AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It hurt her father to say it, but he did.
Brigham disconnected the line and returned to the group.
“We need your help to get our sister back.”
Zander nodded. Now it was his turn to step away. He called the Don.
“Zsanine is missing.”
“How long?” Nicholas asked, signaling to his bodyguard, Zeek, to listen in on the conversation as Nick put the phone on speaker.
“She’s been gone a little over twenty-four hours from what we can tell. There’s nothing disturbed at her home. She had an appointment with a new client, but the information from her office is sparse.” Zander did the best he could to keep emotion out of his voice. He needed to report the facts to his brother so the team could initiate the necessary protocols.
“All systems activate,” Nicholas said to Zeek.
“We got you, bro,” Nicholas said as Zeek left the room, understanding his assignment. “We’ll get her back.”
When Zander got off the line, Isaac stepped forward. He had been with Zander all night. He saw his friend, his boss worried, unable to remediate the thing that disturbed him. What worried Zander worried Isaac.
“What can I do, boss?” Isaac followed Zander as he returned to where the brothers stood.
“I want a two-man team here and at the office,” Zander began in full business mode. Focusing on what he knew helped Zander to distance worry from his mind. “We also need a shadow team at Zsanine’s parents’ home and one for each brother and residence.”
“I don’t understand,” Shareef replied, his brows knocking together. “Why is any of that necessary?” His brothers had the same question as well.
Although his instructions made perfect sense to Zander, Zsanine’s brothers were not about that life.
“We don’t know what has happened to your sister. We don’t know who may or may not be involved. In these situations, it is best to take every precaution. We don’t know their intention or their limits. My guards are for your safety.”
Zander didn’t wait for their permission or agreement. Elite would be in place whether they understood or not, whether they liked it or not. With his instructions clear, Isaac stepped away and started the coordination of Zander’s Alpha team.
“So, what is our next step?” Brigham inquired.
“My brother is mobilizing a team. We need to track Zsanine’s movements from her office.
“I’ll ride with you,” Mustapha said to Zander.
“Let’s ride, then.”
She’d lost track of the hours she’d been sitting alone. Darkness and deprivation had a way of doing that to a person. Zsanine hadn’t slept. She couldn’t. Even though it was deathly quiet, her mind raced and reviewed everything that happened leading up to her abduction. Never in a million years would she have thought something like this would have happened to her. This was the kind of thing you heard about on the news or read about in the newspaper or in books. She’d led a quiet, productive life, which under ordinary circumstances would make her a least likely candidate for something so outlandish as abduction. But, there she was, sitting in stilled darkness, her mind ruminating and her limbs restricted. Zsanine was tired of crying. She was tired of feeling sad, then angry, then concerned. She was nearly tired of praying when the door to the room she was kept in opened. Her ears perked to try and discern who was entering. Zsanine hated being blindfolded. It caused such distortion for all of her senses.
Whoever came in did so quietly. She finally heard the door close behind whoever it was. She could tell the light flicked on because of the bit of light she saw on the periphery of her blindfold. Because of the carpeted floors, Zsanine couldn’t track the footsteps, but she did denote a nearness and then an absence. She knew someone was still in the room, and Zsanine’s heartbeat started to escalate in response. Then when Zsanine felt like she couldn’t take the suspense anymore, a gentle hand removed her blindfold.
It took a moment for her eyes to regulate the light. Zsanine’s long lashes kissed the top of her cheeks several times. When she finally looked up and saw the guard, she remembered her headscarf was absent. Zsanine knew he wouldn’t allow her to put it back on. That would mean trusting her enough to release her hands and then trusting that she would comply with them being bound again. That uncomfortable feeling was one she would have to bear as long as she was captive. Zsanine watched as he pulled a chair up close to her and then retrieved a covered plate and bottle of water. He sat down in front of her, picked up the fork, and offered Zsanine some food.
She turned her head away, not trusting them to feed her something safe and edible.
“What? You’re not hungry?” The guard asked.
“I don’t trust it.”
“It’s not poisoned,” he chuckled.
“Why would I trust anything you say?” She challenged.
“You wouldn’t, but the food isn’t poisoned.”
Zsanine shook her head. She didn’t want it.
