Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
ALARIC
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!” - William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
My mind is still reeling from the performance I’d just witnessed.
That cunning woman thought she would get away with that type of performance but little does she know, I’ll have her begging for my touch.
The way I wanted to rip every male's eyeballs out from their sockets for even looking at her and the urge to blow my damn cover and beat the living shit out of the guy who thought he could touch her. I wanted to end his life right then and there for touching what is mine and mine only. She really tested me whether she knew it or not, tiptoeing over the fine line of temptation and need. The growing bulge was straining so hard against my slacks, making it impossible to breathe, and now I’m here trying to recover without seeking her out.
Monroe and I had played poker with a couple and once we’d finished our game, we headed to the bar to get drinks.
There were no other leads since the suspicious man had left.
We continued our act in case Oliver was here watching for anything out of the ordinary as well.
Monroe seemed a little distracted before she excused herself to go to the restroom.
I watched her as she headed in that direction before the guy next to me stole my attention away.
Great, she would leave me with the most self-obsessed human I’ve ever met in my life.
He keeps raving about how much he spent on his Bently and his new penthouse he just purchased.
I have to act like I give a flying fuck and hold back several annoyed sighs because this is what rich people talk about, right?
Jesus Christ, I don’t fit in with this crowd and would willingly be set up as a fucking pole outside if I didn’t have to sit here with this man again.
About thirty minutes goes by and Monroe isn’t back yet.
I know with a crowd like this, it may take a while considering the line for the ladies room is long, but something doesn’t feel right.
I excuse myself from the grueling man and make my way to the girls’ bathroom.
“Monroe? Is everything okay? I know it's crowded there but you’ve been quiet,” I speak loud enough for the earpiece to catch but there’s no response.
As I get close to the bathroom, I notice it’s not as busy as it looked from afar and women are coming in and out. I even stop one of them who comes out and ask if they saw her, giving them the full description but they hadn't. Something is wrong and she’s not responding.
“Beckett. Do you have any eyes on Monroe?” I push through the crowd in a panic.
“Nothing. I saw her heading to the bathroom but nothing after that. It’s like she disappeared out of sight from the cameras.
But I think you need to head to the back exit.
Something is going on involving Celeste’s security.
I’ll meet you in the alley.” I can hear panic in Beckett's voice and the sound of a car door shutting.
I look towards the back exit and notice the guy who was with Celeste and a few others rushing out the door.
I’m really hoping it’s just a bar fight or something stupid, but something in the way Beckett's voice was in a rush and had him flying out of the van he was working from had me thinking otherwise. Making my way through the crowd, I squeeze through the moving bodies and try really hard to watch my movements so it doesn’t look like I’m onto something in case I’m being watched as well as bringing unwanted attention.
“You didn’t think to mention that you lost sight of her after thirty minutes?” I growl as I finally get to the door and slip out.
Once outside, I notice the men who work here rushing towards the end of the alley and make a turn.
I’m joined by Beckett and we race after them to see what the hell is going on.
They keep going through different alleys until they suddenly stop.
We catch up to them nearly out of breath.
Spooking the shit out of them, they draw their guns at us.
We raise our hands up to show them we aren’t of any concern and they lower their guns.
“Fuck, warn someone before you sneak up like that,” one of the men grumbles before holstering his gun at the back of jeans.
The guy that was with Celeste doesn’t spare me a glance and heads toward the opposite direction.
His body is rigid and I noticed a hint of panic before he turns his back to us.
The other two follow suit and they come to an immediate stop at a pile of items on the side of the road.
We rush over to a string of curse words and a metal trash can being hurled in the air, crashing onto the road.
“What the hell is going on?” My eyes follow to where the pile is and I notice a bag, clothes, and blood.
In the pile, I notice fabric that matches what Monroe was wearing.
Panic begins to surface with a million thoughts running through my mind.
He has her, but how did he get her out without anyone noticing?
One of the men I haven’t seen before crouches down and sifts through as if looking for something. I cringe at the fact that his DNA is now all over the potential evidence, messing everything up.
“Stop touching that! We need to take it into forensics and notify the team for back-up. This is now a crime scene. Beckett, contact Johnson to get down here,” I order.
“No cops, other than the two of you,” the angry one snaps, moving his hand towards his gun.
I reach for mine just the same. Does he not remember the club is crawling with them? We need to report this to them and we need the manpower to start a search, immediately.
“Are you mad? Why the hell would I not call this in. There’s clearly blood and my partner's dress is along with it. I have to report this. What the hell do you know?” I grow impatient.
If the rumors are true, clearly the Mafia wants nothing to do with the law unless they need something, and this clearly has something to do with him.
“Got it, Antonio.” The one messing with the pile holds up something small in between his fingers. “He carved the chip out of her. How the hell would he have known she had one? That explains the blood.”
Antonio grabs the chip from the man and squeezes his hand into a fist. His whole body trembles, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up.
“Now we have no way to track her down. He can be doing god knows what to her and we won’t get her out in time.
I told her not to fucking do this. This was reckless!
” Antonio yells in fury. “You two, come with us. If you make that call and the feds swarm the club, causing an uproar with the customers, I swear I’ll end you before you can even take another breath. ”
“I need you to tell me who’s blood that is and who was taken,” I demand stepping into him in challenge.
“If you’re expecting me to hold off from calling my boss, I need you to give me a goddamn reason.
I owe you nothing and you allowed us to come to this club to seek out our suspect and now my partner's clothes are on the ground. This involves us whether you like it or not.”
“CELESTE! He has Celeste!” Antonio erupts. The two men with him rush to his side, pulling him back.
Everything seems to come to a standstill.
He’s yelling but I can't hear him. Ringing pierces my ears and my breathing starts to pick up. He took her. One of my biggest fears comes true. I tried to tell her that she shouldn’t host this event, it was too dangerous.
No, they have to be wrong. That's not her clothes, not her blood. They have it all wrong.
“What do you mean he took her? How did you let this happen? She was heavily guarded. I noticed all eyes on her and someone was always near her. You have this wrong, she’s inside. So help me, she better be inside!” I erupt, grabbing him by the shirt.
Beckett is at my side, trying to pull me away but I don’t care. I could kill him for letting this happen to her.
“We need to move this inside before we grow an audience. We’ll explain once we’re in the office. Both of you, get yourself in check before we step into the club.” The one from earlier pushes us apart and shoves us back towards the club.
We finally agree not to call our director or inform the others just yet.
We follow them back to the club after the items are gathered.
We slip back through the door and gather into the elevator without a word.
My mind is reeling, anxiety is bursting at the seams, and every sense in my body is telling me that she really isn’t upstairs as I’m hoping she will be.
Once we exit out of the elevator, we gather in a conference room except for the one who found the chip.
He went the opposite direction towards an office.
We stand in silence, animosity hanging in the air.
Every ounce of control is hanging by a thread and the tension is heavy.
He comes back into the room, setting down a laptop on the table and motions for us to sit.
We all hesitate, eyeing each other until we finally take a seat.
“Since we’re going to be getting real cozy with each other, pleasantries are in order.
I’m Samson, Celeste’s eyes and ears. You’ve met Antonio, her cousin and right hand.
Larson is her second and childhood friend.
You’re Alaric Solace and Fin Beckett who work for the FBI.
Now that we have been introduced, we have work to do.
” Samson starts typing furiously into his computer.