me.
I’m probably the last person Tatiana wants to see. I’m lucky she didn’t bolt when Emily suggested I go get her. If she didn’t run when Emily told her I’m coming for her, she must be in serious trouble.
I clutch the phone in a death grip. “Did she give you a number where she can be reached?”
The driver takes off fast, following the directions Reino gives.
“She’s in a clothing store. She used the shop assistant’s phone. I spoke to the lady who gave me the address and said she’d keep Tatiana there until you arrive.”
“Good. You did the right thing. Send me the number.”
We clear the gates at breakneck speed while the other cars follow.
“What do you want me to do?” Emily asks.
I think fast. “Get the doctor on the phone and explain the situation without going into the details about Tatiana’s disappearance. Ask him to meet me at the store.”
The driver steers us swiftly through the traffic, breaking every speed limit and running red lights as far as we go.
“Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?” Emily sounds frightened out of her wits. “We don’t know if she’s injured.”
“I’ll let the doctor decide.” But I’m praying it won’t be necessary.
“I’ll go over to your house,” Emily says in a decisive manner. “When you bring her home, you’ll need all the help you can get.”
I thank her and end the call.
Ulysses turns in his seat. “Where’s Kent?”
“Overseeing the search operation in the west.” I keep a vigilant eye on our surroundings. “Let him continue for now. I want to be certain I have Tatiana before I call off the search.”
Ulysses faces forward with a nod, grabbing the roof handle in a white-knuckled grip.
A ping announces Emily’s text message. I contemplate calling the number she sent me, but I don’t want to spook Tatiana or the shop assistant.
Given the state I’m in, I’ll probably scare them.
Tatiana may go on the run again and slip through my fingers.
Instead, I content myself with dropping the number in a tracking app, which indicates that the shop assistant is in the location she gave to Emily.
While we drive, I watch the app like a hawk.
When we finally arrive at the address, I’ve got my door open before the driver has brought the vehicle to a complete stop.
I’m on the sidewalk in front of the store in a flash.
The men peel out of the cars that screech to a halt behind us and form a tight circle around me while scouting the area.
As I rush toward the entrance, Ulysses holds me back with a hand on my arm.
“Boss, wait. Let’s check it out first to make sure it’s safe.”
I don’t care if I’m walking into a trap. All that matters is getting to my wife.
Shaking him off, I push the door open and storm inside.
A young lady with auburn hair and freckles stares at me with round eyes. But it’s not on her that I focus. It’s on the beautiful woman who sits in a chair near the changing area, a woman with golden hair and eyes the color of jade.
My woman.
For a couple of heartbeats, as I take her in, reassuring myself she’s real and not some fucked-up figment of my imagination, the world comes to a standstill.
When our gazes lock, she gets to her feet.
Her face is pale, and her cheeks are hollow.
Dark circles mar her wide, luminescent eyes.
Her arms, legs, and clothes are streaked with dirt and covered in dust. The outfit she wears isn’t familiar, but it looks like something I would’ve chosen for her down to the flat shoes on her feet.
Blood sticks to her hair on the side, just above her temple.
A fuck-ton of emotions assault me at once—disbelief that I’ve finally found her, terror that she’s not flesh and blood but a hallucination taunting me, relief that she’s alive and within my grasp, and uncontrollable rage at the sight of the blood that has dried on her face.
But perhaps the biggest of the feelings hitting me from all directions is the fear that she won’t come to me willingly.
Reaching out carefully, I hold out a hand. “Tatiana.” I approach her slowly. “Come to me, darling.”
As if she was only waiting to hear those words, a sob tears from her chest. And then she does the one thing I expected her to do the least. She runs straight into my arms and flings hers around my neck, holding on as if she never wants to let go.
I wrap her up in an embrace. “I’ve got you, darling.” Inhaling the scent of smoke and an unfamiliar smell of soap in her hair, I convince myself that she’s not a cruel apparition but real. “You’re safe now.”
Her legs give out as her body goes slack.
Scooping her up, I lift her into my arms. Her head lolls back, her eyes closed.
Reino’s strained voice reaches me through the white noise in my ears. “She passed out.”
The woman I assume to be the shop assistant hovers next to the counter. “I think I should call the police.”
I fix her with a hard smile. “Thanks for your help. I’ll make sure you’re rewarded.”
“Oh, I didn’t—” she starts.
Ulysses takes a thick roll of banknotes from his pocket, takes her wrist, and slams the money on her palm. “For your trouble.”
She stares at the hundred dollar-bills with a slack jaw.
Reino makes eye contact with me. “The doctor is here.”
As I make my way to the door, the woman calls after me.
“Wait.”
I turn with a scowl, eager to get Tatiana to safety where I can examine her injuries properly.
The woman falters under my stare. “Can I, um, get your number?” She shifts her weight. “To check on your wife later.”
“She’ll be fine,” I say as I walk from the store, needing to believe that like nothing before.
The doctor is getting out of his car, which is double-parked in the street, when I step onto the sidewalk. The tight white T-shirt and skinny jeans emphasize his athlete’s build. With graying hair and a matching goatee, he has the whole silver fox thing going.