Chapter 49
ERYX
I stare at my phone’s black screen. It’s been a week. A week of no contact, no calls, no texts. She’s not going to class, not talking to the girls, not talking to Caine or Roman. Just radio silence.
I’m about ready to storm her damn room. I haven’t broken into her place yet.
I’m trying to be good and give her, her space.
I know what we just dumped on her is heavy.
I’ve been lying to her. I was trying to protect her.
But she doesn’t see it that way, and I don’t blame her.
She should hate me, I deserve it. I deserve all her wrath.
I’m the reason for so much of her suffering.
I’m her devil and I’m paying for my sins.
I’ve been holed up in my apartment going crazy. I haven’t shaved. I haven’t even showered. I’m sure I smell real pleasant. My usual clean and orderly room is in disarray, my hair disheveled.
“Still nothing?” Romans voice comes from the doorway stepping through the threshold into my room.
“I fucked up. I can’t lose her Rom. I can’t.”
He looks at me with pity and I hate it.
Roman comes to stand next to me, and takes in my appearance, covering his nose, “Have you just been sitting here marinating in your own filth? Take a damn shower man. If she isn’t talking to you now, she sure as hell won’t want to talk to you smelling, and looking like that.”
I know he’s right, but my minds been a damn mess. “Fuck, you’re right, ok.”
“Go clean up, then we’ll head over. See if we can get the girls into her room to talk to her.”
I nod and leave him in the room to head towards the shower.
I set the water to the coldest setting. Hoping it will take me from my daze.
Her body wash is still here, and I grab the bottle lathering my body in her scent.
I feel closer to her. If I close my eyes, I can almost feel her.
I hear commotion going on outside and hurry up to finish my shower and see what’s going on.
I quickly dress in the clothes I brought with me and head towards the noise. My living room is suddenly packed as Caine is typing away on his computer, Shina’s here too on her own. Ro is pacing the area, tears in her face and Roman is trying to console her.
“What the fuck is going on?” I ask the room.
“She’s been taken.”
A voice I’ve come to know, comes from around the kitchen.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” I turn and storm towards him, “What the fuck are you doing here?” I grab him by his shirt and push him back.
“Eryx we have a problem,” Roman says.
This better be good for them to let this asshole into my space.
“What?” I seethe.
“It’s Stass,” Ro speaks up this time, though labored breaths, “She’s missing.”
I go to rush her but Roman stops me before I can. “What the fuck do you mean she’s missing?”
Ro has tears in her eyes still trying to catch her breath. She’s hysterical. “She wa—wasn’t replying to us. No the—texts, or calls— so we went to her room.”
I’m getting impatient waiting for her to spit it out so I grab her by the shoulders and shake her. “Just spit it out dammit.”
Ro yelps at my assault. More tears stream down her face. Roman pushes me back and gets in my face. “Chill the fuck out. Don’t take it out on her.”
Ro continues, “The door was unlocked, which is weird ‘cause she would never… when we went inside she wasn’t in there and we found her phone smashed on the floor.”
I’m livid, “How long ago was this, why are we still standing here for?!”
Shina speaks next, her tone more collected than her sisters.
“We came here as soon as we saw what the situation was. We’re going through her phone for clues right now. It might have been smashed, but the raw data is still stored.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I take it out in hopes that it might be her, but what I see horrifies me.
I hear her whimpers. I see hands on her, raking over her body.
She struggles against them but they have her hands tied and there’s tape on her mouth.
Then the camera flips and I see his face.
The one I should have ended when I had the chance. Dean. The phone drops from my hands.
All I see is red.
I punch the wall next to me. He fucking took her and it’s all my fault. I’m going to find him and I’m going to murder him.
“What is it?” Roman picks up the phone and quickly shuts the video off.
“I know who has her,” I say.
“And I know where she’s at,” Caine speaks up now, finally rising his head from his computer. “I may have put a tracker on her…”
“You put a tracker on my girl?”
“Well, you wanted one on her phone, but we see how helpful that was,” he says holding up the busted phone. “So I took out some insurance, and I may have put a tracker in her jewelry,” He points to his chest.
“You have a tracker on her fucking nipple piercings? What the fuck are you reading to get ideas like that?”
He turns his screen over for me to see, “What I read is none of your concern, and it’s just given us a starting point. The last ping shows her down by the Marina.”
“How long ago was that?”
“That was ten hours ago.” Caine confirms.
I storm down the hall to the office and get my piece.
I’m heading back towards the front, when there’s a knock at the door.
I cock my gun back and quietly step to the door and look through the peephole.
Everyone is ready and aimed at the door.
I disengage the lock, opening the door to find a frazzled Brielle.
I pull her in, closing the door behind her then pushing her against it.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I scream at her. The nozzle of the gun pressed firmly against her temple. “Are you involved with that piece of shit?”
“D-dd—don’t—Sh—Shoot.” She whimpers.
My right hand holds the gun, while my left is wrapped tightly against her throat. She fights against my hold and Roman comes up behind me trying to pull me off.
“E! Let go, you’re going to kill her!”
A few more moments pass, and I see her turning blue. I snap out of my daze and let go, taking a few steps back. She falls to her knees, her hands at her throat as she catches her breath.
I push her back with my foot. “Start fucking talking.”
Thoren’s driving, heading to where her last location was pinged.
After I got Brielle to calm down enough so that she could open her fucking mouth on what happened, we piled into the SUV.
I had Roman and Caine stay back with the girls.
Ro was still really shaken up and he’s the only one able to calm her right now.
Shina’s working with Caine on getting security and all the cameras down, so that there’s no trace of us once we get there.
I made sure to grab my bag of supplies too.
I’m leaving that marina drenched in blood if I don’t bring my girl home.
“Hurry the fuck up, can’t you drive any faster?
It’s not the time to drive like a bitch!
” I know we need to be careful and not draw attention to ourselves, but after what Brielle told us, I’m anxious to get to her.
She mentioned some man she didn’t recognize being there.
That the stranger killed Jason. Hate to break it to her that Jason was going to die regardless of this stranger being there.
If it wasn’t him, it was going to be me.
And Dean’s next. Anyone who had anything to do with taking Anastasia from me is going to feel my fucking wrath. I’ll make sure Brielle gets hers too.
Minutes pass for what feels like hours before we’re rolling to a stop a couple of yards away from the Marina gates.
It’s privately owned, so there’s a gated fence around the perimeter.
Shina was able to pull up property details and together with Caine they found the company running security and where the cameras are located.
That way not only can we disable them long enough to get in and out, but we know all the blind spots too.
How interesting that her father’s company is head of security here.
I just know that dirty bastard has his toes in all of this mess.
“I bought you twenty minutes. Video feed is on a loop so you won’t be seen, but you’re on limited time, before their software picks up on the intrusion.”
I get out and pop the lock on the gate. I wait for Thoren to drive through then close the gate back up so if anyone was to glance this way, it would look like any other day.
“Which way?” I demand at Brielle.
“Take this right, then the left right after.”
Thoren follows her direction. There’s three warehouses on this side. We pass by the first two then by a row of containers. Lot 5-13, Lot 14-22, Lot 23-31.
I don’t have a good feeling about this. Lot 31. We were just here on a damn job.
“Now where?” I grip her hair, my gun aimed at her side.
“It—it’s just up ahead. Warehouse 11.” Her voice shakes.
Thoren’s eyes meet mine as soon as the words leave her lips.
“Fuck,” a heavy breath leaves me.
“Eryx,” Caine’s voice comes through the car speaker. “I know,” I tell him. Already knowing what he’s thinking.
“What do you know?” Thoren asks.
“We were just here a few weeks ago on a pick up job.”
“What the fuck do you mean you were here on a pick up job? Who sent you, do you know who’s warehouse that is?”
“Family business, nothing that concerns your bitch ass. As yes, I did my fucking homework. The Rivera family owns it.”
“You’re a stupid motherfucker you know that? Do you even know her? Why we were running that day? Why I was helping her escape before you so graciously drove us off the road?” He parks the car abruptly in front of Warehouse 11, his piece already out and cocked back.
Silence follows for a beat.
“Stay here, don’t fucking move.” I leave Brielle in the car, hands tied behind her back as I get out to follow behind Thoren, who’s already pushing the door open. We’re aimed and ready.