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“I am sure I can coax a response out of you. You just needed to relax a little.”
I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure I could.
“I am also very sure there are many things I could try to elicit a response out of you.” His hand trailed down my abdomen and the room spun, so I closed my eyes. I wanted to raise my arm, push his away, but my muscles were like jelly.
“Sir?”
I could feel the annoyance in him as his hands left my body. “What?” he snapped out.
“She’s been calling and demands an update. We will dock in just over ten minutes.”
He set me aside, and I felt the couch bounce as he stood. “Very well. Get the other robe for him.”
I wasn’t properly awake enough to care that rough hands were once again touching me. I was vaguely aware of trying to walk and then being carried, then closing my eyes one last time and them staying shut.
I knew I wasn’t alone before I opened my eyes. The last who knew how many hours were very vague and hazy. Then I remembered his hands and my eyes opened wide and I sat up, convinced I was going to vomit, but the faces I saw in front of me cured me of that immediately.
Elisabetta stood next to her daughter.
24
Dario
Ihad another safe house I kept for emergencies, but now that the warehouse was compromised I would need another location as well. I called Gia. “What do we know about Maxine?”
I could hear keys tapping. “Maxine Brown, originally Margaret Brown. One younger sister that’s married and lives in Canada. No evidence of any communication between them. Parents are dead. Maxine started working as a waitress in Seventh Heaven nine years ago.”
Seventh Heaven was a biker bar barely in our territory, and as long as they didn’t draw the attention of too many cops, we left them alone. We’d been known to use the location on rare occasions. “She got a job waitressing in one of our smaller casinos, Amore e Denaro, five years ago, and quit the bar. Moved up to supervisor, then she disappeared off all scheduling. I’m assuming that was when she started on La Caterina, as for taxes she is in our employ even though she doesn’t go to work.”
“Fuck.” How many other employees did I have that I didn’t know about? But that was a problem for another day.
“Her pay is average, but her benefits and expenses are significant, including a swanky apartment overlooking the bay that we also pay for.” But not for long.
“Hmm, that’s interesting.” Gia murmured.
“What is?” I snapped out.
“I’m in a second email account. Took me a few minutes as it's encrypted.”
I smiled reluctantly. That probably meant anyone who wasn’t Gia wouldn’t have a hope in hell. I heard a sigh.
“She knew exactly what Rocco was doing. I have pictures of kids she sold online. Fuck, Dario, this is bad.” It had to be if Gia swore. It took quite a lot to push him there. I glanced at Lucio’s blank expression as I’d made sure he heard every word and knew it hid absolute fury.
“Then we know Maxine was heavily involved in Rocco’s other activities, was fully aware of the children being sold, but we don’t know how far that extends. Or if Amato is involved.” Or my husband.
“Let me dig some more,” Gia answered. “Tell me if you get any more information from Maxine.” I saw the notification from Gia and opened it. It was a picture of a naked little boy with a price. Every bruise stood out, and tears tracked down his face.
I ended the call and closed the picture, bile rising in my throat. I’d thought finally getting my inheritance would make everything better, but it seemed to be getting worse. Not that I would ever let it go. It was in my blood. My legacy. We turned off the road and drove toward Amatol, the ghost town abandoned just after the end of World War One and named after the explosive designed to replace the dwindling stores of TNT. Beyond the ruins was the fenced-in private land I owned, carefully shrouded in dilapidated concrete buildings which hid the one in the middle that was anything but. The place was perfect for my use, but the near forty minutes to get here meantI didn’t use it often. It was doubly perfect because Rocco had never known about this place. Lucio, Gia, and I were the only ones, and Gia had never been here.
And now George. That had surprised me, unless Lucio intended to kill George to protect the secret. I hoped not, as I was running out of people I trusted, but I trusted Lucio the most.
Lucio pulled up to the electric gate and entered the code into his phone. The gate swung open immediately. George’s car was out of sight, and I knew he would have been instructed to drive it into the second adjoining building that acted as a garage but had direct internal access to the rest of the place.
I got out when the garage door shut behind us and both Lucio and I walked into a kitchen area. “Boss,” George stood up. “She’s in one of the holding rooms, tied and gagged as instructed, but awake.” He gestured to one of the screens on the wall and I watched as a clearly furious woman did her best to fight against her restraints.
I glanced back at George. “Am I going to have a problem with you knowing about this place?”
George looked shocked. “Boss, I owe you.”
