AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Now I’m in Gwen’s office again, rewinding the CCTV footage from before the fucking cameras were tampered with. I want to see if I can spot something else I might have missed.
I start the recording and watch with my focus keen on the screen, but I see nothing more than I did before. The cameras only picked up the alleyway where the bins are kept and Vladmir waiting at the back. That’s it. Then nothing. I don’t fucking know if Vladmir walked away.
Or fuck, if he helped the enemy.
I hate casting suspicion on my own, but this isn’t normal. And I have to face the fact that my guards practically had the place surrounded, so the only thing I can think is that someone helped them.
Someone who works for me. A fucking rat.
I assume the said person switched off the cameras so Diego’s people could have slipped in. I think they entered through the shop next door, which is an empty space for purchase like this was.
Other than my assumptions, which could be wrong, I have nothing.
Not a damn thing, and in my heart, I know it’s not going to be easy to find Gwen.
Footsteps echo in the hallway, tearing me away from the screen when the footage ends.
I whip around hoping it’s someone coming to tell me they’ve found Gwen, but I’m met with a tearful Dru, who rushes in and flies into my arms.
She cries against my chest, and I feel so much worse.
I haven’t really spoken to Dru since I got her to Boston, but I know she trusted me enough to come here, and more importantly, she trusts me to take care of her best friend. I feel worse than shit that I’m supposed to be the man I am and I couldn’t even do that.
When Dru pulls away, she can barely catch her breath. She places a hand to her chest to calm herself down.
“I just got the news,” she stutters in garbled words. “I left Gwen here to go on a date. I feel so terrible. I should have stayed. God, I should have. If I’d known she was in so much danger, Iwouldhave stayed.”
I rest my hands on her shoulders and try to act like I’m not about to lose my shit and tear the city apart to find my girl.
“It’s better that you weren’t here.” I never shared with her the parts of this saga that involve Diego and the Navarros, but I assume Gwen did.
“No. I should have been here, Malik. Maybe I could have done something. Like call the police or raise some alarm or call you.”
The latter of those options would have been the only ones she had. The police would have been defenseless against Diego’s men. And they would have probably killed her. Jeanne got off lightly with a blow to the head that could have killed her. My guess is she wasn’t killed because they didn’t get the chance to do so.
“I need you to go back to your hotel. I’ll double the guards.”
“No, I need to help look for Gwen.”
“Trust me, Dru, it’s going to be better if I know you’re safe. I’m heading right into the heart of danger. I can’t let anything happen to you. Gwen would never forgive me.”
More tears come and she nods. “Okay. Please get her back, Malik. Please. She’s family to me. Wherever she is, I know she’ll be scared. She’ll be terrified.”
And I won’t be there to protect her. The thought spikes my blood, and I feel like ripping off my skin.
“Please don’t worry. I’ll search every corner of the earth until I find her,” I promise.
“Thank you.”
I don’t bother to tell her that I might not have to do that, or anything at all for the matter. My silence makes me feel like a hypocrite.
The next part of this plan is for the enemy to come knocking at my door and put an end to my existence. My death frees Gwen to marry someone else of their choosing.
I can’t let that happen. I can’t go to the other side, leaving my girl to suffer at the hands of her enemies.
* * *
“Any news?” Jeanne asks when I walk into the kitchen at home.
