‘You think it was something to do with Foster?’ a small voice from beside me piped up and I realized that Alana’s mother was still in the room.
I turned to her. She was impossibly thin. She looked frail and half vacant. It made me wonder who Alana got her fire and her assertiveness from. ‘It’s a possibility. And I need to explore every avenue we have.’
‘I trusted you to look after her,’ Foster sniped. ‘I can’t believe you let her slip away from under your nose.’
‘Listen to me you selfish son of a bitch!’ I hissed as I pressed my face close to his. ‘I did notlether slip away. She was taken from me! And I will kill every single person who has ever even looked at her if I have to, but I need her back with me. And so I need you to fucking think!’ I heard my voice crack and it was only then that Carmichael stopped glaring at me.
‘I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head. No-one who would do that. But I will give you a list of the people I may have … upset … in recent years,’ he agreed. ‘And you have all of my resources at your disposal.’
‘I have resources,’ I snapped. ‘Send the list to me as soon as you have it. And let me know if you think of anything helpful. Do not go to the press with this, Carmichael. I am warning you.’
‘I’ll give you another forty-eight hours, Montoya. But after that, I am contacting the FBI.’
I glared at him.
‘She is my daughter!’
‘She was. Until you fucking sold her to me. You narcissistic prick!’ I spat. ‘Get me the names.’
He sat back in his chair again, but I had no doubt he would go to the Feds if I didn’t find Alana soon. If I didn’t find her soon, I doubted I would find her alive. My legs almost buckled beneath me at the thought of never seeing her again. Of never telling her how much I loved her.
I pushed the thoughts out of my head. They served me no purpose right now. ‘Come on. We’ve got a plane to catch,’ I said to Jax.
A few moments later, the two of us were in our car being driven to the airport.
‘Do you think he will come up with anything useful?’ Jax asked.
‘No,’ I shook my head. ‘I don’t think it has anything to do with him. But I had to be sure. Had to look that fucker in the eye myself and make sure this was nothing to do with him.’
‘I understand, amigo,’ he replied.
‘Did you believe him too?’
‘Yup,’ Jax nodded. ‘I don’t think he has a clue where Alana and Lucia are either.’