Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ifucked up. I let her out of my sight, and now I’ve lost her.
All thoughts of leaving this house and going to the Plaza went out the window when I found Daniella’s ring on the ground.
Sitting in a pool of blood next to the body of that Kevin guy Aurelio was holding in the basement.
It’s been five hours. I’ve gone through every second of footage from every camera on this property.
There isn’t a sign of Daniella being taken off the estate.
We’ve searched through every inch of the house. There’s no sign of her being here either. “How the fuck does a person just disappear?” I yell.
“CJ, I understand this is difficult, but we’re going to find her. To do that, I’m going to need you to keep your wits about you. Do not lose your shit right now,” Aunt Lailani says.
“Keep my wits? My fucking wife has been taken. She was supposed to be safe in this house. No one was supposed to be able to get in here!”
“Well, I did tell you the security was lacking.” Aunt Lailani sighs. “I’m going to do everything I can to find her, CJ.”
She’s right. She did say that. I just didn’t think much of it. There isn’t any building my aunt wouldn’t be able to break into. I would be more surprised if she couldn’t get into one undetected.
“She has to be in this house still,” I mutter.
My phone rings, the name Gio De Bellis flashing across the screen. Fucking hell. How the hell do I answer that? I assured the man I wouldn’t let anything happen to his daughter.
“Mr. De Bellis,” I answer, because it would be worse if I didn’t.
“CJ, she’s still in that house. Find her,” he says.
“I’m looking,” I tell him. “How do you know she’s still here?”
“Her earrings. They have a GPS in them. She never takes them out.”
Her fucking earrings. I should have known he tracked his fucking kids. Right now, I’m not mad about it.
“She’s still here! Search again! Every fucking inch of this house!” I bark out as I start walking. “Elias, Aunt Lai, come with me. We’re going back into that basement.”
“The basement…” Mr. De Bellis says into my ear. “The safe room, CJ. Did anyone look there?”
“Fuck.” I start running through the house. I didn’t think to search the safe room.
“Everyone get the fuck out of this house now!” Santo’s voice cracks over the walkie-talkie in my hand. I look to Elias and Aunt Lailani. I’m not leaving this fucking house without Daniella. “The entire place is wired to blow! Get out! Assemble at the back of the yard! Now.”
“I’m going down there. You two can leave,” I tell my cousin and aunt. I need to search that room. Then I return my attention to Gio. “Is there an external entry or exit to that room, Gio?”
A flashlight comes from behind me. Turning, I find my cousin and aunt close at my heels.
“You need to get the fuck out of the house, CJ,” Santo’s voice cracks over the line again.
I drop the walkie onto the floor and jog to the end of the hallway. Down ten, across five. I press on the brick and the wall opens.
“Well, that’s unexpected,” Elias comments.
As soon as I walk through the opening, light emanates from inside. This isn’t just a safe room. It’s a small fucking apartment down here. There are other doors. I want to yell out for Daniella, but I also don’t want to give away the fact that we’re here if that fucker does have her somewhere.
I pull out my gun, not taking any chances. If I get my eyes on that son of a bitch, I am pulling the trigger.
I open the first door. It’s a bedroom. And fucking empty. I watch as my aunt and cousin search the other two rooms. “Nothing,” they say as they turn back in my direction.
“Fuck,” I grit out. “She has to be here somewhere.”
Where the hell are you, Daniella?
I spin around in a circle. That’s when I see it. Mud, a footprint in the kitchenette area. I walk over and look down. It’s a bootprint.
“Gio, when was the last time anyone came into this room?”
“It’s been a while. Why?” he asks.
“Someone has been here.” I push to my feet. That’s fresh mud. I look around. “There has to be another way into this room.”
“There’s only one way in and out. You already went through it,” Gio tells me.
“Elias, help me move this.” Aunt Lailani points to the single-door refrigerator.
My cousin drags it out of its slot, and I curse when I see a huge gaping hole in the wall behind it. “What the fuck?”
“What?” Gio questions.
“It’s a tunnel.”
“Fuck, she’s moving. The GPS is now at the back house, behind ours,” Gio tells me.
I start jogging through the tunnel. It’s fucking dark, the little light from Elias’s jiggling flashlight as he runs behind me doing little to show the way through.
There are various curves and bends, corner upon corner, before we reach a point where I can see a slither of light ahead. My feet hit the mud faster.
“How the fuck do you have a tunnel under your house and not know about it?” I grit out as I continue towards the light.
When I reach it, I look up. There’s a small ladder that leads to what looks like a grate. I pocket my phone as I reach for the first rung.
“Wait! I’m going first.” My aunt somehow manages to jump, swinging her body up above mine as she effortlessly climbs up the ladder. I follow her, and Elias follows me.
When I reach the top, I pull myself up. “We’re on a fucking street,” I mutter.
My aunt tugs on my arm, dragging me lower. “Shh!” she whispers and points ahead of us. That’s when I see her. Daniella.
Elias crawls to a stop next to me. “What the fuck?” he asks, looking at the same scene.
This fucking asshole has Daniella, holding her by her hair while facing the front of the house. Her hands are bound behind her back. He’s saying something to her and she’s shaking her head.
“Please, no. Please don’t do this. I’ll do anything. You don’t have to do this,” she pleads with the sick fuck.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” I grunt.
“Not yet. This way.” My aunt gestures to the other side of the street. “Behind those cars. We come up from behind.” She starts across the road.
Fuck that! I stand and walk straight towards my wife.
“You have something that belongs to me,” I call out, catching the attention of that asshole. And Daniella.
“CJ, no! Turn around!” she screams at me.
Yeah, that’s not going to fucking happen. The fucker yanks on her hair, pulling her body back against his chest. My eyes flick to his other hand. Empty. He doesn’t have a weapon.
“You’re just in time for the show,” he tells me. “Although you were supposed to be in there.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see my aunt and cousin creeping up behind him.
“Let her go,” I say, keeping my voice far calmer than I feel right now.
“She’s mine. Tell him, Daniella. Tell him you’re mine.” The fucker shakes her.
Daniella has tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “Please turn around, CJ. Get out of here. If I just go with him, no one will get hurt.”
I laugh. “I’ll turn around, walk right down that fucking street, when he lets you fucking go,” I growl.
I raise my arm, my gun aimed at Hernández’s forehead. I have no intention of pulling the trigger, not when she’s blocking three quarters of his body.
“If you shoot me, you shoot her too,” he says, stepping backwards.
An explosion goes off behind me. Throwing my body to the ground. I look up. My ears are ringing. But I see Daniella. Lying still on the road.
Dragging myself up, I stumble over to her. Hernández is out cold next to her with a hole right through the middle of his head.
“Daniella.” I scoop her into my arms, and she stares up at me.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“You’re okay.” I run my eyes over her body. I don’t see any marks.
Elias comes over to me with a knife. He quickly cuts the binds on her wrists. “No. No, no!” Daniella cries out, her glare focused on the destruction behind me. “No!”
“Shh, it’s okay.” I hold her against my chest as Aunt Lailani kicks the asshole’s body over, a gun still in her hand. “You shot at him. You could have fucking hit her,” I growl.
“Don’t insult me, CJ.” My aunt rolls her eyes.
I know she’s the best. I know she never misses, but there’s always a first time for everything. She shouldn’t have fucking taken the shot when Daniella was so close.