“Sir…” I started, there wasn’t any easy way to do this. I’d rather be sticking my face in mud and not come up for hours than make this call. But it had to be done.
“Hold on, son. I just have to log these results and then we can talk.”
The lead in my chest felt ten times heavier. Joseph sounded so upbeat; he usually did when he was in his lab.
I heard keyboard tapping, a few pings, and then silence. It wasn’t uncommon for Joseph to become lost in his own thoughts so all I could do was wait.
I looked around at my surroundings, the motel we were staying at didn’t have much, but it suited us for the night. Liam had gone out to grab some grub, leaving me time alone to make this call. Tony was hard at work, checking all possible leads. At this point in time, anything would help.
Sven and his compatriot didn’t know shit and as much as I wanted to break their faces, it wasn’t going to do anything to change the situation.
My woman was somewhere out there, in the hands of strangers who wouldn’t even lift a brow to kill her. She was a job to them, and the job security and paycheck that they would get when they handed her to El Padre was the only thing keeping her alive.
I lowered my head, examining the dirty threads of the stained carpet flooring, and letting my mind come up empty for a second.
But my brain wouldn’t let me –
And my heart didn’t allow it –
I wanted to punch the wall with my fists and break every piece of standing furniture in sight.
I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and put her kidnappers on a firing squad line and pick at them, make them fucking bleed, and make them question their own sanity.
I wanted…
I wanted…
Just to know where she was at so I could do what I did best…
And bring her home, back to me, back to my arms and never let her go.
“So how’s it going, son? How’s everything with my daughter?” Joseph’s voice came through the phone that I’d placed on top of the reddish/brown or brownish/pink bed sheets that definitely needed two or three cycles in the washing machine. Motels weren’t known for being spic n’ span; they were quick getaways for people like me who needed a few hours of sleep.
I took a deep breath, “Athena’s not with me. She’s ah – “
“My daughter’s pretty well-behaved, Webb. Is she off to some party that you don’t approve of? It’s only 3 there, even for a guy like you, you gotta know that the real parties don’t start til after midnight.”
Oh fucking God, how I wish that was the case. That Athena was at some lame-ass party. Anything other than this.
“No Sir,” I said. There was no other way to deliver the news and I wouldn’t lie to her father about this.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Joseph.” It was an order, not a question.
“Joseph, something’s happened,” I said, my throat closing in on itself. I’d been in this situation before, the few times I’d had to call family members to let them know that their sons or daughters had been injured, and three times, I’d made a call to let them know that they had passed. Those weren’t easy calls, but I stayed on the line because while I could’ve asked another person to notify them, these people were under my command, and it would be a disservice to the life they’d sacrificed if I couldn’t even tell their loved ones that they didn’t make it.
All those calls were heavy on a man’s soul. They took the last vestiges of energy you had and drained them away.
But nothing –
Nothing could compare to this.
The sound of a father quietly containing his sobs sounded in my ear, “Webb…my daughter.”
And nothing could prepare me for this.
The echo of my heart shattering sounded through my voice. “Athena’s been taken by El Padre’s men.”
The silence on the other line was ear-splintering so I continued, “I was questioned when we arrived here and during the time that I was held in custody, they grabbed her and now, Liam and I, are trying to find out where she is. Her last known location was in Maywood. El Padre paid off two hired men to pick her up from the airport and those men are now in FBI custody. We believe that they’re on their way to Miami with her.”
“Florida?” Joseph questioned, he was probably remembering the last time he was in Florida and why we were in a hurry to extract him.
“Yes. El Padre has a few houses there.” Satan loved humidity and excess. “I wish I could say more, Si—Joseph. But I promise you…on my father and Ryder’s graves…I will bring her back.”
“Bring her back to me, Webb.” His voice was broken but hopeful. “She’s everything to me. Without her…”
“There’s nothing I won’t do to get her back, Joseph. I promise.” It was liberating to say it because when it came to Athena, there were no moral barriers for me. I’d hunt, gut, and kill willingly. My country had trained me to become one of the best, to fight enemies that threatened the safety of our sovereign. Now I see the difference. When it came to the woman I loved, the lines between right and wrong were so blurred that I couldn’t even make out their shadows.
“I’ll give you three days to find her.” Joseph’s voice was resolute.
“Joseph, I hope it will be sooner than that.” With Tony’s intel, hopefully we can cross Athena and her kidnappers’ paths within a day. The longer they had her, the greater the chances of them hurting her.
“Three days, Webb.” This was no longer the sound of a scientist who owned Nobel Peace Prizes. Nor was it the sound of a man who commanded the CDC.
“And if in three days we don’t have her?” I didn’t even want to think about it.
“If in three days you don’t have my daughter…” No, this was the sound of a father who loved, and was willing to risk it all. “I will broker a deal with El Padre.”
“Joseph, El Padre’s not a man who makes deals,” I warned. “He only takes and takes and he’s going to leave you with nothing if you give him what he wants.”
“He has my everything, Webb,” Joseph said, resigned. “I can live without my career. I can survive without my awards and money’s never been a motive for me. But if he harms my daughter, he might as well take my life.”
Money gave power. Power amassed wealth. But love?
Love transcended them both.
“I’ll bring Athena back,” I vowed. Because she was everything to me, too.
I wanted to tell him that I loved his daughter, but now was not the time. Especially since he was entrusting me with bringing her back, so I slowly added, “Because she means a lot to me as well.”
“Okay,” he said, the weight of my news heavily burdening him. “Call me as soon as you have anything on her.”
“I will.”
“Three days,” he repeated, as if he was already considering it to be his only resort.
“She’ll be safe in less than that,” I assured him because even if I couldn’t guarantee it one hundred percent, there was no way in hell that I was going to put Joseph in a deal-making situation with El Padre.
El Padre wanted Joseph’s formula.
He must have wanted it badly to go to these lengths to get it.
But there’s one more thing that El Padre would be willing to trade for.
One person that he’d want as much as Athena or Joseph.
Me.