Chapter 37

Bastian

 

 

Two days of no sleep. I couldn’t stop pacing my penthouse while I listened to Ashton and Joe both make various phone calls to their contacts. Nothing to the Salt Lake City Police Department, though. Not until the private investigator Ashton had hired figured out who the cops were that we could trust.

If that bastard harmed Joanna, or worse, I knew without a doubt I wouldn’t hesitate to let my fists do all the talking. The rest of my life wouldn’t be worth a damn thing if Joanna wasn’t a part of it. I knew without a doubt that Sid wouldn’t let Joanna go without some sort of confrontation.

I rubbed at my aching eyes. For the past two hours, I had sat in the privacy of my bedroom to let every emotion I felt spill out into the bottle of alcohol that now sat empty alongside my bed. No one knew where the two could’ve gone. Not even the hotel staff knew how Sid had managed to get in and out without alerting their security.

The man was a shitty worm that knew how to get through everyone to get what he wanted. We had something in common, though: neither one of us were willing to let go of Joanna. The only difference was that I knew I could take care of her without using my fists to make my point.

“Bastian?”

I looked up when the door to my bedroom opened. Ashton stepped in with his phone clutched tightly in his hand. Hope shot through me as I rose from where I had been seated on the edge of my bed.

“Do you have something?” I asked desperately. “Please tell me that investigator of yours has something that we can use.”

“Partially,” he said. “He’s working a lead right now. It has to deal with Sid’s former partner, who asked for a transfer over the past two weeks.”

“Transfer?” I repeated, frowning. “Is it the same partner that tried to arrest my driver?”

“I’m not sure,” Ashton said. “Just give him an hour to work this guy for information. Sid has had a few partners who requested transfers over the years. It seems like they can’t keep up with his crazy-ass behavior.”

“Who the fuck would want to sit in a cop car with a guy acting like a complete nutcase?” I ran a hand through my hair in aggravation. “One equipped with police training and a gun to kill you if you double-crossed him.”

“It’s going to be okay, Bastian. Listen to me.” Ashton grasped my shoulder to keep me from pacing in front of him anxiously. “It’s going to be fine. We are going to find out where Joanna is. I doubt anything drastic has happened.”

“How are you so confident about that?” I asked bitterly. “I let my guard down for one fucking second. For one fucking second and that bastard swooped in and grabbed her.”

“The reason I believe that is because I know men like Sid. They are scared shitless when they realize that everyone is catching up to their actions. All they care about is how you perceive them.”

“This is an awful amount of work for someone who cares about their reputation,” I said, shaking my head in despair. “I have to go out there to find her. I’ll check every fucking hotel around here if I need to.”

“We don’t even know if they are still in Salt Lake,” Ashton said soothingly. “I know this is hard, man, but you’ve got wait until we hear word from my investigator. He’ll get the truth.”

“Right. I hope so.”

I swayed on my feet as the bottle of whiskey finally caught up with the lack of sleep. Ashton helped me sit back down on the bed. He nudged me back to lay down on the mattress. I couldn’t protest, even though a part of me clung stubbornly to being awake.

“I can’t sleep,” I muttered, shoving away Ashton’s hand. “What if—”

“If the PI calls, I’ll wake you up,” Ashton said. “You aren’t going to be useful if you’re drunk and unable to keep yourself upright. Get some sleep, even if it is only for an hour.”

I fell into a dark sleep full of Joanna’s screams for help echoing in my ear. I was running down a long hallway in the direction of those screams while desperation rose in me. I was close to the closed door, one hand on the brassy, cold knob when someone jerked me awake suddenly.

“Bastian! Wake up.”

I blinked away the unsettling dream to find Ashton standing above me while he shook my shoulder hastily. Swiping a hand over my eyes, I sat up quickly to try to regroup. I was still in my bed at my penthouse suite in Salt Lake City. Joanna was still missing and was with that fucked-up, corrupt cop.

“What did you find?” I asked desperately. “Please tell me you found her.”

“The former partner of his managed to get ahold of Sid,” Ashton said. I clambered off the bed quickly. “He’s in some seedy hotel on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. It’s a hotel that barters sex for protection for some of the prostitutes that work in the city.”

Disgust tore through me as I followed Ashton out of my bedroom to where Joe was waiting for me anxiously.

“We can get there quickly if you hurry, Mr. Burke,” he said. “We don’t want anyone tipping off Sid that we’re onto him.”

I grabbed my jacket from the back of the couch, and Ashton and Joe followed me down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. Bright morning light greeted us the second we stepped outside to the sound of traffic.

“I’m going to get my team in case you need it,” Ashton told me. “I’m going to get ahold of Shelly, too.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Joe said. “You might be needing a legal team if this goes over badly, Bastian.”

I nodded my head at Ashton before following Joe down the sidewalk at a hurried pace. I didn’t even bother with a seat belt as Joe flew down the interstate in the direction of the hotel.

“No one knows we’re coming, right?” I asked anxiously. “I don’t want the cops there. Not yet anyway.”

“This PI made it clear that his partner would end up in trouble if he told Sid the truth about his phone call.” Joe turned onto an off-ramp. “I don’t think you have to worry about it, Bastian. This guy sounded fed up with having to cover for Sid’s ass.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said. “Because if something goes wrong, both of us are going to get a bullet for trying to get Joanna.”

“It won’t happen. I can promise you that.”

Joe tapped the holster of his gun beneath his jacket. I kept my eyes focused on the road ahead as we got closer to the location. Soon, a rundown hotel appeared in our sights, and the GPS indicated to turn into the parking lot. Relief shot through me when I spotted Sid’s undercover car parked in front of a room on the far end.

“That’s his car,” I said, opening the door before Joe could come to a stop. “That is Sid’s fucking car. I know it is.”

I jumped out of the passenger seat before Joe could fully stop. Screams. Terrified fucking screams came from the door of the very last room.

Adrenaline blinded me as I shoved my foot into the door. It surprisingly gave away to crash down, revealing a horrifying sight that nearly paralyzed me. There, in the middle of a dank and disgusting bed, Joanna struggled helplessly against Sid, who was on top of her. Blood filled my gaze as he reared back with his cock bulging out of his pants. Fury filled his gaze, too, and he glanced at the dresser, where I spotted his gun, holstered.

I surged forward with a snarl to tackle Sid to the ground as he jumped off the bed for the gun. He let out a pained groan beneath me when my fist found its place on his nose. Blood streamed down from his nostrils, covering my knuckles in the process. I spotted an extra pair of handcuffs still attached to Sid’s belt. I pulled them out and managed to slap them over his wrists. I hopped up, leaving Sid struggling on the floor, and grabbed the gun from the dresser as Joe ran into the room.

“Holy fuck,” he said, taking the gun from me. “I’m calling the cops. Right now.”

Joanna let out a trembling cry as I hurried over to the bed to use the key to free her bruised wrists. Tears prickled the backs of my eyes when she collapsed gratefully into my arms, sobs wracking her body. I fought back my own cries while I held her close to me, pressing kisses against the side of her bruised face.

“Thank God you’re okay,” I whispered, holding her tightly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Joanna whispered, her voice muffled against my shoulder. “I’m just so relieved that you found me. I thought I was going to die.”

She choked up against me again. I adjusted the robe, the same robe from the hotel, around her legs to protect her modesty. I sheltered her from Sid as he sat up to spit blood out of his mouth with a leer.

“This isn’t over,” he seethed, his eyes focused on me. “I’m going to take the both of you fucking down. Just wait until the cops get here.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I growled, wrapping an arm around Joanna’s shoulders. “It’s over, you sick bastard. It’s fucking over. You aren’t ever going to go anywhere near her again.”

Sid laughed breathlessly at that. “We’ll see. We’ll fucking see who has the last laugh here today.”

“Bastian,” Joanna whispered, tugging on me. “He’s got photos of me, photos that I didn’t even know he had, in his bag.”

I ushered Joanna over to stand near the door despite the cold draft. Grabbing ahold of Sid’s bag, I rifled through his belongings and pulled out a folder that was inside. I opened it up to find a stack of photos. Every single one of them showed Joanna naked. She didn’t appear to be aware that he was taking any of the pictures, either.

Rage filled me as I looked back down at Sid leaning against the bed. He wheezed through his broken nose. Blood sprayed every single time he took a deep breath. No remorse flickered across his eyes. He didn’t give a shit if he tore Joanna down as long as he could do it.

“The cops are on their way,” Joe announced as he came back into the room. He shook his head in disgust at Sid, who spat blood in his direction. “You are one pathetic bastard with your dick hanging out. I wouldn’t spit blood in my direction.”

“The cops aren’t going to do anything,” Joanna said numbly. “They’re just going to take his side. Let’s just go before they get here.”

“We aren’t going to leave,” I said firmly, dropping the folder to the ground. “Let the cops come, Joanna. We are going to have him arrested for what he has done to you. All they need is one look at you.”

“I’ll say it was you who kidnapped her,” Sid announced with a grin. “She hasn’t been reported missing yet. The two of you are going to sit in jail for a very long time. I’ll make sure of it myself while Joanna and I leave this damn state.”

I glanced down at the top photo of Joanna naked in the shower, completely unaware of the picture. A smile tugged at my lips then when I caught Sid’s eyes.

“One problem with that,” I said. “Your former partner is the one who told us about you taking Joanna. He sold your ass out.”