Tony
We’ve been searching the neighborhood Jasper suggested for hours. There’s no sign of Kate or anything suspicious. I haven’t had any premonitions of her being near. My feet are aching, my stomach growling, and my head hurting. I haven’t eaten all day, nor have I stopped to take a break. I can’t, knowing that Kate is lying somewhere being subjected to random men taking advantage of her. I need to find her.
Jasper and I decided to separate and cover more ground. The ten men he’s got assembled are combing every street, alley, and corridor. It’s only a matter of time before we find Kate. We have to. I don’t know what I’m going to do if we don’t. My life would be over. I’d have nothing more to live for.
I turn down an alley just as a freight train roars by. The horn it blows is loud, and it shakes the ground I’m walking on. Despite it being daylight, the alley is dark and shaded. Several big green dumpsters line the road. Cardboard boxes lay scattered next to them. An orange tabby cat meanders across the narrow street. I think you could only get one car through here. I hate to see what would happen if there were two.
Other than the cat, it’s empty. I continue walking and as I get closer to the light at the end, someone grabs me from behind. He covers my mouth and presses what I’d guess is a gun into my back. I freeze while I assess who has me and how many people are around.
“Non ti muovere!” He tells me not to move and nuzzles the gun deeper into my back.
Jackpot! Kate’s close. For sure, this is one of Matteo’s men. I know I should be afraid, but right now, I’m ecstatic. This is the closest I’ve been to her in longer than I can remember. I’m going to get my baby back.
As I further assess the situation, I know he’s alone. I can easily take him; I’ve been trained for this. But, I need him to lead me to Matteo and Kate so I hang on just to see what he’s got in store. I slowly reach to the phone in my pocket and press the panic button notifying Jasper of where I am and that there’s trouble. He’ll be here before this guy knows what hit him.
“Who are you?” I don’t really give a crap who he is, but hopefully, it’ll put him on edge and make it so he doesn’t notice when Jasper comes up behind him.
“That’s none of your fucking business. Walk!” The dick-weed pushes me forward and has me walking toward the end of the alley. We turn right into the sun, and then make a left into another dark alley.
That’s when the hairs on my skin stand up, my heart races, and I know I’m standing in front of the building Kate is in. Now, I just need to figure out which apartment Matteo is keeping her in. That might prove to be a bit challenging.
“Where is she? I know she’s close. Tell me what apartment she’s in.”
The man laughs. “You don’t need to worry about that. It’s not like you’re ever going to see her again. You’ve made your bed, now you’ll have to lie in it.”
I’m not sure what he’s talking about, but I can assume he’s going to bring me to Matteo who’s planning on making sure I never take another breath. The gun is suddenly gone from my back, and a thud sound erupts as the man falls to the ground.
I turn around and find Jasper standing over the man who was following me yesterday. I don’t recognize him, not that I expected to. The last time I saw Matteo’s men, they were rounded up by the Italian authorities or killed.
“You okay?” Jasper looks me up and down.
“Yeah. Kate’s in this building.”
Jasper looks up the six-story brick apartment structure. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I can feel her.” Excitement builds, and I can’t stop the smile from finding its way to my lips. It’s only a matter of time before we bring her back home. I can’t wait to hold her in my arms and sink my nose into her flowery-scented hair.
“This scum bag didn’t happen to tell you which one she’s in, did he?” Jasper kicks his side to make sure he’s not going to get up any time soon. I’m not sure what Jasper did to drop the guy, but he’s out for the count.
“Nope, you got here too quickly.”
Jasper gestures to the run-down old building. “Well, mate, it looks like we have some work to do. Let me call my men to help us out and take care of this piece of shit.” Jasper pulls his phone out and dials. “Meet me here ASAP. We’ve identified the location.” Jasper hangs up the phone and pulls a zip tie from his back pocket, and restrains the unconscious sap on the ground. Urine permeates the air and I have to wonder if it was always there of if this guy just pissed himself.
“What’s the plan?” Jasper’s the expert on this sort of thing and he better know what to do, because I sure as hell don’t. If it were left up to me, I’d frickin’ storm every goddamned apartment until I found my woman, and then I’d go postal on that jackass cousin of mine to make sure the prick never bothered us again. I take a deep breath. My heart rate is soaring from thinking about Matteo. A vein on my forehead is twitching and my jaw is tight. I’m about ready to blow a gasket, and I don’t feel like waiting another minute before we go in.
“Look, mate, we don’t want to upset the natives in there. So, we’ll have to play it cool. Our best bet is you walk the halls and see if your weird Spidey sense kicks in, and go with that. Our other option is to wait for this wanker to wake up and spill the beans, although I think it’s fairly unlikely he’ll do that. Your cousin would have him killed if he ever found out this guy ratted him out. I’ll have one of my guys hang back with him just in case and see if he’ll talk. In the meantime, you better keen in on your weird affinity for identifying Kate’s whereabouts.”
I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the most important thing I’ve ever done. If I can find Kate and bring her home, all the agonizing that’s taken place over the past few weeks will be worth it. I just need to hold her, feel her heartbeat against my chest, and make sure nothing ever happens to her again.