AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’re coming to get you,” I promise him.
I hear hurried voices in the background and a brief movement. Then Elio hangs up. Maybe they heard someone coming.
Fuck. He’s alive. He sounds weak, though. And where the fuck is he?
I’ve got to figure out where to start looking. He didn’t give me much to go on.
The first person I think of contacting is Klein. Before any of my brothers or men, Klein is the first person I want to talk to. Shit. This isn’t good. But I think she might be able to actually help. I’m not just grasping at reasons to call her.
I grab my regular phone and pull up her number.
“Hello?” Klein answers, sounding too happy to hear from me.
“Klein,” I say, “I heard from Elio. He’s being held somewhere outside the city, but he managed to steal a phone and call me. I have to find him.”
There’s a slight pause while Klein absorbs what I’ve said. “Can we meet in person? Let’s not talk on the phone. I’ll come to your place.”
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll send Riccardo to pick you up.”
“No need,” she says. “I can just run over there. It’ll be faster.”
I hesitate. “Fine. See you soon.”
Maybe it’s because I’m anxious about hearing from Elio, but I hate the thought of Klein walking from her place to mine. I know it’s irrational, but I fucking hate it.
It feels like hours, but I know it’s been less than ten minutes before Klein walks out of the elevator and into my penthouse.
I tell her everything that Elio said. Even as I recall the information to her, I realize how little he gave me to go on. I expect Klein to point out that we just don’t have enough information to find him.
Instead, Klein seems optimistic.
“Do you have the number that Elio called from?” She asks, a wrinkle forming between her brows.
I look back at the burner phone. It’s the only number in recent contacts, one that I still don’t recognize.
“I do,” I say, flipping the phone open to show her.
“The DA’s office just got direct access to phone records,” Klein tells me. “I can look up this number. I might even be able to get location information on it. It might tell us exactly where he’s being held.”
“Seriously?” I ask. “That’s convenient.”
“Yeah, a bit too convenient if you ask me. That’s why I didn’t want to talk too much on the phone tonight. I know we can get text messages and call records. I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually could start tapping phones without going through the proper judicial channels. And I don’t trust everyone in the office to not abuse that.”
“Would you be willing to look this number up for me?” I ask. I’m aware that I’m asking her to do something that is unethical from many perspectives.
“I will,” she says. “This is probably one of the least questionable ways this new power will actually be used.” Klein thinks for a moment. “Should I try to get the police to track down the number and find the attackers?”
I can see why she would want to go that direction.
“If we were sure that the attackers weren’t connected to the police, I’d be more open to that,” I say. “But I’d feel more comfortable looking into it first. Only involving them if there’s no other choice.”
Klein scrunches up her face. “Okay.”
“When do you think you could look up the phone number?” I ask.
“I don’t think I could do it tonight. It’d be too risky,” Klein says, shaking her head slowly. “I could do it first thing in the morning.”
“Okay,” I say. This is urgent, but I know I’m already asking her for a huge favor. And if she’s able to tell me the exact location tomorrow morning, that’s still faster than I’d be able to find him without her help.
