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“I thought you were happy about the baby?” Julianna’s voice sounding uncertain, fearful. “You know I didn’t intend for this to happen. Please believe me.”
“Don’t be dramatic, Julianna. You know I’m thrilled,” Jr. continues. “But father can’t know about any of this until I’m ready to make my move. He’ll never believe his vasectomy failed. It’s not worth taking a chance with your and the baby’s lives. He’d kill you in a New York minute. He despises disloyalty above all else. Which is ironic considering he fucked every woman he could find behind my mother’s back before she died. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he finds out I’ve been fucking his wife all these years, right under his nose.” He laughs. “He’ll probably stroke but being as I’m going to end him it, won’t matter.”
Ruby is shocked to hear Jr. speaking so callously about killing his own father. She shouldn’t be shocked. She quickly learned six years ago just how brutal the mob world really can be. She needs to figure out how she’s going to get away. Her mind drifts to Tucker once more. She’s only just found him. She wants so much more time with him. She focuses on his face, his sexy smile, the way he makes her feel when he tells her she’s his. No! She isn’t going to let Russo take more from her. He’s taken six years of her life. He can’t have her time with Tucker, too. Russo’s voice calls her back to the here and now.
“Speaking of the devil, the old man is calling. I have to go, baby. Remain calm, this will all be over soon.” There’s a pause then. “Father,” Russo drawls.
“Where the hell are you?” Russo Sr. demands. “I have been looking for you everywhere. No one has seen you.”
“I had some business to attend to out of state,” Jr. says calmly, despite how agitated his father sounds. “I’m on my way back as we speak.” The vehicle begins to slow, and Ruby wonders where they might be located.
“What business?” Giovanni growls. “I haven’t been informed of any out of state issues. What are you up to, son?”
“I’m not up to anything, Father,” Jr. replies, his tone sounding bored. “We’re just arriving at the airport. I’ll be in touch once we’ve landed.”
“Where are you?” Sr. demands, obviously growing impatient with his son’s evasiveness. “We don’t have time for you to be running after some whore you’ve fucked and grown attached to. We have more important situations to deal with at the moment. Now, for the last time, where are you? I demand to know what the hell you’re doing!” Jr. sighs as if he’s tiring of dealing with his father.
“I found Mary Catherine,” Jr. replies calmly. “I’ve collected her and I’m bringing her home as motivation to get her brother and father to cooperate in taking out the FBI agent they’ve been blabbing to. I’ve told you I have the situation well in hand, but as always, you under estimate me. Soon you won’t be underestimating me anymore. Not after I remove the threat against our family.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d found her?” Sr. sounds suspicious all of a sudden. “I should have been notified the moment you had the first clue as to her whereabouts.”
“You never listen to me,” Jr. begins, his anger completely unmasked. “I’m dealing with this issue my way. If you’d allowed me to handle this without your interference from the beginning, we’d never have been in this situation. I never trusted Amato from the start and his son even less. My man would have taken out both the mother and the daughter that night at the theater. There would have been no need to come up with the ruse of a marriage between Mary Catherine and me.”
“Son, marriages between the factions have been a long-standing tradition to forge alliances and keep the families strong,” Sr. replies as if speaking to a simpleton. “You’ve always resisted the old ways, but they are what has kept us at the top for so many generations.”
“Times are changing father. The old ways will no longer maintain the status quo.” Jr. growls into the phone. “I’m not arguing with you about this right now. I have a plane to board. Meet me at the hunting cabin at eight tomorrow morning. We can continue our discussion after we’ve dealt with the Amatos.” Junior ends the call and pockets his phone. “Get us as close to the jet as you can, Alberto.”
“Yes, sir,” Alberto replies. When the SUV stops, Junior exits the vehicle when another man in the front jumps out and opens his door. Once Junior is out of the vehicle, Ruby begins to wonder what’s going to happen now. The back of the SUV is opened, cold air streaming in causing her to shiver. She’s only in her thin waitress uniform. She hadn’t bother to put on her coat to take out the trash. She’s regretting that decision. If she’s cold here in North Carolina, she’ll freeze to death when they reach New York. Rough hands grab her ankle and drag her across the vinyl mat of the cargo hold of the SUV.
“I’ll get her for you, Carlo,” Alberto says as she’s jerked to an upright position. Nausea hitting her hard, she heaves several times vomiting all over the front of her uniform. “You don’t want to smell of vomit while helping the boss with is plans.”
Carlo, another Junior’s henchmen, gives Alberto a stern look. “Why are you being so helpful?” Apparently every one of these men are suspicious of one another, but what can you expect when they’re constantly backstabbing each other.
“I’m doing my duty to the family,” Alberto replies, angrily. “I don’t appreciate you insinuating otherwise. I back, Junior. I’m merely trying to help him by keeping him from having to smell you the whole trip. I brought extra clothes to change into, did you?” Carlo grunts, which Ruby takes is a negative because he walks away, leaving her alone with Alberto. “Here let me help you to stand.” Alberto gently helps her up, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her as he leads her toward a plane a few feet away. Her legs are weak, but with Alberto’s help, she manages to climb the steep stairs to the plane. She doesn’t want to cooperate, but she’s entirely too weak to fight off three men.
They enter the cabin of the plane. Junior wrinkles his nose and grimaces when he catches site of her. “What the hell?” he demands. “I can’t smell that the whole flight.” Disgust evident in his every word and action.
“I’ll take her in the back and clean her up, Sir, if that’s all right with you,” Alberto says. “I have extra clothes with me. They’ll be big on her, but at least they won’t smell.” Junior nods his agreement, and Alberto leads her to another section in the back of the private jet, closing the door behind them. It’s like a bedroom, and Ruby shivers as she imagines the nasty things that have gone on in the bed, which takes up most of the room. Alberto steers her toward a door to the side. It’s a small bathroom with a sink, commode, and shower.
Once inside the small space, he closes this door, and fear skitters over Ruby. Is he planning to assault her and doesn’t want the boss to hear? Not that she thinks Russo would care, especially now she isn’t a virgin anymore. Alberto begins to remove the bindings holding her wrists together.
“I can only take these off while we’re back here,” Alberto informs her. “Russo won’t allow you to be free on the flight, but I’ll try to not make them as tight when I put them back on you. Carlo tied them before.” Ruby frowns. Alberto is being unusually kind to her for a mobster. He turns on the sink before he leans closer. She stiffens. He was only trying to gain her trust before he violated her. “We don’t have much time,” he whispers. “The whole place is bugged, but the running water should cover whispered voices.” Then he increases his volume suddenly. “Here, wash yourself.” He hands her a washcloth, and she begins to wipe at the front of her uniform. He shakes his head, taking the washcloth from her.
“Take off your clothes.” Again, in the loud voice. Her eyes widen, and he whispers. “I’m sorry, but necessary. I’ll turn my head while you change.” He lays some clothes out on the lid of the commode before turning his back on her. She quickly removes the stained, foul-smelling clothes. She washes as best she can before she dons the over large cream long sleeved t-shirt and puts on the pair of gray jogging pants, pulling the drawstring as tightly as possible. When she’s dressed, she taps him on the shoulder. He turns giving her a slight smile. He leans closer once more. “I don’t want to hurt you. I know you’re scared, but I need you to cooperate, make my job a little easier. You just need to play along until help arrives. You catch my meaning?” Ruby nods her understanding some of her fear receding as his words sink in. He’s letting her know Tucker is coming for her. Why this man is helping and how he knows Tucker, she has no clue, but she’s going to believe he’s speaking the truth.
“Give me your hands,” he demands gruffly in a loud voice. He’s playing his part. He binds her wrists but not as tight as before. She smiles gratefully. He nods and leads her out of the bathroom and bedroom and back into the cabin. He shoves her into a seat before buckling her seatbelt. He then sits next to her and buckles his own belt. She’s still afraid of what Russo has planned, but at least she isn’t completely alone. Deep down she knows Tucker will come for her once he’s back in the country. She just hopes he isn’t gone too long.
55
TANK
Hawk leads the team down to a different conference room. Once they enter, Hawk is on his phone connecting with Tex. Ace is on the phone with Daisy’s brother, Luke at Invictus Security and Protection Agency. Ace moves to the front of the room while Hawk is pulling up the whiteboard.
“Hawk, I’m putting Luke on speaker,” Ace says, connecting his phone via Bluetooth to a speaker in the center of the table. Hawk nods his agreement while he’s pulling up images to the whiteboard. Tank’s gut tightens when he sees a picture of Ruby’s lifeless body being dragged toward a black SUV behind the diner where she works. He slams his fist down on the table, unable to tear his eyes away from the frozen image. Hack and Straw take him by the shoulders and lower him into a chair. His heart is pounding, a roar filling his ears. The need to kill the man holding her is pulsing through him. “Luke you’re on speaker.” Ace sits down near the head of the table, sympathy in his eyes as he looks at Tank.
“Tank.” Luke’s deep voice booms across the line. “I’m sorry your woman was taken. I’ve been working with Tex. Hawk is loading up the security camera footage of her abduction.” The video jumps and begins to play showing Ruby exiting the back of the diner carrying two large bags of trash. She disposes of them in the dumpster, and man approaches her from behind. He grabs her injecting something into her neck. Within seconds, she goes limp, the man carries her to an SUV, unceremoniously pitching her into the back. He bends over her. His actions obscured from view. Then he hurries around to the passenger’s side, climbing inside. The vehicle speeds off.
“We tracked them to the airport,” Luke continues. “They took a private jet to Elmira Regional Airport in western New York state. They left in another SUV, but we lost them shortly after leaving the airport. I’ve traced the plane and the SUVs to a dummy corporation that leads back to the Russo family. I’m searching properties they may have in the area. I’ll get back with you as soon I have more information. Tank, she looked good when they got her out at the second airport. I don’t think they’ve hurt her.”
