Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Diesel nods. “Fuck. You’re right,” he says, rubbing his hands over his face. “This isn’t over until Harper is safe.”
Ace looks longingly at the back of the ambulance, watching them load Izzy into the truck and pull the doors closed. “Goddamn it,” he grunts, clearly conflicted as his heart still rests on his sleeve. “Where do you need me?”
“Mae,” I say, and all three of us glance in through the broken window to where Mae sits at the head of the dining table. “She knows where he’s taken her, and we’re going to get that information, even if I have to cut it from her tongue.”
The ambulance pulls away, and the moment it clears the bottom of the driveway, we make our way back into the house. Every second wasted is another second Harper is in my brother’s hands.
We stride in through the dining room, and despite the many SWAT officers surrounding her, Mae keeps her gaze trained on me, clearly knowing that I’m the one calling the shots here.
Not having the time or the patience for the dramatics today, I pull out my phone and lay it on the table before hitting play and standing back. Her brows furrow, clearly having no idea why I’ve just laid my phone down, but then her voice comes through the speakers. “I have made it more than clear that my only goal was to maintain my marriage with Elias at all costs, and unfortunately, that cost is you, my dear. Elias and I struck a deal. I hand you over on a silver platter, and in return, I get to keep the life I have here. Nothing has to change.”
Her eyes widen, realizing her admission is on tape, but before she can cut in with some kind of bullshit explanation, I give it to her straight. “Trespassing. Kidnapping. Child endangerment. Assault with a deadly weapon. Murder. Shall I go on?”
“Just say what you’ve come to say,” she spits.
“You’re looking at the rest of your life behind bars,” I tell her, “especially if Izzy doesn’t make it. You can kiss the luxury mansion goodbye. The clothes. Jewelry. Designer bags. It’s all going to be traded out for an orange jumpsuit and an itchy bunk bed. However, if you cooperate and give us what we need to know, then I’ll be happy to strike a deal that keeps you out of doing hard time.”
Her eyes widen a fraction. “Really?”
“Mm-hmm,” I lie, knowing damn well that I don’t have the approval to even whisper about offering her a deal. Nor do I want to, but there’s not a damn line I wouldn’t cross to find my girl.
“How is the girl?” she asks, though there’s no emotion behind her eyes, and it occurs to me that she’s trying to work out just how much time she’ll be doing if Izzy were to die. “Is she going to make it?”
I press my lips into a hard line. “I need an answer, Mae. Do you want a deal, or do you want twenty to life behind bars?”
Her gaze falls away, and she lets out a heavy sigh. “I’ll take the deal.”
“Smart choice,” I tell her. “Now, where the fuck has he taken her?”
She shakes her head. “How am I supposed to know? He built a fucking rape dungeon under our house, and I had no idea. In what world do you think I would know this?”
“Think, Mae. What’s he been spending his time on? Where’s he been going?”
“I don’t know. Just normal business stuff,” she says. “He’s been working on the buyout of this big shipping and logistics company. Nothing that’s going to tell you where he’s taken my daughter.”
My lips press into a hard line as I recall the business documentation that I’d found in his office the night I found his little basement, and with everything that was happening, I’d put his business mergers to the back of my mind.
“Keep her here,” I tell my men as I stride out of the living room and straight into Elias’s home office with Diesel and Ace on my heels. I push through the door and immediately grab the piles of business purchases I’d seen stashed in the filing cabinet before flicking through it to find the one for the shipping and logistics company.
“Here,” I say, putting it down on the desk as all three of us scan the papers, searching for something that could give us what we need.
“I’m not finding anything,” Ace mutters, getting frustrated as Diesel just keeps scanning, taking the pages I’m done with before looking over them a second time.
“Here’s something,” I say a minute later, putting the paper down on the desk and pointing directly at the list of assets the company holds, and I can’t help but notice that they have their own cargo ship that’s currently stationed two minutes outside the harbor, awaiting loading next month.