Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
A spike of fury flares in me. “Heard.”
“Let’s keep checking,” Dean mutters. “We need to focus on Isabel.” He gestures to Ranger and Orion, who nod and fan out. Ranger heads right, Orion goes back toward the main corridor. “We’ll comb every inch of this place.”
I exhale a shaky breath, gratitude flooding me that I’m not doing this alone anymore. Still, my heart clenches with fear. “I’m worried they already took her out of here,” I confess quietly. “Vera and Trey have been MIA. They must be in on it.”
Dean’s face hardens. “Then we find them,” he says simply. “They can’t have gotten far. There are cameras, staff, someone must have seen something.”
We press on, systematically opening doors. Each reveals either an empty lounge, a startled couple in mid-sexcapade, or more locked closets. The fiasco stirs a wave of annoyance from some of the guests, but once they see my thunderous expression, they shut up fast.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I yank it out, half-hoping it’s Isabel. But it’s an unknown number. I answer on reflex. “Hello?”
Static crackles, then a single breath. My heart leaps, but a voice cuts through—one I don’t recognize. “Mr. Zane,” it says mockingly. A man’s voice, tinted with a smug undertone. “Don’t bother searching the club. Isabel’s gone.”
A rush of terror chills my blood. “Where is she?” I snarl.
Dean whips around at my tone, eyes sparking. I put the phone on speaker, letting him hear.
The man laughs, a low, predatory sound. “Somewhere safe. For us, at least. You want her back? You might want to talk to your friend Dean.”
“He’s here with me,” I repeat, voice shaking with fury.
“Who the fuck is this?” Dean barks out.
“Ah, hello, Dean. We’ve got two women here you’ll be interested in saving,” the voice drawls. “But don’t bother, they’ll both end up just like my brother.” The line goes dead.
My hand trembles around the phone, rage and dread warring in my chest. Dean looks like he wants to punch a hole in the wall.
“Lazarus Delgado.” Dean grabs his own phone from his back pocket. “He spoke of two women,” he says as he pushes a button and holds the phone to his ear, “Sophia,” he whispers as he slides the phone away. “She’s not answering.” He glides his fingers over the phone.
“Are you sure they have her?”
He pulls up the security feed from his home he shares with his wife, Sophia. “Mother fucker,” he grits out when a van pulls onto the screen of his phone, and two men hop out. “Fuck.”
“We need to find them,” Ranger says, making his way toward the grand staircase in the center of the club. “We need to watch the security footage. See who took ‘em.”
“He’s right,” Orion says, clutching Dean’s shoulder. He tries to steer Dean away from the spot he’s rooted in.
“If they hurt her,” Dean whispers, his phone gripped tightly in his hand, his eyes still focused on the security footage playing from his home.
“We’ll find them,” Orion says, and we all follow Ranger up the stairs.
Devereaux greets us once we get to the top. “They’ve swiped my system. I’ve got a hacker friend trying to uncover the lost footage, but so far, it’s not looking good.” He leads us to a room with a bank of monitors.
There’s two men seated behind the monitors, scouring through the footage.
“There. Them,” I shout, moving toward one of the monitors. “That’s Trey and Vera. From earlier tonight.”
All the men look closer, as one of the men pulls up a closer shot of the couple.
“They don’t look familiar,” Devereaux says, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He makes a call, pacing the room. “Adele, I need the list to the VIP event tonight. There’s a couple here I don’t recognize, says their names are,” he waits for me to fill him in.
“Trey and Vera,” I say.
“Trey and Vera. What’s their last name?” He nods as Adele on the other line must say something in return. He hangs up, his brown eyes meeting mine. “Adele says there was no Vera or Trey, so I’m going to send her a screenshot of the couple and we’ll figure out who they are.”
Dean’s pacing the room, furious as he keeps watching the security footage from his phone. “I’ve just sent this footage to Asher, and he’s going to try to get some clues and such from the feed.”
“Smart thinking,” Ranger says, pulling his own phone out. “I’m calling BRAVO team, and getting them to your house so they can see if anyone saw anything.”
Dean blows out a frustrated breath. “Thanks, man. I was getting there. I just can’t think straight. My wife, and my sister. Both kidnapped by a man with a vendetta.”
“Who is Lazarus Delgado?” Orion asks, his eyes volleying back and forth between Dean and Devereaux.