CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Massimo
I almost had myself convinced I was being paranoid.
I called and called.
I watched the house, even though I knew I wouldn’t see anything. I never really did.
But then, worry like a noose around my neck, making it impossible to sit still, I drove down the street the deli was on for the second time, finding everything dark and closed for the night… except Traveler’s shop.
I barely pulled to a stop in front of it before she was running out, arms waving at me, eyes panicked.
“What’s up?”
“He took her.”
“What? Who?”
“Cammie.”
“No… who took her? Colin? What was she doing here?” I asked.
“She had her uniform shirt on,” Traveler said. “And she was walking in this direction. I was cleaning the front table, so I saw right out onto the street. She seemed like she was coming this way for a coffee. But then a car pulled up, someone jumped out, and they grabbed her and shoved her in a trunk.”
“Did you call the police?”
“By the police, do you mean my father who is in the pocket of that shithead?” she asked, rolling her eyes. “No. But… there’s something else.”
“What else?”
“The guy who took her, he looked, well, he sort of looked a lotlikeher.”
“She has two brothers,” I explained.
“Do you think one would grab her off the streets?” she asked.
I couldn’t fathom a reason why they would. They’d been helping her, hadn’t they? Sneaking her their cell phones, giving her their cars and money when she had “doctors visits.” She’d practically raised them.
And because of that, I really hadn’t looked into either of them. Why would I? They were part of the rescue mission, not the bad guys.
Except… maybe they weren’t all they appeared.
“Tattoos or no tattoos?”
“None.”
Lucas.
That was Lucas.
The quiet one.
“How long ago?”
“A while. I’ve been trying to look you guys up all day and night since. But, apparently, hot mafia guys are unlisted,” Traveler said. “Around the time the deli closed in the afternoon.”
Fuck.