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“Thank you,” Tavi says. When he goes to take our bags, he turns his back to me.
The soccer team comes through security at the same time we do, loud and boisterous, jostling each other. The security guard gestures for Tavi, and Tavi looks at me in a panic as the team sweeps past us so quickly, we’re separated.
I trip and nearly fall, when strong arms go around me and pull me to the side behind a large column. “Keep walking, Elise.”
It isn’t Tavi. The voice isn’t Tavi’s, and Tavi might hold me tightly, but he doesn’t feel like this.
In a panic, I turn my head to see who it is, but the arms around me are steel. I shove back.
Someone shouts, and a gunshot rings out. Immediately, chaos ensues. I fight against the person holding me, but I’m dragged along like a rag doll amidst the commotion. People scream and run, and another gunshot rings out. I look around wildly for Tavi, just before I’m shoved through a dark doorway. It clangs shut with finality behind us.
CHAPTER 19
Tavi
My heartbeat crashes in my chest. I can’t yell for her without giving us away, so instead I sweep the place and grab the security guard I paid off.
“Find her,” I grit out, shoving a few more hundred euro into his palm.
He nods in a panic before he runs.
The goddamn soccer team got in my way. They’re being escorted away by security as the entire place has fallen into a panic, but I doubt they were to blame anyway. They were only in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Someone else knows we’re here.
I had her. I had her hand in mine, before she was yanked away. When I finally extricated myself from the melee, Elise was gone.
Gone. Fuck. Someone knew we were coming.
Just when I realized she was gone, a gunshot rang out. Chaos ensued.
I can’t tell who the shooter was, but no one’s been hurt. Plaster from the roof crashed around us, so I knew immediately the shot was only a diversion, meant to distract. Still, people are running, screaming.
I survey everything with a cold, calculating eye. I will not panic. I will not be taken off guard again.
I sweep the area with my gun holstered at my side—it’s distracting enough here I don’t feel the need to hide it completely, but I also don’t need anyone thinking I’m a danger.
Who would take her? How did they know who she was?
I make a quick scan of the place, but I’m familiar enough with it by now since I’ve been here hundreds of times. Bright overhead lighting beams on the private entry gate below. Against the wall there’s a built-in shelf, almost like an eat-in kitchen, designed for people to work or eat while they await their flights. Spindly blue and black seats line every wall. This floor is where people board, but private flights leave from the private runway connected to this one.
There are any number of places they could’ve taken her, and the worst of it all is, someone could’ve dragged her onto a plane. If they did, there are any number of places they could’ve gone, and my hunt just got way more problematic. If they’re still here, I’ll find her.
I came here to find Santo.
But now I need to find Elise.
Something tells me, if I find one of them, I’ll find both.
I push the comm device in my ear. Orlando answers immediately.
“She’s gone. She was right fucking next to me, and she’s gone.”
“On it.” I hear a series of clicks. I know he’s accessing every camera he can to try to find her. It’s the only thing he can do.
I hate that I’m helpless waiting. I’m usually the one that sits where he is, the strategist who knows every in and out of every place we go.
It’s hard to let go of control and let someone else do it, especially when it’s my wife we’re looking for.
“When?”
“One minute ago.”
“Fuck.”
“What?” I grit my teeth.
“Goddamn feed’s jammed.”
“I’ll fucking kill him.” I pace, my mind racing. “Try the backup grid. It’s on another server, might still be up.”
I can hear the keys of his keyboard clicking as he types. He says something in a muffled voice to someone in the room with him.
“Got it. Thank fuck. Got it back. Lemme see…”
I don’t think about the betrayal. I don’t think about the vows Santo broke. All I think about is the woman that bears my name who was ripped from my fucking grasp.
She may think she hates me, but Elise belongs to me.
I take advantage of the chaos all around me and draw my weapon. A lady to my right screams and points, but there are so many others screaming and running, no one takes notice.
I want to be ready to shoot.
I mentally go through every exit and door we have here, when something catches my eye to the left. While everyone else is running, someone’s walking away from me at a slower speed. Unhurried. Damn near strolling.
