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Steps are heard closing in on me, and in his murmurs, it’s Garrett Greene. “I’ll tell you the plan, kill her and get the fuck out of dodge.”
This is it. And I’ll never see Luca again.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT
“Her device was last tracked at the parking garage adjacent to the courthouse,” Tucker explains, all of us surrounding a small table in the same conference room we’d just been in when Penn and Tuck confirmed it was both Jeffery Mann and his estranged son, Garrett Greene, who set up Anisten.
I’d decided years ago I’d live a lonely life on my farm. I’d never imagined a woman would pierce my stubborn and demanding heart. If I were to lose her today, I wouldn’t know how to navigate my life. My head is resting against the wall, Murphy sitting next to me.
“You’ll get her back, Luc.”
He has to be right because there’s no other option.
Tuck’s phone is in his hand and it begins to ring. We surround the table where Tuck sits, and he answers it immediately. “Hello.” He stops, looking at the map of Chicago. “Yeah? Sounds right. Sure, okay. Hold up.”
“This is my source from the CPD,” he informs us, writing down numbers and names I don’t recognize. “What? Um, can’t promise that.” He stops, sliding the piece of paper over to Caroline. “Oh, I’m sorry you’re breaking up. I’m losing you. Can’t hear you anymore.”
He ends the call, turning his phone off. “They have Garrett Greene running a red light three blocks from here. He entered another parking garage with a lease in the name of Keep it Greene Inc. They’ve given me very little information but I have a feeling,” he looks at Caroline, who’s been typing during Tuck’s explanation, “it won’t be hard to find the address for his lease.”
She pulls for a pen, jotting down the address and hands it to Tuck. “Thanks, Darlin’,” he responds to Caroline with an affection he doesn’t hide. “By the way, Tackle, you have no idea where we’re off to, got it?”
There’s a little tiny flirt in his voice, and I’ve not missed how his eyes linger on her a little longer. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Caroline extends her hand to mine. “Bring her home, you guys. Bring her back.”
No other option is acceptable.
It takes Tuck and me, along with Penn and Murph, less than ten minutes to arrive at the large building where we believe they're holding Anisten against her will. Anthony drops us off at the main door, and we enter through the entrance. The lower level is empty, with no soul in sight and no one to question us.
Tucker pulls us into the stairwell and hands me a gun, along with Penn and Murph. “Do you know how to use it?”
“Is the Pope Catholic?” I reply, taking the Glock, pulling the slide to make sure there’s not a round in the chamber, and I push in the magazine. “Needless to say, I know what I’m doing.” Tucker doesn’t ask Penn, or Murph, but I know for certain both men are excellent marksmen. We take the steps to the fourth floor when a shot is heard at the end of the hall.
I pull away from all three men, sprinting to the door with no regard for my life, but only for Anisten’s. Anisten will forever come first.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE
“Ihate the bitch, but we’re not killing her, Garrett,” Jeffery commands.
“You always think you can tell me what to do, don’t you, but now you can’t.” Garrett walks away from my body. There’s a lull in the argument and I will myself to stay as still as I can. They haven’t attempted to wake me up or check to see if I’ve heard their previous exchanges. My legs are numb and if given a chance, I’m not sure I could run for my life. The worst-case scenarios whirl through my head and I can’t begin to imagine how I’ll make it out of here. I don’t have my collar to cling to. Garrett ripped it from my neck when he kidnapped me.
There were so many clues I hadn’t pieced together, but given I can’t go anywhere, my mind begins to solve this case.
Jeffery Mann had scheduled an emergency partners meeting after I had interviewed the false witnesses Harry provided me. Jeffery had to step out of the meeting around the time Caroline took lunch, and his secretary was manning Caroline’s desk. Jeffery is evil to the bone but there’s no denying his ability as a lawyer. With the legal know-how in our firm, this plan had to have been Jeffery’s and not Harry’s.
Time is moving slowly, though I have no concept of it. It’s been a while since either man has spoken. I can’t see them but I hear them move around whatever space they have me trapped in. Neither man has a plan, and it’s the lack of strategy that has me most nervous.
“You never wanted me.” Garrett begins his tirade again. “You used me like you used Mom until you pushed her away, leaving me with a man who beat me every day. It wasn’t until I made my first fortune that you wanted a relationship.”
I open my eyes briefly to take in my surrounding area. Is there anything I can use to defend myself? The space is empty, with only a few stray desks.
“You were whiny as a kid, and nothing has changed in your sorry thirty-five years of life. Now you’re a hot-headed lowlife, who has made this worse, killing Harry Lane and his wife. I won’t go down for your stupidity, you little shit.”
The situation has escalated quickly, and I shudder to think what this may mean. Both men are currently in my line of sight, and I can track them with my eyes, never moving my head.
Jeffery walks away, where I can’t see him, but my eyes stay focused on Garrett Greene, or is it Garrett Mann? His legal last name doesn’t matter, especially when he takes the gun, pointing it in the direction where his father has walked.
“Not so quick, asshole. You don’t get to walk away from me again.” He continues to move his gun, and before he squeezes the trigger I close my eyes. I can’t watch him take his father’s life.
CHAPTERFORTY
