Chapter 16 #2
“One way or another,” she continues, and hands what I now see is a prod to Victoria, “don’t let him talk back, bambina. He needs to learn respect. Cinque?” She looks over at the tall soldier once again. “Get the cloth,” she demands as she walks back to the table.
“How do we break him? From what you’ve said, he’s rather stubborn,” Victoria finally speaks, and her voice is much softer than I anticipated it to be. She doesn’t have an accent like they do, and I’m assuming by her stiff stance that she isn’t necessarily comfortable with them.
“Well, normally there are a few ways. For these Hartley men? There’s only thing that truly motivates them.
” Saconne pipes back up and steps forward again.
He raises his hand and turns on the monitor hanging on the wall.
It beams to life, and by the time I can finally focus my eyes enough to see, the footage is of a scope’s feed.
Of our fucking house.
Alarms blare in my head, and I instantly start to thrash.
Panic starts to take over, and all I can think of is Ashia.
They’re too fucking close. She’s too vulnerable.
There’s no time stamp. So, I can’t see when this was, but it looks to be the same time of year, around sunset.
Cinque then steps around me and grips the back of my hair, yanking me back and forcing me to watch the screen.
“Sette? Zone in on the girl.” The moment DeLuca voices the command to a tablet in her hand, the footage moves and locks onto the windows of our home.
While normally, the mirrored outside wouldn’t show anything, a click of a filter comes through the speaker, and suddenly the entirety of our main floor is on full display.
There’s a bunch of people huddled in the living room.
I can make them all out easily. Carter, Alex, Zeke, Satori, and my dad all stand around while Serena, my mother, and my wife sit huddled on the couch with Daisy.
The scope focuses even more until Ashia’s image fills the screen.
Tears stream down her face, and she’s curled up uncomfortably on the couch between my mom and the dog.
“Oh, she’s very beautiful indeed, feccia.
The perfect little giocattolo,” she taunts, and I try to wrangle free again, but a large hand grips my jaw to keep me still.
“Show me il nemico,” she commands again, and the camera moves swiftly over to my father.
His face is red, and the veins on his forehead are sticking out prominently.
I’m not sure of what he’s saying, but it's clear he’s yelling by the way he thrusts his forefinger towards the ground.
“Give me the sound.” I hear another click, and suddenly, the room is filled with their voices.
“I don’t care what needs to be done! We’re finding my son! Stop your entire operation if that’s what it takes!” my father yells.
“We can’t stop operating for one man!” Satori yells in return.
“The hell we can’t!” Alex yells next.
“We have a protocol for a situation like this, Alex,” Carter argues grimly.
“We’re not fucking calling it!” Zeke yells back.
“John, please. Just listen to what they’re saying.” My mom’s attempt at interjection is shut down instantly with a raise of his palm.
“I don’t need to listen! This is our son! This goes how I say! You two don’t leave my sight!” He points at my mom and my wife. “Especially you.” He points to my mom individually.
“Alright, John. Please, try to settle down. We need to make a list of anyone who could’ve taken Damien,” Carter says as he sits down next to Serena with his laptop.
“What are you talking about?!” my dad screams. He’s so angry that he’s shaking now, and it looks like he’s going to explode. “We know who has him!”
“We can’t just assume it’s them, John. What if we’re wrong? Then it’ll just take longer to find him,” Alex adds.
“As much as I hate it, Satori is right about one thing. We have to take everything into consideration,” Carter adds.
“He didn’t fucking leave!” Zeke screams. They think I did this? Do they really believe I would ever abandon them?
“I’m not saying he did, Zeke!” Carter screams back.
“Okay, well, besides Saconne, DeLuca, and Avery. Who could’ve taken him?” Serena chimes in and asks.
“CMMC. That’s where he was right before he came back to the Attic. He had a meeting with Grease today.”
Suddenly, the sound goes out, and the vile bitch has the audacity to laugh.
My head remains forced to the screen, and while I see the men still arguing, all I can focus on is Ashia.
She’s staring blankly across the room, like she’s not listening to anything they’re saying, and I get a cold chill from the look.
I know exactly what that is. She’s dissociating again.
My breathing picks up again, and the panic starts to set in. She needs me. No one knows how to pull her out of it as gently as she needs, and she has to stay calm. This isn’t good for her or the baby. She needs to know I’m alive. They have to find something that tells her that. I need to get out!
More cackles force me to realize how badly I’m rattled, and as Cinque lets go of my head, I snap my eyes to her.
“You’ll do exactly what we say, and you’ll bow to our will, or your wife and child will pay the price. Sette is an amazing shot. There’s nowhere your wife could hide where he wouldn’t find her,” DeLuca taunts, and I just grit my teeth.
My chest tightens to a painful level, and I can feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I can’t wait to tear her apart. Her screams will haunt this place, and I’ll write warnings in her blood. I’ve never killed a woman, but I’ll gladly make her my first.
“It truly is a powerful thing when even the mention of a name causes this much fear,” Saconne says wickedly.
“Your father almost took that from us. Now, it’s time to show him that he failed,” DeLuca says back to me. Suddenly, another shock rattles me, and the last thing I hear are my own screams.