CHAPTER 28
Laila
There is nothing like the feeling I have right now, that is until I realize I have to tell him everything. At least I quit before I could hurt him. He has to feel good about that. Hopefully. I haven’t done anything with what I have found so far …
“Oh shit! Mika!” I completely forgot all about him. I turned my phone off before we checked out the warehouse, and I haven’t turned it on since. Sure enough, the moment I turn it on, it goes off with multiple messages from every direction. I avoid the time to review them all and call Mika directly.
“Oh my God. Where have you been, Laila?”
“Long story, but things have changed greatly. I need you to shut everything down. I’ve decided not to move forward.”
“Well, that’s too bad because I found him.”
“You found who?”
“Your boy, the one you’ve been looking for since this all started. You know the reason we are all here?”
“You couldn’t have.”
“I did, and he’s still alive, for now at least.” While I try to remember to breathe, Mika tries to bring me back into reality. “Are you going to do something or are you going to let this man die because you decided to quit?”
“Can you tell where he is?”
“All I have are pictures for now. I am trying to locate the GPS location off the phone they were downloaded from. It would help if I knew whose phone it was though.”
“Try Nathan’s phone first. It has to be him.” I forward Mika all the information I have collected on Nathan in hopes that it will make it easier for him to break into his account and find the photos and Noah’s location. In the meantime, I go to Titus’s to see if I can find the location on my own. Titus has images of every property he owns proudly hanging in the team room, and I think I have seen the distinctive windows in one of the pictures before. After a few failed attempts to contact Ben via cell, I leave him a note. He needs to go and go as soon as possible.
Ben,
I have something important to tell you about me, and I will, but for now I need you to leave. I need for you to go to that place you told me about last night. Take Luca and get out within the hour. I will find you later. Please don’t question, just go.
I love you,
Laila
I leave Harrison with Henry and tell him to be on watch for my call. He’s excited that I am back in, but I make him promise to leave Ben out of it. The best I could get was that he would try. I borrow Henry’s car and head to Titus’s estate. I am happy to see Ben is not there when I arrive. That means he’s on his way home and, hopefully, heading away from trouble. However, Luca is here, and I make sure to find him first thing.
“Hey. I want you and Ben to come over for dinner tonight to celebrate. I proposed last night. It was perfect. You should have seen her eyes light up when she saw the ring.” Luca is so love-struck and dreamy that I can’t get him back into reality.
“Luca!” I shake him back to me, “I need for you to go now, get out of here. Find Ben and get out of town and do it as soon as possible. Don’t bother packing, just go.”
“What? Why?”
“Just do it, Luca. Go. Now.”
“I have a few more things to get. Besides, we are leaving tomorrow. What difference does it make when?”
I pull him in close. “Luca, don’t question me, go. Trust me.”
He nods but looks over me and around me as if he is concerned. “Are you in trouble?”
“I’ll be fine. I’m leaving right behind you.” I point Luca towards the door as I head straight for the team room to go through every image on the wall. I scan the images, piecing together details to match the photo Mika showed me. Once I find it, I rip the image from the wall and start to text Henry the location when Jolie walks in.
“Working on your day off. How lucky for me,” she says.
“I am working on something special for Titus. I don’t have much time to chat right now.” I get back to my phone and try to walk around Jolie when a gun is put in my face.
“You like it? I had it made special. I’m thinking about having my name engraved on the side,” Jolie says proudly as she shows me her glimmering Colt with gold in-lays. “I love the mother of pearl handle most of all. Don’t you?”
“I prefer something simpler, but whatever you would like to use on her, I’m for,” Nathan says, sneaking in behind me with his own gun on me and a shot of drugs to my neck. “We should have just shot her and moved on. Too many others to worry about to deal with her.” I’m on my knees in an instant, becoming lost by the second.
“No, that’s way too easy. I want Ben to think she was murdered in some horrific fashion. Hmmm—what would destroy Ben the most? Oh! I know, raping her to a bloody mess and leaving her nude body in a drug house until she dies.”
“That’s a lot of trouble for one person, and we have so much more to do, Jolie.” Before she can respond to Nathan’s frustration, my phone rings, and Jolie grabs it from my hand.
“Is that Ben calling you?” she asks, answering the call, “Hello.” She hits the speaker button and lays it down, preparing to make my death Ben’s worst nightmare. Only, it’s not Ben on the other end of the line.
“Laila, I was able to break into Nathan’s phone and get the coordinates. Your cop friend is at the address I am sending you now. Be careful. And hey, it looks like your mission is finally over, revenge for your parents and you rescued a fellow cop. Congratulations. Call me when it’s all over. I will be relaxing here until then.” Mika confesses all of my secrets.
“Oh, I will,” Jolie says, smiling wide as she hangs up my phone. If her expression didn’t send chills down my spine, Nathan’s does.
“She’s mine.” He simmers with excited intent his eyes. “I knew there was something up with you. A cop. Ha! If I could only tell Titus. To see his face when he realizes I was right about you, and that Ben was all wrong. Oh, how I crave to see that.”
Jolie pulls her gun from my face. “Take her. Make sure to have a lot of fun and take lots of pictures.”
“I always do,” Nathan says, kicking me in the stomach every time I try to stand. I scream out, and the door flies open with Luca holding a gun up at my attackers.
“What’s going on? What did you do to her?” Everything is so blurry I can hardly make out what is happening.
“She passed out. I guess she still isn’t over what happened yesterday. I was just going to take her to the hospital,” Nathan says with no gun in sight.
“No, I’ll take her.” Luca puts his gun away and helps me to my feet to lead me out the door. “I got you. Don’t worry. We’re leaving here now.” I shake my head and try to warn him, but it’s too late. A gun shot rings through my ears, sending us both to the ground. Luca’s blood splatters all over me.
“No! No. Luca, no.” I cradle his head as I look up at Nathan and his malicious smile. “Luca.” I cry to him with no sign of life. “Why didn’t you go?”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Jolie says.
“Oh yes I did. I have been wanting to do that for a while now. Don’t worry. Your precious Ben will think she did it. The cop. The cop killed his brother. This should lure him back in for us to kill.” He takes pictures of me hovering over him. “That look on your face, I don’t like it. You promised we would kill him right after we kill Titus.”
“We will. Don’t worry. I certainly can’t trust him now that you killed his brother.”
Nathan grabs me and pulls me away from Luca, throwing me over his shoulder to carry me out. I fade in and out as he drives me to an out of the way place. He drags me out of the car by my hair before carrying me into an abandoned building.
“Well, Laila, you wanted to find this place, so now you have.” I look up to see the cop I have been looking for. Noah lies on a cell floor in front of me. He’s alive, but he’s not going to be much help to me. “Paul, I mean Noah, your rescue is here. You’re going to have a new friend to play with, a fellow cop.”
“You’re a sick son of a bitch. Leave her alone. What could you possibly get out of torturing her in front of me?” he mutters with a swollen face.
“This is not for you. Oh, no. This one got herself into this trouble all by herself. She’s here to rescue you. Impressive, isn’t she? You should be grateful though, Noah. Now, I can kill you, end your misery, and put her in your place. Don’t worry, though. I will let you have a little enjoyment and watch for a change.” Nathan kicks me and throws me around the room, forcing out every fight I might have left. My hands are bound, and he lifts me up onto a hook by my wrists, leaving me hanging off the ground. Nathan prepares himself like a psycho and roughly rips and cuts half my clothes off, leaving me in nothing but my underwear. “Smile. We are going to have fun. You like sexual torture? I know I do. Now, we can get back to what we never finished. This fancy underwear is a bit much for the occasion, but I’ll make it work.” He grabs my head and pulls me in close to his vile, coarse face, and kisses me hard. Leaving my lip bleeding, he grabs my breast and bites it. “I always like to leave a mark. It excites me when I review the pictures over and over again.” I look up to see his excitement growing. The tools he’s set out cause me to scream for help while trying to get loose from my restraints. “Keep screaming. I like it,” he says, salivating and moving towards me. Noah screams in my defense, trying everything to distract Nathan, but his broken body is of no help. Nathan unzips his pants and enjoys himself while I can do no more than endure his vile torture.