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“Lots of things,” Dalton replied. “Gold, silver, cryptos, commodities, businesses…real estate.”
“Real estate. Real estate!” I barked. “That’s it. He’s got her stashed someplace else…a warehouse or building or something. Thanks, man. I’m gonna dive down that rabbit hole and see what I find. I’ll call you later.”
After we’d hung up, I’d spent the next fifteen hours slamming coffee and wandering through the labyrinth of multiple LLCs and shell companies Wesley had his fingers in.
Eyes burning and acid churning my stomach, I leaned back in my chair and glanced at the clock. It was three in the morning. My body was stiff and my brain numb from lack of sleep. Though I couldn’t afford to waste precious minutes resetting my own clock, I tapped the alarm on my phone for one hour, then closed my eyes and drifted off.
Strolling hand-in-hand with Emma in the field, her long, blonde hair—like the day we’d met—shimmered in the sun and billowed in the breeze.
Her hazel eyes sparkled like diamonds as she paused and peered up at me.
“Help me, Grant,” she wailed, crumpling to the ground.
Terror gripped my throat.
When I bent to pick her up, she was gone.
The field suddenly morphed into a dark and eerie dungeon. Emma was still screaming for me to help her, but I couldn’t find her. Racing down a narrow hallway, I was lost in a maze of stone walls and flashes of flame randomly shooting from the mortar between them.
Bellowing her name, I bounced off the hot bricks at each dead-end, cursing and roaring while frantically retracing my steps.
Without warning, the walls disappeared and a blinding white light pierced my eyes.
Blinking past the pain searing my retinas, I saw Emma…naked, bound, and writhing on a white marble altar. When she turned her head and looked at me, I could see, taste, and feel the panic and fear exploding inside her.
At the end of the altar, near her feet, Wesley flashed me a maniacal grin, then raised a razor-sharp Damascus sword over his head.
“No!” I roared, sprinting toward them.
I glanced at Emma, but instead of seeing her beautiful, loving face, my eyes locked onto Aubrey’s bloody, beaten, lifeless body.
Jerking awake with a heart-pounding jolt, I gasped for air and blinked the nightmare away.
“No. No. I’m not letting her die, too,” I growled, scrubbing a hand over my face.
With staunch determination, I studied the document on my computer. When I read the words,Lease Agreement,I’d almost closed it out and moved on.
But the hairs prickling the back of my neck made me pause and ponder…
“Why would Wesley lease an apartment when he could just buy the whole building?” I muttered.
I jotted down the address, then scrolled to the end of the document and froze. Wesley had signed the agreement the same day I’d met Emma.
Struggling to tamp down the hope rising inside me, I bolted from my chair and grabbed a quick shower. After dragging on my bogus delivery uniform again, I grabbed the box and hurried out the door. I knew it would be hours before I could attempt to talk my way past another security guard. Since I hadn’t eaten much the last few days, I stopped at an all-night diner, and forced myself to choke down some food. Then drove to Wesley’s newly acquired apartment and watched the sun rise behind the Statue of Liberty while I scoped out the sleek, modern high-rise.
As the minutes ticked by like hours, my sixth sense—the one Mack had teased me about—hummed with certainty. I knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, Emma was on the sixty-fourth floor of the building…inwardly screaming for me to help her.
“I’m coming, little one. I swear,” I murmured.
Fighting the urge to burst into the lobby, press my Glock to the security guard’s head, and demand he give me his master key, I gripped the steering wheel tightly. Though I loved the idea of going in guns blazing—if only to calm my raw, scraping nerves—the chances of making it to the elevator before being tackled and detained, or shot dead, were slim to none.
“Stick to the plan, fucker,” I grumbled, searching for any sign of a delivery truck.
Forty-five interminable minutes later, a brown cargo van pulled to the curb.
Heart bouncing off my ribs, I grabbed the box and hopped out of the car before following the real delivery driver up the stairs. Like the time before, I painted on a placid smile and waited for the guard to wave the other guy through. Then I stepped up and announced I had a package for the evil cocksucker.
“One moment, please.” The guard smiled as he lifted a phone from his belt.
