Chapter 32

~ Danny ~

I walked into the kitchen when my cell phone rang. When I saw it was Joe’s number, I didn’t like the unease that settled in my stomach.

“What?”

“D, I think we’ve got a problem.”

I stopped cold in my tracks. “What do you mean, ‘a problem’? Where’s G?”

He cleared his throat. “That’s the problem. We don’t know. She’s not here.”

“What do you mean, she’s not there?”

“I don’t know.” He let out a sound of exasperation. “We saw her go in, and then Kat came running out later, saying they weren’t in there.”

Icy fear froze my heart. My warning to her had been too late. “I’m on my way.”

Big T walked in at that moment. “What’s going on?”

I glanced at him as I raced toward the garage. “G and Dani are missing.” I put the phone back to my ear. “She and my kid better be alive, or you’re going to wish you’d never met me!” I ended the call.

Big T was right behind me. “Did you tell her about—?”

“I tried.” I jumped into the Hummer and waited as Big T climbed into the passenger side. “I called her a few times, left her a message, even texted her, but she didn’t get back with me. Fuck!” I slammed my hand on the steering wheel and tore down the driveway, my security right behind me.

“We will find them, D,” T said.

“We better. Get my piece and make sure it’s loaded.”

“D,” he protested, but stopped when I pierced him with a look that said I wasn’t fucking taking no for an answer. “Fine, fine, but you should let the team do the dirty work. Not you. You’re no good to anybody behind bars. There’s too much at stake now.”

“And look where that got us. Even with them, he still got to her. What the fuck!” I slammed my hand against the steering wheel again, ignoring the pain that seared my palm.

Heavy silence fell in the SUV before I broke it again. “I can’t lose them, T. I just can’t.” My voice cracked, and I turned toward the window.

“You won’t, man. You won’t. We’ll find them and get them back to you, I promise.”

Despite Big T’s promise, I didn’t believe I would be lucky twice, and had an ugly feeling this time when I found Gabrielle, she wasn’t going to be unconscious. She was going to be dead.

* * *

We rushed into Kat’s home. She jumped up from where she’d curled into a ball on the couch when we came through the door.

“Did you find them?” she cried. Her tear-streaked face held an ash gray pallor, and her eyes threatened to overflow again.

“No,” I answered. “You hear anything?”

“Oh God.” She held a shaky hand over her mouth. “No. Nothing.” She cradled a little sandal to her chest. “What happened to them?”

I snatched the shoe from her and squeezed it in my hand as I closed my eyes against the sharp pain in my heart. I forced myself to take a deep breath and shoved it in my pocket, praying this wasn’t my last glimpse of my little girl.

I peered up at Big T. “Where would he take them?”

Teddy shrugged his big shoulders as Kat asked, “Who?”

“Terrell,” I answered. I glanced at Joe, who had stepped inside the door. “Anything out there?”

“Nothing.”

Kat held up her hand. “Wait, how do you know Terrell is involved with this? I thought he was still in jail.”

“No, he’s out.” I pulled out my gun and undid the safety.

Her wide eyes watched me. “D, you’re not going to shoot him, are you?”

“I might.”

“Perhaps we should call the cops?”

“No! No cops. They’ll just fuck everything up, and who knows what will happen to Gabby and Dani then. No,” I repeated, when they appeared ready to interrupt. “I’m doing this on my own. It’s all because of me, anyway.”

Big T and Kat both protested, but stopped when my cell phone rang. I snatched it out of my pocket and studied the display. “I don’t recognize the number,” I told them, but answered anyway. “Yeah?”

Silence crept across the line before hard breathing.

“I can hear you. Who the fuck is this?”

“Danny.” Her weak voice was barely audible.

“Gabrielle!” My skin flushed cold, mixed with fear and relief. “G, baby, where are you?”

“Danny, you have to find her,” she sobbed, her voice cutting off at the end.

“Baby, you need to tell me where you are. Tell me where you are.”

“Dance…”

“Come on, baby.” I squeezed my eyes shut, silently urging her to tell me where she was. “Hold on, don’t pass out on me. Where are you? Please tell me where to find you.”

“Ballet…dance…” The line fell silent.

“G? Gabrielle? Dammit, G, don’t you go quiet on me!” Fresh waves of terror swamped me as visions of her bleeding out somewhere filled my mind. I glanced at Big T and Kat, who were both eyeing me with concern. I shook my head as I fought the surge of emotions washing over me. I wanted to cry like a little girl while ranting and raving like a mad man out of control. “She went quiet,” I told them. “Gabby?”

“What did she say, D?” Big T asked.

“I don’t know…something about dance…ballet…that’s it.” I paced, refusing to put the phone down, my last lifeline to the love of my life and my baby girl.

“Dance?” Kat frowned. “What does that mean?”

Big T’s eyes widened. “He went back, D. He went back to where this all started.”

I stared at T before I understood what he was saying. “Shit! He took her back to the ballet studio.”

I sprinted out the door with everyone on my heels.

Jumping in my vehicle, I placed my gun on the console between the seats, within quick reach. When Big T was in, I raced back to the old hood. It was where everything had started, and now where everything was going to end.

Twenty minutes later, I screeched to a halt on the street outside of the old studio. The building was dark, with no signs of anyone, but I jumped out and ran to the front door, finding it locked.

Big T came up behind me. “Anything?”

Cupping my hands on the window, I tried to see in. “I don’t know. I can’t fucking see a thing.” I turned when Joe came rushing around the corner. “What’s up?”

“The back door is broken,” he said, and we all took off running down the alley.

When I got there, I pushed ahead of the rest of the guys. “Let me through.”

I stepped into the dark studio and listened, but all I heard was the heavy breathing of the group behind me. I moved, waiting for Terrell to show his face, but was blinded when the lights poured on from overhead, causing everyone to groan.

“What the fuck?” I glared over my shoulder.

“Sorry,” one guard mumbled.

Once my eyes adjusted, I saw the studio was the same, with mirrored walls in the long, narrow room. I glanced around, looking for anything, when I spotted the trail of blood leading into the waiting area. My heart caught in my throat.

I rushed over and found Gabrielle slumped on the floor with the phone by her hand.

“Gabrielle!” I cradled her head in my lap. “Wake up, baby. I’m here. I’ve got G!” I yelled to the others. “Find my baby girl, goddamnit!”

I ran my hands over her face, trying to find the source of her bleeding, which was from a nasty cut on her head. He’d bound her ankles, and the skin at her wrists was bloody and torn, evidence she’d fought hard against the binding and somehow got her hands free, so she could drag herself across the floor to the phone that sat on the desk in the tiny waiting area.

“Gabrielle, baby, please wake up.” I ran my hands over her hair, and when I got too close to her cut, she frowned and moaned. “Gabby, wake up, baby. I’m here. Wake up.”

It took a moment for her to get her eyes open and focus on me, but when she did, she tried to sit up. “Danny!” Her voice was hoarse.

“Take it easy, baby. Take it easy.”

She held her head in her hands while I worked to unbind her ankles. “Did you find Dani?”

At that moment, one of the security guards came back into the room. “Find her?”

“No, she’s not here. Neither is he.”

She clutched my shirt and forced my eyes to hers. “You came here without looking for Dani? You have to find her!” Her breaths hitched.

“Hey, hey.” I shushed her and pried my shirt out of her tight grip. “We’re going to, baby. We’re going to.”

“No! You don’t understand!” She shook her head and tears spilled down her face. “He’s going to hurt her. He didn’t want me, Danny. He wanted her. Nothing can happen to her!”

“Did he say where he was taking her?” Gabrielle was close to losing it, bordering on hysterical, which only fed my precarious hold on my anxiety, but I somehow remained composed. “Baby, you need to tell me everything you can remember. Calm down, baby. Please. You need to tell me what you know.”

“Uh…” She took gasping breaths, struggling to recall anything. “I don’t know!”

“Come on. You can remember. He must have said something.”

Everyone gathered around, waiting for her to recollect something. She took several deep breaths before trying again. “Uh, he said something about making a point and going someplace that meant something.” She struggled for more, and when nothing came to her, panic took over again and she grabbed at me. “I can’t remember anything!”

“Okay, okay. You did good.” I rubbed her back. “Making a point, and a place that meant something.” I frowned at Big T. “Mean anything to you?”

He puzzled it over before shaking his head. “I don’t know, D.”

“Making a point…meant something.” I willed my brain to put the pieces together. I had to, for the sake of my daughter. There was no way I would let Terrell take her away from me.

“Is there a place around here that meant something to you guys?” Joe asked.

“Well, G used to dance here,” I said. “Wait!” I straightened and turned back to Gabrielle. “Did he say making a point, or going to the point?”

“Uh. I don’t know.”

My eyes met Big T’s, who had caught on and was nodding his head. “It’s got to be Lighter Park. G and I used to go there all the time and sit at the point. It’s got to be that.” I grabbed her arm. “Can you stand, baby?”

With a new fire lit under her, she jumped up without my help, but stumbled, and I reached out a hand to hold her steady. “We’ve got to get there, Danny. Let’s go!” She tugged on my grip, eager to leave.

We rushed out the front door and piled in the cars. Big T climbed in the back as Gabrielle sat in the passenger seat.

I sped toward the park where Gabrielle and I had spent most of our time together. I wasn’t sure what Terrell was trying to pull, but he was making a fucking production; a little trip down memory lane, intending this to be the last one for all of us.

I held my hand up over the seat. “Hand me that towel back there, T.” When Big T handed it over, I gave it to Gabrielle. “Hold this to your head to stop the bleeding, baby.”

She lifted her head and stared at me, her eyes filled with utter sadness and fear that gripped my soul and ripped it out. “Please get there, Danny.” A big tear trailed down her cheek before she grabbed the towel from me and pressed it to her temple.

“I will, baby, and I will get our baby girl back. I promise you.”