Ford obliges, and the footage gives us absolutely nothing. The screen goes blank again.
“Fuck,” Ford says. He fast-forwards again to get to the next day, which is yesterday. Same thing, there’s nothing out of the ordinary at all. Just customers, mechanics. Drake working on his bike. We keep watching in fast-forward until the screen goes black and then Ford speeds it up again.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I say. “Back it up. I saw a flicker.”
Ford rewinds and yeah, sure enough, at three thirty last night the camera comes on.
And this time we can see exactly who it is.
“Bobby Mansi,” I mutter. “That guy on the left is Bobby Mansi, Ronnie’s new landlord.”
Ford looks at me and shakes his head. “Well, that guy on the right? That’s Tony Fenici. Ashleigh’s dead boyfriend.”
The door bursts open and I’ve got my gun out and pressed against Carson’s head before I even process who he is. “Fuck, Carson, you almost got yourself shot!”
“Sorry, Spencer,” he says, all out of breath. “But shit, you guys need to get over to that penthouse where Ronnie lives, because I followed the Bombshell over there after work, and dudes…” He pants a little as he tries to catch his breath. “All your women are over there with some pretty nasty-looking guys with guns!”
Ford is up before Carson even stops talking but both Ronin and I grab an arm and wrestle him back to the chair.
“Stay focused, Ford.” I point my finger down at him. “We don’t f**king rush in to anything. And right now, they’ve got your wife and baby, so the last thing we want to do is go in unprepared.”
“I’ll kill that motherfucker, Spencer. I swear, I will kill that motherfucker.”
“Understood.” I swallow hard and clap his shoulder.
“OK,” Ronin says, turning to Carson. “Tell us everything you know.”
So he does. And Carson Reed instantly jumps from prospect to Team member.
And then there’s only one thing left to do.
I get the guns.Chapter Thirty-Three
VERONICA
I dart down the hallway to an empty closet and slip inside. There’s nothing in here, no hangers to rattle and give me away. So I try to calm my racing heart. I open it a crack and push the record button on the phone just as the elevator doors open. He must have a key that makes them work.
The baby is sniffling but her crying has stopped. Rook is holding her tightly to her chest, her eyes covered with a blindfold. Her mouth is not gagged and her hands are not bound, though. She needs those to hold Kate and whisper calming words to her to keep her from wailing in protest at what’s happening.
The baby recoils in terror when the man I think is Tony leans in and talks to her. “Katelynn Fenici, you’re mine, little girl.”
“She’s not yours,” Rook growls back in protective mode. The guy belts her across the mouth. Her head snaps to the side. Blood drips down her lip and Rook spits it out on the floor. It misses the guy’s boots, but just barely. “That’s all you got, ass**le?” she snarls. “You hit like a girl.” He hits her again and this time Rook stumbles to the side, her lip split open good. “You can hit me all you want, it doesn’t change a thing. This baby is not yours.”
Tony pushes a gun in Rook’s back and give her a push. “Walk forward,” he barks.
“I’m not walking blindfolded with a baby. I’ll fall and she’s the one who’ll get—”
The guy pushes Rook hard enough to make her stumble forward. I almost gasp as she begins to fall. Tony plucks the baby right from Rook’s arms and then she crashes forward, landing hard on her side. Tony leans in and says something to Rook, but I can’t hear anything over the panicked wailing of Kate.
He thrusts the child back at Rook and Rook wraps the baby in her arms protectively, bringing her close to her chest as she tries to calm her.
Tony walks over to the large windows and looks out, then turns back to Rook. “If she moves,” he says to no one, “shoot her. You hear that, Rook? You move, you take off that blindfold, you get up and try to escape, my two guys will shoot you.” He kicks her in the leg and then goes back to the elevator, which still has its doors open. Like it requires a command to do anything at the moment.
I can’t see Tony as he gets in, but a few seconds later the doors close and the room is quiet.
“Rook?” Amber says from across the room. I almost forgot she was here. And she’s got her gag off! If that guy had seen that—
“Don’t talk to me.”
“There’s a girl here, not two guys. She’s hiding somewhere, and she’s not going to shoot you. Come untie me.”
“Shut up!” Rook snaps. “I don’t even know who you are.”
“I’m Kate’s aunt, Amber. I’m Ashleigh’s sister. And I’m telling you, there are no guys here, just a girl who is gone. She told me I’d be OK. But right now that guy who just left is going to get my sister and then he’ll come back up here and take Kate and kill us both. He’s an animal. So if you want to live, if you want that baby to live, then you need to get your ass over here and untie me so we can escape.”
Rook lifts herself up cautiously, waiting for the command to sit back down, but when it doesn’t come, she stands all the way up and coos into Kate’s ear. “You’re OK, baby. We’re gonna get out of here now, OK? Go see your mommy and daddy.” She removes her blindfold and looks around. I duck back into the closet as her eyes swipe past the room. Then she runs over to Amber and removes her blindfold.