CHAPTER 48
JORDAN
LIVID COULDN’T BEGIN TO DESCRIBE HOW I FELT.
I ran two hands through my already messy hair and growled under my breath, scaring the people in front of me. I’d hired. the best techs I could find to trace the phone call I’d received two days ago.
Two whole days since Blaine and Melanie disappeared. I don’t know what was happening to them, I don’t even know if they were even still alive because the person hadn’t contacted me since the first time, and yet these idiot
technicians were moving at a snail’s pace.
“How much longer is it going to take?” I snapped and the two of them flinched. The only one brave enough to speak cleared his throat.
“Sir, since the conversation did not last too long the trace is so faint, that’s why it’s taking time. So far we’ve only been able to establish that the call came from here in Puerto Rico” he said nervously.
Like that did me a world of good. “Aren’t you supposed to be the best tech geeks here? Why is it taking you so long?” I said.
The other one adjusted her glasses and straightened “I take offense to being called a geek, sir.”
The glare I gave her had her shutting up and hunching over their equipment again. Leaving them to it, I stalked upstairs to my bedroom. I desperately needed a drink. I was meant to be in the office today; representatives from an insurance company were coming in to discuss the contract we were about to draw up, but I didn’t want anyone to see the techs and their big black bags and start asking questions, so I
postponed the meeting and stayed home.
The reps weren’t happy but they needed the contract more than I did, so they went along with it. I downed a shot of whiskey in one go and was about to pour myself another when my phone rang. Personal number again.
I pulled out my phone and started to walk quickly back to the room the tech geeks were in. They looked up at my entry I pointed at the phone as I answered it.
“Yes?”
To their credit, they understood my signal and began a new trace.
and
“You’ve been keeping us waiting, Jordan Alonso. I don’t think your friends appreciate that,” the same mechanically distorted voice said. My blood boiled, but I had to keep contact with him as long as possible.
“I’d not use the word friends very lightly if I were you. They’re employees at best,” I said calmly, holding on to the slight hope that whoever it was didn’t know exactly how important the people he had taken were to me.
“I see. Is that why you haven’t come for them in two days?” the voice asked.
“It takes time to divide and sign over 25% of a huge conglomerate like mine. There’s a lot of paperwork involved” I said lazily.
*25%? You must be mistaken. The agreement was 50%.”
I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me, and waved my hand at the geeks in a hurry–up motion.
“50% is a lot for two replaceable employees.”
There was a pause, then the voice spoke again “I take it you wouldn’t mind never seeing them again, since they’re so dispensable.”
Dammit. He was calling my bluff.
I scrambled for what to say next “If word gets out that I let my employees die at the hands of some wannabe kidnapper, my rep takes a hit. We can’t let that happen” I replied, shocking even myself at how calm I sounded in contrast to the screaming in my head.
“Then give me what I want, and everyone goes home happy,” he said in response.
I sighed “I’ll need proof that the people I’m giving up 50% for are still alive,” I said, though I couldn’t even stomach the prospect of them being anything but.
Setting
14:34
CHAPTER 48
The voice chuckled “You want proof of life? You’ll get proof of life. I gotta hand it to you though. I don’t know what it is you do to your ‘employees‘ but they won’t tell me anything. You’ll get your proof of life shortly, but hurry up with my request or they won’t remain that way.” The line went dead.
immediately spun back to them “Did you get anything?” I demanded. They’d gone into serious geek mode, and held up a hand to stall me while they worked furiously.
As they did I got a notification on my phone and opened the video. I didn’t know it was possible for my blood to run cold and hot at the same time, but that’s what happened as I watched the video.
The first part was a shot of Blaine and a muscular guy and I could hear that mechanical voice in the background. Blaine was bound hand and foot to an electric chair and the voice was asking him questions about my business.
I saw Blaine give whoever was off–screen a look of disgust as he said Fuck You and spit in their direction, feeling pride bloom in my chest.
The feeling quickly died, however, when the muscular guy turned on the chair. I forced myself to watch as my best friend’s body jerked and spasmed before crumpling in the chair when the voice told the big guy, “That’s enough, Bolt” and he turned it off.
Bolt. I filed the name away in the list I’d begun to compile in my head as the video went dark for a minute. When it cleared, it showed a different room and this one had Melanie in it, tied in a similar way. At the sight of her exhausted self still in that red dress, something twisted inside me.
Despite her tiredness, her eyes remained sharp as she watched Bolt the big guy approach her. I’d braced myself but still wasn’t ready when he smacked her across her face. Her hair fell forward to hide it “Ooh, that’s going to leave a big bruise. You’ll pay for that. Also, no matter how much you beat me, Jordan isn’t going to do it” I heard her say.
That’s where she was wrong. I was going to do something, just not what they wanted. Bolt grunted but said nothing as he smacked her again, then pulled out a scalpel.
She leaned away from it and my gut tightened because I thought she was afraid but her next words were “No No No I’m not trying to get some kind of disease okay? If you’re going to use that on me, clean it or better still get a new one” making the guy pause in confusion.
Despite myself, I smiled; trust Melanie to remain herself in a tight situation.
“We’ve got the address,” the male geek said, drawing my attention. I quickly walked behind him and read the address over his shoulder. Apparently it was an abandoned compound of warehouses
There was no way I could pinpoint Blaine and Melanie’s exact locations but I knew they were in there somewhere. So explosives were out of the question. Relief swept through me as I punched in a series of numbers on my phone, sending out a message to all the operatives I had locally.
They had declared war on me by taking my best friend, and war was what they would get. Melanie had said he was going to pay, and I couldn’t agree more.
CHAPTER 49
