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“Fuck! I know you’re right, Viktor, but pausing the search does not make me happy,” I said, trying to control my anger.
“You’re not the only one, Boss. We all want to find her, but we need to be smart about it. We don’t want them moving her. Or worse,” Andrei said.
“We’re gonna find her, Boss. Now that we know Ivan is with her, that helps. I don’t feel like she’s dead, either,” Misha said. He paused to look at me, then added, “Add that to the list of sentences I never thought I’d say in my life. Seriously, though, you would feel it if something happened to her. I know it.”
“I don’t think she’s dead either. There’s a pull in my chest that I feel anytime I’m away from her until I get back to her. It’s still there and it’s getting stronger,” I said.
“We might be able to use that to help find her,” Stephen said. “How strong does it get?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t been this far away from her, ever. It gets stronger when she’s hurt though. I told her it feels like my heart is urging me to destroy whatever caused her pain.” I ran my hand through my hair. I was definitely not expecting to be having this conversation in the middle of the street at 3:00 a.m.
“She’s told us about that before. She feels it too, and we all feel it with her, just to a lesser extent than you,” Andrei said.
“Let’s head back to the penthouse. I think if you can focus on that pull, it’ll help us know where we should start looking once the sun comes up,” Stephen said. I nodded once.
As we drove back to the penthouse, I caught myself thinking about how surprising it was that it was Stephen that had come up with this plan. I would not have bet on him to take charge of this situation before Sephie. Just like with Misha, she was slowly bringing out the absolute best in Stephen. He had talked more since she came into our lives than he had in the previous few years that he’d been working for me. We were all somewhat relieved and admittedly slightly disappointed to learn that he wasn’t a serial killer.
Viktor stopped by the office and grabbed a map before meeting the rest of us in the penthouse. Andrei started making coffee for everyone. We were all quieter than usual, worried about finding her. I was having trouble controlling my thoughts. I kept thinking about them hurting her, which would cause my anger levels to rise even more. It was taking every bit of control I had to keep my anger in check, using the trick that Sephie had showed me.
Viktor put the map on the kitchen island, marking the spots where they were grabbed and where we found their helmets. Sal controlled the north side of town. It had been a booming area years ago, but had seen a decline in the past few years. There were plenty of abandoned buildings in his area, which would not make our search any easier.
As I looked at the map, feeling completely overwhelmed at where to start looking, Stephen said, “Boss, focus on that pull you feel. Close your eyes if you have to, but focus on the pull you feel toward her.”
My anger was at such a level that paying attention to anything else was proving to be difficult. The pull in my chest was a normal feeling when I was away from her. It had become so normal that I didn’t pay much attention to it when I was away from her. Stephen could tell from the look on my face that I was struggling.
“Think about her, then. Think about finding her, specifically. Think about how relieved you’re going to be to see her once again. Think about feeling her in your arms when you find her,” Stephen said.
His words were helping my anger subside enough that the pull in my chest grew stronger. My demeanor must’ve changed because Stephen nodded to Misha, who grabbed my hand again. Misha’s eyes went wide as soon as he touched me.
“Keep thinking about her, Boss. Feel that pull in your chest. Focus on that,” Stephen said.
Misha said, “I know the area. I still can’t see the address on the building, but I know the area. They’re not that far from the docks.” He let go of my hand and pointed to an area on the map. “They’re somewhere in here.”
Viktor marked it on the map, taking a closer look at the area. “This makes it easier than having to search the entire north end of town, but there’s more abandoned buildings than not in this area.”
“How easy is it going to be for us to search the area without being seen?” Andrei asked.
“Not as easy as I was hoping. There won’t be many people in this area. We’re going to need Gus and his guys to help us search. They’ll be able to blend in with the few people that are going to be out and about better than we can,” Viktor said.
“What if we use a distraction? Drop another building in the area. It might make them nervous enough that they move them, then we can catch them as they come out,” Andrei said.
We all thought for a moment on Andrei’s idea. “I want to make sure we’re not dropping the building they’re in first, but I’ll level that end of town if it means getting her back,” I said.
Once the sun came up, Viktor called Chen. “Any word on Sephie?” he asked as he picked up the phone.
“We’re narrowing down where we think they took her. We need your help. We have a way to search for them, but the part of town they’re in is mostly abandoned buildings. We’re going to stick out. We need you to get Gus and his guys to help us search,” Viktor said.
“How many guys do you need?”
“As many as you can get,” Viktor said. “We’ll meet at the apartment building. Two hours.”
The parking lot of Sephie’s old apartment building was full when we showed up two hours later. Chen had gathered twenty guys willing to help us search.
“How did you get this many guys on such short notice?” I asked Chen.
“They’re all grateful you stopped the brawn operation last night. They want to help,” he said. “Most of them are Trino’s guys. Apparently, that guy will sing her praises to anyone who will listen.” He gave me a tight smile. “But we all want to find her and stop the other bosses, especially Sal.”
Viktor took over and laid out the plan for the search. The earpieces would connect to each other automatically when you were within range. All the guys had to do was be close enough to Sephie and Ivan’s earpieces and their earpiece would beep to connect. No connection, no beep. It was as simple as that. The city was already a grid, so Viktor just assigned groups of guys to each section of the grid. All they had to do was walk down the street, waiting for the beep in their ear that told them which building Sephie was in. Without getting caught, of course.
