Chapter17
Savannah watched as he slipped the phone back into his pocket with a hint of a smile. “What’s going on? Why am I here?” she asked, managing somehow to find a voice in her and the courage from somewhere to use it.
Vincent eyed her silently and then walked over to the other chair, placing his hand on the back of it. He pulled it over closer to her and sat down on it, looking at her seriously. “You want to know about what happened… why you’re here? We have a couple of hours, and who knows, this might be the last thing you ever hear or do.” His eyes were steady on her. “I’ll tell you.”
He leaned all the way back and looked off in the distance over her head, as if he was looking back through time somehow. “Five years ago, I was the king of a drug empire so vast that it spread over most of the east coast. Things were good for me. Really good. I had beautiful homes in exotic places. I had a lot of money. I had luxurious cars and boats. I had women dripping off of me, doing anything I wanted, sucking my dick in the morning every morning to wake me up. My life was good. Then, this small-time little jerk of a drug dealer wormed his way into my operation. I thought he was useful at first, but then he turned into a huge pain in the ass, and I knew he was no good. Caleb Boggs. Little insect. I was going to pop a cap in his ass and get rid of him, but I wasn’t quite fast enough. He screwed me over on a drug deal. Stole a bunch of drugs from me. Lucas helped him do it. See, that’s where it went really bad. The cops showed up, and Caleb got out. We were arrested, Lucas and me, except, see, Lucas… he lied to the cops. He told them that it was just him and me. He never said a word about Caleb, and they believed him. I went to prison, and Lucas was set free. Not even a slap on the wrist. He was given the golden treatment because he’s a rich boy, which might have worked then, but now the piper has come to call, and he has to pay the piper.”
Savannah stared at him. Everything that he was saying sounded like some foreign language to her. Not Lucas… there’s no way that Lucas could be involved in drug deals. It wasn’t possible. Yet, here she was, tied with ropes so tight that they were making her bleed, locked to a chair in a warehouse, the prisoner of a drug dealer who had come to collect his due. She realized as she was watching him that he wasn’t lying to her. He had no cause or reason to lie to her. She was discovering a side of Lucas that she never would have imagined and that she never would have known about if Vincent hadn’t stolen her away. She also realized that it didn’t matter because she wasn’t going to be alive long enough for it to matter anyway.
Vincent shook his head slowly. “Now, Caleb… he got away scot free. He was never caught. I was the only one who had to pay any kind of price for the crimes. I’m the one with the prison time. The only one. Now I’m here to make sure that justice is done to Lucas, and to that little prick Caleb, when I find him.”
“He would never do that… Lucas would never do that,” Savannah whispered, wishing that she could believe that her own words were true.
Vincent laughed at her and leaned forward, setting his arms on his legs as he looked at her. “Yeah? You don’t think this is true? Then how did he know exactly who I was when he answered the phone? He knew right away. Why is he coming to pay me off? Because he knows, because he did it, because he’s guilty as hell. Your new high-and-mighty society boyfriend is the reason the whole drug deal went as bad as it did, and he’s why I spent five years in prison, and now he’s going to pay for it. You should choose your men more carefully because this one… well, he’s not a good one. If you make it out of here alive tonight, you could have another chance at a guy who isn’t going to get you killed.” He laughed again, standing back up and walking over to the window to look out of it to the street below, keeping watch.
Tears sprung all new to her eyes, hot and heavy as they washed over her eyelashes and down her cheeks. Terror coursed through her every vein and invaded every thought in her mind. As afraid as she was, none of it compared to the nausea that had come and hit her like a wrecking ball in the stomach when she realized that Vincent was right and that Lucas had indeed been involved in something so bad.
***
Caleb was lounging on his sofa, stuffing his face with popcorn and watching television, when his cell phone rang. He glanced over at it and picked it up. Upon seeing who it was, he answered it and held the phone to his ear with a smile.
“Hey brother, what’s up?” he asked lightly.
The voice that answered him was urgent and serious as hell. “Vincent Rosetti is out of prison.”
“What?” he asked, leaping forward in his seat and scattering his popcorn all over himself, the sofa, and the floor.
Lucas’ voice was as hard as steel. “You heard me. He’s got Savannah. He’s holding her captive somewhere in Harlem. He’s using her as a ransom victim. I’m going to call the cops, but I’m looking at them as backup. I’m on a mission to go get her myself, and you’re coming with me.”
Caleb blinked. “I’m… I’m coming with you?”
“Yes, you are. This is all your fault, and you know it,” Lucas shot at him.
Caleb hung his head and closed his eyes, running his hand over his forehead. “Yeah, yeah it is. I’m sorry, Lucas.” He sighed. “Alright, I’m in. In fact, I’ll pay half of the ransom money, whatever it is.”
“It’s five million dollars in unmarked bills.”
Caleb’s eyes opened wide, and he slowly dropped his hand to his side. “Yeah, no problem. Two and a half mil. Got it. I mean… I’ll get it. I owe you that.”
“I don’t have all of the other half of it; I have some here at the house, but not enough. l have to get the rest, and I have to get it fast. We only have two hours to do this. Now, Caleb… this is what we were trained for in Afghanistan. This is why we were elite military; operations like this are what we specialize in. Get your combat boots on. It’s time to work.” Lucas was completely determined.
“I’ll be ready when you get here,” Caleb assured him as they ended the phone call, and Lucas could hear in his voice that he meant it.
Lucas went to his vault, hidden in a secret room in between his room and his personal library at his father’s house. He swore under his breath, wishing that he’d stashed more cash in it because he took out all that he had, and it wasn’t enough.
He tucked it into a black bag and headed to the other end of the house, looking for his siblings. Camilla and Ryder were sitting in the theater room watching a movie. They stopped it and looked at him with worry in their eyes when they saw his face.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Camilla asked, her face growing pale.
“I need some help.” Lucas admitted humbly to them. “Vincent Rosetti is out of prison, and he found Savannah and kidnapped her. He’s holding her for ransom somewhere in Harlem. I have some of the cash I need to get her out, but not all of it. I can’t go to father or to Pierce with this. You two are my only real hope. I have about an hour and a half to get the cash together and get to Harlem before he kills her, and you know he’ll do it.” He went to them and sat down near them on a chair, looking at them imploringly. “Listen, I’m sorry to ask, but I will pay you back when I can get to the bank tomorrow, if this goes well.”
Camilla’s face grew dark, and she glared at him. “This is all because of that rotten friend of yours! Caleb is to blame for all of this! He’s the one who should be fronting the cash for it! He’s nearly as wealthy as we are! Why haven’t you asked him for it?”
“I did. He’s fronting half of the ransom. I’m trying to come up with the other half. Please! I don’t have much time. Savannah’s life is on the line!” Lucas looked back and forth between them. Ryder was already up and off of the sofa, heading out of the theater room.
Camilla grumbled and furrowed her brow. “Fine. I’m going to help you because it’s you asking, and because your girlfriend needs it, but that bastard Caleb better never show his face around here again!” She left the room as well.
Minutes later, Ryder came back in, and Camilla was close behind him. Ryder handed him a huge stack of cash. “Here, brother. I hope this takes care of it for you. I don’t care about the money, I just want you back here safe and sound, and I hope Savannah makes it out alright. Please be careful.”
“I will, thank you,” Lucas replied, stuffing the cash into the black bag.
Camilla handed him her stack of cash and sighed irritably. “I’m sorry, Luke; I just can’t stand that he’s cost you so much. You should have left him behind a long time ago. Please come back safe, and bring Savannah with you. I love you.” She gave him a hug, and Ryder hugged him then as well.
Lucas thanked them both and took off for the garage, stuffing the big, black bag in the trunk of his car. In minutes, he was zooming down the road, headed straight for Caleb’s brownstone in town. Caleb was good to his word and was sitting outside waiting for him with a big duffle bag held tight in his hands.
When Lucas pulled up, Caleb tucked the duffle bag into the trunk beside Lucas’ bag, and they raced off to the address in Harlem that Vincent had given them. Lucas looked down at Caleb’s feet, and a half-laugh escaped him.
“You’re wearing your combat boots?” he asked in quiet wonder. “I haven’t seen those since we were in Afghanistan.”
“You said it was time to go to work. I’m ready.” Caleb looked over at him and gave him a confident nod. “We got this. You know we can take that piece of trash down in no time. She’s going to be alright. We’re going to get her back.”
Lucas pressed his lips together tightly. “We’d better.” He took a deep breath and caught his best friend up on the latest aspects of their situation. “I called the police, and they’re on their way there, but they’re going to stay out of sight until we know Savannah is safe. Then they’ll move in. They were good about cooperating with me on this, especially after they found out who we were. I insisted they do it my way. I have to know that she’s going to be safe. I don’t care about the money. We have to be on point with this, Caleb,” he said seriously, looking over at Caleb. “Nothing can go wrong with this plan. I have to get her back.”
Caleb stared at him. “You’ve fallen in love with her.”
“Yes,” Lucas admitted, clenching his jaw as he thought of her being held captive by the drug lord monster who had her. “I do love her, and I want to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her.”
Silence answered him for a fleeting moment as Caleb gazed at him. “Well, then, let’s go get her back.”
A short while later, Lucas pulled up to the street beside the warehouse. He looked over at Caleb, who had moved to the back seat of the car and was ducked down to avoid being seen. “I’m going in. You stay here until you can see that I’m gone, and then you come in second. Do not let Vincent see you, or he’ll kill you on sight. He’ll probably also kill Savannah and me for not going along with his rules of engagement.”
“Got it,” Caleb answered quietly. “Go.”
Lucas opened the car door and looked around carefully, all up and down the street, and up at the warehouse. He saw Vincent’s image in a window on the second floor and moved slowly out of the car, closing the door behind him. Lucas walked toward the warehouse and went into the side door that was near the car.
He waited in the dark, looking around. A limousine was sitting in the middle of the warehouse floor, parked. As he watched, the driver’s side door opened, and a man got out. Just then, Caleb came in through the side door and flattened himself against the wall near it, hiding in the dark shadows. The man beside the car heard the door close, and he walked toward them.
Lucas looked over at Caleb, and Caleb gave him a silent hand signal to go forward, that he would take care of the chauffeur coming toward him. Lucas went up the staircase quietly to the door at the top.
The chauffeur reached the staircase and looked up toward where Lucas was going. He drew a gun from the holster at his belt and pointed it directly at Lucas, cocking the trigger on it, both hands closed tight around it.
Just as he was about to fire it, a blunt object came down swift and hard on the side of his head, and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. Caleb began to tie the man up, and Lucas turned to look back at them. Caleb gave him a thumbs up sign, and Lucas pulled out his own gun, opened the door, and went inside.
The plastic sheets wavered back and forth in the cold breeze that moved through the room, coming from the open windows. They rustled and crackled, adding to the rumblings of the storm in the sky far overhead and the pounding of the rain on the metal roof above them.
Step by step, he carefully made his way through the plastic maze, going toward the dim light that was coming from the far corner of the room. There were streetlights outside there that shone in, and a single lightbulb on a thin wire, hanging from the ceiling.
He came through the last sheet of plastic and saw Savannah tied to the chair that she was sitting on. Vincent stood over her with a gun in his hand, and it was pointed directly at the temple of Savannah’s head.
Lucas lifted his hands and pointed his gun at Vincent. Savannah cried out in relief when she saw Lucas, all of her raw emotions erupting all over again. A torrent of fear, anger, and relief stormed through her, and she wanted to hug Lucas and hit him all at once.
His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her. He knew that he had to be completely on guard and be very careful, or it was all going to be over for both of them.
“Did you come alone?” Vincent asked, lifting his chin defiantly.
“I did. I’m not stupid enough to cross a drug lord,” Lucas lied.
“Where’s the money?” Vincent narrowed his eyes, meanly.
“It’s in the car downstairs. The one I arrived in. It’s in the trunk. I wanted to make sure that she was safe before I handed it over to you.” He dipped his fingertips slowly and carefully into his pocket while still holding his gun aimed straight at Vincent, and he slid his car keys out.
Tossing them lightly, he said, “Here. Go look for yourself. It’s all there. Get in the car and take it all if you want to, but leave here, and don’t hurt her.”
Vincent’s hand shot up, and he snatched the keys from mid-air. “Oh, I’m going to go look, but you’re coming with me. I’m not letting either one of you out of my sight until I know that all that money is there. Come here.”
Lucas walked slowly toward him, and they both moved, step by step, facing one another as if in some strange death dance, to the window overlooking the street. Their guns were pointed at each other, barrel to barrel, and they didn’t take their eyes off of each other for more than a second. Vincent glanced down at the street.
It was barren except for one car, parked at the end of it. “How do I know that’s your car?” Vincent asked suspiciously.
“Hit the alarm button on the keys,” Lucas told him, trying to keep from sounding like a smartass.
Vincent pressed the button, and the lights flashed on the car. He nodded subtly and looked back at Lucas. In an instant, he had his gun back on Savannah. “Drop your gun, Lucas, and come with me, or she’s done right now.”
Savannah cried out, and panic shot through every part of her body. “No!” She looked from Vincent to Lucas, and she knew that her life was on the line right at that moment. Lucas cast a quick glance at her and saw the terror in her eyes. She pleaded with him silently, and he looked back at Vincent.
Lucas didn’t hesitate. He slowly bent down, lowering himself and his gun to the ground. He set it gently on the floor and slowly stood back up, all the while keeping his eyes on Vincent.
“You’re coming with me. We’re going to make sure that money is there,” Vincent told him with a bitter look.
“Fine, I’ll go with you. Just don’t do anything to her,” Lucas told him seriously. Vincent ground his teeth.
“Let’s go,” he spat coldly. Holding the end of his gun to Lucas’ shoulder, they walked out of the room together and headed down the stairs. Lucas looked around carefully, trying to see what was going on in the warehouse with Caleb and the chauffeur before Vincent could tell that anything was amiss. He managed a quick look over at the limousine and saw that the chauffeur was sitting inside of it, right in the driver’s seat. He was looking straight ahead. Lucas knew that he must be doing it because he had no choice, and that Caleb was either in the car with him, or not far from him, watching them.
They made it out to the street and headed to the trunk of the car.
Upstairs, Savannah was sitting in her chair, tears still coming as she wondered what was going on outside and whether or not either one of her or Lucas was going to make it out of the night alive. She felt a hand come around her mouth and clamp tight over it. She tried to scream from fright, but the sound was muffled.
The owner of the hand moved around her chair, and she saw the strange man. He held his other hand to his mouth with his finger over his lips, telling her to be silent. She blinked, realizing that he wasn’t there helping Vincent, and she nodded.
Slowly, he lifted his hand from her mouth and leaned close to her ear. “I’m a friend of Lucas. I’m Caleb. We’re here to get you out. Stay quiet.” Her stomach tied in a knot as she realized that the man before her was one of the reasons why Lucas was involved with drugs and with Vincent to begin with. It made her sick that he was there, but he was also helping her. Staying quiet, she gave him another nod, and he went behind her chair and untied the ropes.
Blood rushed back into her arms and legs, and she cringed at the pain that all of it brought. Caleb helped her to her feet, and she rested one arm over his shoulder as he helped her stand and walk toward the door.
Slowly, they made their way down the stairs into the main area of the warehouse, to a side door on the far wall of the building. He opened it as quietly as he could, and they stepped out into an alley.
Savannah took her first big breath and nearly collapsed on the ground right there. “I can’t believe I’m out of there,” she whispered, amazed with relief. Caleb shook his head and held his finger to his lips again. She nodded. He wanted her to remain silent.
Leaning close, he whispered in her ear, “You stay right here in this alley, and don’t come out of it. One of us will come get you.”
She nodded once more, and he crept away from her, going across the street, where he hid behind trees and trash cans that dotted the sidewalk. She watched as he slowly made his way closer and closer to where the car was that Lucas and Vincent were standing at, while staying on the far side of the street across from them. Her heart was still racing, and her mind was going just as fast. Part of her wanted to run and hide, and another part of her wanted to find some way to help Lucas, though she had no idea how she might be able to do it. She moved to the corner of the building, where the alley met the street, and staying hidden as best she could, she watched the situation happening before her from there.
Lucas opened the trunk of the car, and Vincent looked in. He saw the two big bags, and, waving his gun at Lucas, he told him to open them. Lucas reached over and unzipped each one, opening them up so that Vincent could see the money filling both of them.
“That better be all of it,” Vincent warned sharply as he looked from the wads of cash back to Lucas.
“It is,” Lucas assured him. “Now, let Savannah go.”
A slow smile spread over Vincent’s face. “You know, I thought about it because really, she’s a peach, and she wasn’t involved in any of it. She sure as hell didn’t deserve this or a jerk like you, but I don’t think I will. See, you put me in prison, and you sent me there on my own. I’ve had five long years to think about taking you down, and now I’m here to do it, and killing her is just going to be too sweet for me to pass up. Don’t feel left out, though; I’m much more interested in killing the man who put me in prison for five years, while letting Caleb Boggs get away scot free.”
Lucas felt every muscle in his body tighten. He’d known that it was probably going to go poorly, that he might not make it out alive, but hearing the words spoken to him made him cringe all the more.
Savannah looked from Vincent and Lucas back to Caleb, who was crouched behind a trash can with a military-grade gun pointed right at Vincent and Lucas.
Vincent held his gun up to Lucas’ head. “I’m going to start with you. Then I’m going to go up and have a real good time with your girl. It’s been five years since I was between a woman’s legs, and she’s one hot, little tomato. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of her before I kill her.”
Lucas glared furiously at him. “I told you not to touch her!” he growled. Vincent pointed his gun at Lucas’ temple, cocked the trigger, and two ear-shattering shots shattered through the rain and the dark. Blood began to seep from Vincent’s leg, and more from his shoulder.
Vincent blinked and crumpled slightly at the right knee. He heard someone yelling, and he turned to see a policeman walking toward him, gun drawn on him.
“Drop your weapon!” the policeman yelled again, continuing to come toward them.
Vincent turned his gun away from Lucas’ head and pointed it at the policeman. He fired, but Lucas punched him in the side of the ribs as he did, making Vincent double over, and the shot missed, sailing heavenward. The policeman fired back, and Vincent suddenly hit his knees on the ground. Blood spilled out all over his chest where the last bullet wound from the policeman’s gun had entered his body. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words were lost to eternity, and he fell face first onto the asphalt before him.
Lucas kicked the gun away, and the policeman rushed up to Vincent and knelt beside him to check his vital signs. Four other officers came up quickly behind him, and the first officer called out that Vincent was dead.
Caleb came out from behind the trash can and ran to the scene. Savannah was close behind him. Caleb reached Lucas first, closing his arms around his best friend. “Are you okay?” he asked, double-checking. “You weren’t hit or anything?” He looked Lucas up and down.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” Lucas said in quiet relief, looking from Caleb down to Vincent and glaring in disgust at the heap of human trash at his feet. “This jerk isn’t, though, from the looks and the sound of it.”
Savannah got to them, but as she did, she stopped just short of them. Everything in her was a rush of emotion. All of it was chaos. Every word that Vincent had spoken, everything she had heard and seen, everything that she had realized was tumbling through her mind and tying her heart in knots.
Lucas breathed a visible sigh of relief as he looked at her. He let go of Caleb and took a few steps toward her, but she backed off from him, and he stopped in mid-step, staring at her as confusion clouded his face.
“Are you okay?” he asked, short of breath and anxious to hold her, wondering why she had stopped and if she was hurt.
She stayed still where she was, looking from Lucas to Caleb, and then she spoke to Lucas. “I’m not hurt too bad.” Her wrists and ankles were all that was injured, but not badly.
Relief came over him, and she saw it. He moved to come to her, and she held her hand up to block him. He stopped and blinked at her in surprise. “What is it?” he asked in uncertainty.
“Is it true?” Her voice wavered as she asked him what she had to know; what had been eating at her since Vincent had told her what she didn’t know about Lucas. “Were you really mixed up in a drug deal with Vincent and Caleb? Is that why I’m really here?”
She wanted to know, and she didn’t want to know at all. Something deep in her knew the truth already, though she didn’t want to admit it. She stood there before him, waiting to hear the answer. She saw Caleb’s head drop, and he stared at the ground.
Lucas let out a long sigh and looked over at Caleb and then lifted his eyes back to her again. “Yes, it’s true. I was. That’s why you were taken. That’s why you were here tonight.”
Anger blazed up in her like a bonfire, and she gritted her teeth and shook her head. “You are a liar and a criminal, and you nearly cost me my life! I never want to see you again!”
Caleb reached his hand out to her to stop her. “Wait! Lucas is wrong!”
She shook her head and held her hand up. “Go to hell,” she said in a low voice, turning away from them. She turned from them and walked away as a policeman called out to her from the squad cars that had pulled up to the scene, lights flashing all over them.
Caleb looked over at Lucas. “I’m so sorry,” he began, but Lucas shook his head.
“Just stop,” he said quietly, and he walked away, leaving Caleb there.