Page 65 of Sicilian Savior

“No. Nothing. No movement whatsoever. Do you think—”

I took a stilling breath, trying not to let my emotions overwhelm my training. I would need every bit of it to bring them home. “It has to be Victor. I need you to find them.”

“Okay. I’m on it. I’ll start searching security cameras around the area, running facial recognition to see if I can spot them. What time did they disappear?”

“Within the past forty-five minutes.”

“I’ll start searching timestamps from then on.”

I focused on my breathing as the rage rumbled inside of me. “Just find them, Wes. Find him.”

“I will, Knox. You can count on me.”

We hung up the phone, and for the first time, I really let the weight of this terrifying reality sink in. Victor had Lucia. Victor had Luca. Victor had the two things most valuable to me. The only two things on this planet I truly loved.

My eyes narrowed. Victor was going to die.

For four hours, I paced around the house, envisioning all the ways I was going to kill him. All of them involved copious amounts of pain, yet none of them seemed excruciating enough. As much as I enjoyed envisioning his agonizing screams, those thoughts interlaced with all the things he could be doing to Lucia and Luca right now. My stomach twisted into a knot as I tried to force the images from my head. Force away the fear I envisioned in both their eyes.

“Fuck!” I slammed my fist into the wall, desperate to do something. Hit something. Go somewhere. But I was stuck until Wes got eyes on them. I wanted to locate a helicopter and get in and wait, knowing I could catch them faster if I traveled as the crow flies. But it would be tough to find places to fuel up along the way, not having a flight plan in place. It’s not like I could pull up to any random gas station. Not to mention needing a ride once I got to Victor’s final destination. Couldn’t exactly sneak in on top of him in a freaking chopper. No. The best plan was to get on my bike and travel the same route, just going at speeds I knew I could handle and catch up to them that way. Ideally, I could get on my bike and start driving now so I’d be closer when Wes called, but if I picked the wrong direction, I’d just be farther away from rescuing them.

Stuck. I was just fucking stuck, waiting until I heard back from Wes.

My phone beeped, and I looked down at the text from Piper.

Piper: Wes texted. Holy shit. I’m getting a plane ticket to head your way. Marcus is getting Irene and Ada squared away, and he’ll join us soon.

Me: Thank you, Piper. I can’t believe this is happening.

Piper: We’ll find them, Knox. We always do. Hang in there. Will text when I land.

I stared at the picture on my phone background. A selfie of the three of us squished into the screen. Fingers of terror gripped me tight when I let the thought that I’d never see them again slip into my mind.

How could I have been so stupid? How could I have left them? With Victor still walking around, I never should have let them out of my sight. I’d gotten soft. Complacent. And now, it might cost them their lives.

My phone rang, and I hit the button before the first ring finished.

“Tell me you found them,” I ground out.

“I got him, Knox. I fucking got him! It’s Victor. About an hour ago, he stopped for gas at a gas station about two hundred miles east of you. I was able to see Lucia and Luca in the car. They’re alive.”

I closed my eyes and fought back the tears that wanted to break free. Part relief they were alive and part terror they really were with that dangerous son-of-a-bitch.

“I’m pinging you the location now. I was able to get his plate, and he used a credit card when he paid. He’s running under an assumed identity, and it looks like he has been for a few weeks. He’s been in the States, and I’ve been looking primarily in Sicily. I don’t know how he got out of the country without me spotting him. He must have worn a disguise through the airport, so my facial recognition didn’t ping him, or he jumped on a ship or something. But I have him now, and I’ve got flags on his card and facial recognition running so I can track him as he travels. The car doesn’t have a GPS built in so I’m shit out of luck there, but I ran a program to figure out the approximate times he’ll be passing cameras I can hack. I’ll keep watch, and when he passes one, I’ll report in which direction he’s moving.”

“Thanks, Wes. Don’t lose him.”

“I’ve got this, Knox. I’m sorry I didn’t catch him before he came there.”

“Not your fault. Just glad you found them. Don’t lose them, Wes. They’re everything to me.”

“I won’t. Keep your phone and your GPS on so I can send your coordinates to Piper when she gets here. She’s flying in from Belgium, though, so it will be a while.”

“I’ve got this,” I growled. “Just get me to him, and I can handle the rest.”

“On it,” Wes said, then hung up.

I slipped the bulletproof vest on and strapped it into place, then pulled my t-shirt over it. I already had my ammo bag packed and on my bike. along with an arsenal of weapons I itched to try out on Victor.