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Corey didn’t need to be told twice. He and Ricky walked out as if they didn’t have a care in the world, although his legs were shaking the entire time. As soon as they were back in the safety of Ricky’s vehicle, he let out a relieved breath.
“Who the hell is Travis Chilani?”
Ricky let out his own grateful breath. “The son of a notorious mobster. Runs the family business now. Well,” Ricky shook his head, “he’s trying to make it legit, actually. Super nice guy.”
There was so much more to the story there and Corey wasn’t sure he wanted to hear it. His heart was still hammering in his chest and threatening to climb right out of his throat, it pumped so hard.
“How much more money did you give him? I’ll pay you back every cent.”
Ricky twisted his way and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s move on. Focus on the future, not the past.”
“So can I meet this Travis guy? Sounds like an interesting dude.”
Ricky laughed. “Yeah, sometime. He’s real interesting. He’s in love with his sister’s best friend who is married to an FBI agent. I’ll have to tell you the story sometime.”
At some point, he’d want to hear it. Silence dominated the ride home as if they were both processing the fact they almost didn’t walk out of that place with two good working legs.
They went in through the alley when they returned to the bar and headed upstairs. Ricky said he wanted to change before he started his shift.
Corey paused when he entered the apartment after Ricky, sensing immediately something was wrong. Dane paced back and forth behind the couch while Gabby spoke sharply to someone on the phone.
“What’s going on?”
All eyes turned to him.
Dane’s face crumbled. “I am so sorry. It’s all my fault. Gabby went to handle a fight that broke out downstairs. I went to the bathroom. Two minutes tops, I swear. I couldn’t have been more than two minutes.”
His heart, which had finally started to settle, ramped up once again. “What are you talking about?”
His eyes darted around the room, needing the one thing that would soothe him. Holding his daughter always had a way of calming his rattled nerves.
“She’s gone. I’m working on finding her right now,” Gabby said quietly, yet confidently.
He thought he had stepped into the seven levels of hell when he walked into Jones’ place.
Nope.
This was hell.
His daughter was missing.
Stolen, right out of his arms.
And he knew exactly who the culprit was.
Her mother.
“Did she leave a note again?” Corey asked, itching to start pacing like Dane had started up again. But he refrained. Pacing would do no good.
“No, but I checked the security cameras and got a good look at her. She didn’t even try to hide her face. Amateur. She walked out the back with Amelie wrapped in her blanket.” Gabby looked at Ricky. “Nice security system you got.”
“Why didn’t you call us? Not that I’m upset you looked at the security system without us, but still.” Ricky looked like he was ready to spit fire.
Corey understood the feeling. He didn’t understand why they didn’t call either. This was his daughter they were talking about. He walked over to the still picture Gabby had of the woman walking out of the bar with his daughter. And yep. Same woman from this morning. Amelie’s mother.
“I have Jaxson running her name through the database. Thankfully, she gave you Amelie’s birth certificate so we have a starting point. We’ll have her back soon.”
Yeah, and he was grateful she didn’t grab it from the counter where he had left it on her way out. Of course, it didn’t do him any good right now. He didn’t have his daughter.
