“We’ll stop in the Hamptons and make sure it’s clean,” my dad says, his voice filtering up the stairs where I stand frozen. He has maidsat every house, why would he need to check their cleanliness? “Then we’ll head to Cuba for the same.”
“Do you plan to stay in Cuba?” Booker asks, and I hope that’s the plan. I don’t want to stay with my dad, and Cuba would be easier to slip away from him. To where, I don’t know.
“No, we’ll go to Russia,” Dad grumbles. I remember him doing business there, but he hates the weather and the language.
Booker says something I can’t hear, then asks, “And your son?”
Dad sighs. “He’s coming with me so he doesn’t run his mouth to strangers. He’s still oblivious, but I might have a use for him, yet.”
How can he use me when he tells me I’m worthless? The fact that I have no one and nothing in this world to run to hits me like a ton of bricks. What do I care, anymore?
For once in my life, I’ll do what he says, because I have no hope left.
Chapter twenty-four
Mac
LeavingEwithhisfather feels like a physical ache. Almost everything in me wants to storm back into the brownstone and to kill everyone but the man wearing my collar. Thankfully, I think rationally enough to remember I came here to save Di.
Calling a car service I know to be reliable and fast, I walk two blocks to the address I gave right as a black towncar pulls up. Giving the driver the address, I will it to be accurate.
Thomas Miller is a criminal and a pathological liar. He might have lied. Though I hope he understands I will hunt him down if Di isn’t at the location he gave me. I’m also aware he may be setting a trap. I don’t have a gun, but I know how to defend myself. If they come at me with bullets, I can handle it. That situation will end with the weapon turned on Miller’s henchmen.
Checking my phone as we head over the Brooklyn Bridge with its stone towers, I open the app I haven’t had much use for since I downloaded it a week ago.
E doesn’t know it, but his collar has a GPS tracker embedded in the titanium.
He’s been by my side over the course of our three day excursion. Letting him leave the room without me is much easier when I know he won’t get far, but I sense that he misses my assistance in the bathroom. When I get him back, I’ll be happy to keep him in my sight at all times.
Might move Di into the casita, because I hate how easily she was taken. It’s built into a hill, so I could dig out more to add a secure server room for her. Then E can move into the main house with me.
Decision made, I tune in to the driver exiting south of the major piers to an area of warehouses. He’s an older man with a thick mustache who I will tip well for minding his business on this middle of the night jaunt.
“You sure you want to be dropped off out here?” He asks, looking at me in the rearview mirror, since the partition is down.
There is a Sikh Guru painting tucked into the dash, so I formulate a plan. I worked with many Sikh men on an assignment in India, and know they are helpful and kind people. I decide to play on his sense of decency and service.
“Yes, this is good, thank you.” I toggle off the dot showing E still at his father’s to check the address on my phone. “My friend got lost on a late-night walk and I want to get her inside as soon as possible. I’ll pay double if you wait here.”
My guess is rewarded when he nods and frowns. “People should not jog in the city so late at night. I will wait so she can be safe.”
“Good man. We’ll head to the address on my account when I have her.”
Leaving the car, I wonder if he’ll see the news in a few days and recognize me. If he’ll connect Di and I in New York with his role in her rescue. I’ll eventually do a segment on my show about how my assistant was found safe and sound. Then I can have talks about the scourge of human trafficking and how it unfairly hurts women of color at a higher rate.
But these are thoughts for after Di is rescued and E is back with me.
Slinking along a large brick building, I don’t see any movement. There are large spotlights illuminating the sidewalk every fifty feet or so, more for security than as streetlights. This area isn’t meant for pedestrians. Especially not when it’s still a couple hours to dawn.
Checking the map, I stop at the corner across from the address Miller gave me. I clock two men smoking at a side door, talking in voices too low to carry. One is gesticulating wildly, while the other looks half asleep, leaning on the wall. When the first guy turns away, I use the opportunity to jog over and slip behind a car.
“Booker said the boss wants us to kill the woman and whoever comes after her,” the first guy spits out. “What the fuck have we been wasting our time for. Going across the whole damn country to nab her. Booker only asked her a few questions and bounced. So tired of babysitting duty.”
A shiver runs over me at his words, and I can finally see their faces. These are the two men caught on Di’s security camera. I will relish taking them off the face of this earth as soon as possible.
“You don’t want to get caught talking like that,” the quieter guy grumbles, taking a drag before tossing the butt on the ground. “The boss doesn’t hesitate to forcibly relocate us or make his guys disappear.”
“We don’t even know who the boss is,” the loud guy practically yells. “And he’s got us kidnapping and murdering for him. You should take care of the woman, she kicked me.”