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“Ready.”
“You don’t have to do this, you know. T and I will go out and hunt. You can wait here with Holly.”
“She’s my daughter, Neo. If you even so much as try to leave me here, I’m going to go out on my own anyway.”
“I know. Come on, let’s go find our girl.”
We load into Neo’s Range Rover and follow a convoy of blacked-out SUVs from the house.
“Angelica, we’re going to find her,” Theo says, squeezing my hand. I’m sitting between him and Neo. Both tough mafia men who have been raised not to show their emotions. Not to let people know what hurts them. Over the last twenty-seven hours, though, I’ve seen both of them crumble. I’ve seen their pain. Their rage. It matches mine.
My father has men combing the city looking for her. Theo and Neo have men combing the city looking for her. I don’t understand how there can be no sign of my daughter. How no one is talking. How can the granddaughter of Al Donatello get kidnapped without anyone bragging or mentioning it? It doesn’t make sense.
Then the idea that her biological father is the one who took her flits through my mind. Why now? If it’s Stephen, why would he come for her now?
I need to get her back. And when I do, I’m getting her as far away from this life as I can. I will never put my happiness or anyone else’s above hers. I just have to find her first.
“Okay, here’s the plan. We’re starting at this end of town and we’ll work our way down. By the time we’re finished, someone will give up the information they’ve been hiding,” Neo says.
This is the second time we’ve been out on these streets. We came straight away, looking for answers that no one seems to have.
“I can’t go home without her. I need her back,” I whisper.
“I know, Angel. I know.” Neo kisses my forehead. I wish I could sink into his comforting embrace, but I don’t deserve that.
Is taking Izzy away from me God’s penance for all of the horrible things I’ve done? If it is, he’s not the loving God I was raised to believe in. No loving God would allow a mother to endure this pain. No mother ever should.
* * *
We’ve been out here for an hour. Neo and Theo have busted-up hands. Though the people on the other ends of those fists look worse.
“Harry, Harry, Harry. You know that time I let your payment slip for a whole week without repercussions?” Neo asks the store owner of the pawn shop we’ve just walked into.
“You destroyed the store, Mr. Valentino. I wouldn’t say it was without repercussions,” the old man answers.
“Huh, we have very different memories of the event. I’ll cut the bullshit. I’m here for info. And if you don’t give me what I want, I’ll cut you into tiny pieces and send a portion to your wife every week for the next year.”
“What do you want?” Harry asks.
“I want to know where my fucking kid is! Who the fuck thought they could take something from me? I want a goddamn fucking name!” Neo yells, bringing a baseball bat down on the glass display counter.
“I-I don’t know. I didn’t even know you had a kid, Mr. Valentino. I swear. I haven’t heard nothin’.” The old man holds his hands up in surrender.
The fucked up thing is…I believe him. I believe all of them. No one knows anything. How can you torture information out of people if they don’t have it to begin with?
You can’t.
“Neo?” a small voice calls from behind us. I pivot on my heel, ready to fire. At this point, I’m trigger happy and will shoot anyone who steps in my way. Theo turns at the sound, and his face instantly pales. “Neo?” the lady asks again. This time Neo spins around.
“Hel, what…?” Then he stops and tilts his head to the side. “You’re not Helena. Who are you?”
“I’m… It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is what I can give you.” She holds out a piece of paper. “Here, this is where you’ll find her. But you have to be quick. They’ll move her if they realize you know where she is.”
“What?” Neo steps towards her. I still have my gun ready. Although it’s lowered to my side now. “No. You’re not… Are you?” he asks. I watch his face. Neo’s never one to be at a loss for words.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s too late for me, but you can still save her. Get her out of there, Neo.” The woman spins and walks to the door.
And just as she’s about to slip through, Neo calls out, “Lola, stop!”
