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“But my men would have heard—”
“Now, Danelli. I don’t believe she was expecting us to come home this early. She may still be down there…”
With my daughter. In the dark. By a deep and muddy river. I never give in to panic, but its tendrils squeeze at my heart.
It’s cold tonight, but not raining or particularly windy. If Emilia is out there in the darkness, why can’t I hear my daughter’s cries on the gentle breeze that wafts in from the river?
What horror is the property search about to reveal?
“On it, Boss.” My man races off into the darkness just as quickly as my thoughts head inward to my own darkness.
I return my focus back to Bianca. Holding on to what little light she can offer.
Slowly, she raises her head, blinking at me. There’s some color in her cheeks once again. Not like the pastiness of a few minutes ago.
“Has the dizziness receded?”
She nods. “Yes. I’m not going to faint. Not now.”
Without warning, she reaches up and cups my cheek. I haven’t asked for comfort, but she must sense that I need it.
“We’ll get her back, Rio.”
We have to. I can’t face the thought of any other scenario.
“We will.” My vow thrums with conviction, but it is more for her sake, not for mine.
My life has not convinced me that happily ever after exists, and the fact that I’ve dared to aim for that, with Bianca and Emilia, has perhaps tempted the fates too much.
Happily ever after is never for the likes of me.
I take her hand from my cheek, press my lips to her palm, then return it to her lap, where she once again fastens her fingers around the Glock hanging between her legs. As if the gun is an actual lifeline, and she’s clinging to it tightly.
“Now, I’m going to have two of my men accompany you down to the bunker, Bianca, and I don’t want you to argue with—”
“No, Rio, wait. Don’t send me away. Not yet. I have to—”
Shouts and yells break out in the darkness, coming from the direction of the river.
I lurch up and bark an order over my shoulder. “Don’t you dare leave this house, Bianca. Go down to the bunker with…” I stare around wildly and spy her two regulars jogging back up the driveway from the direction of the gate. “Mitch and Leon. Go with them. And wait till I return.”
Then I race off toward the yelling, drawing my gun from its holster and wondering if I’m about to discover my daughter alive.
Or dead.
* * *
Bianca
I haveto tell you about the guy at the club. About what he said to me when he handed me that envelope.
I cannot get the words out in time, and Rio disappears as the night’s darkness swallows him up.
I fling a glance at Mitch and Leon, who are heading my way with matching determined expressions, and then I slip off my heels and jump to my feet, racing after Rio in the direction of the men’s yelling voices.
Grass and dampness squelch beneath my bare feet, but I don’t stop. Has someone found Emilia? Why are they carrying on like that so much? Screaming and snarling like animals.
A shot rings out, and then another, and I screech in terror and pump my legs even harder. I have to get there. I have to find my little girl…
