CHAPTER45
JAX
My truck comes to a screeching stop outside Alejandro’s hotel and I jump out, tossing my keys to one of his security who stands waiting for me. Alejandro is there too, holding Matthias in his arms. A woman stands beside him and two kids play around her feet while a third kid, older than the others, stands staring at a cell phone. I jog over to them.
“Jax!” Matthias squeals with delight as I approach. The kid has a huge smile on his face and I am thankful that he seems to know nothing of what is going on.
“Hey, buddy.” I ruffle his hair as I shoot Alejandro an anxious look.
“You must be Jordan,” I say to the woman standing beside him.
“Yes.” She smiles but her face is full of anxiety and concern.
“Thank you for bringing him here.”
“Of course.” She nods. It’s difficult to talk with four kids around, when we have to maintain a sense of calm.
“Do you know anything?” she asks.
“Not yet. You remember anything else that might help?”
“No. I’m sorry.” She shakes her head and her eyes brim with tears.
“Are you okay, Mommy?” the little boy at her feet asks as he clings to her leg.
“Yes, sugar,” she wipes the tears from her eyes and smiles at him. “My allergies.”
“I’ll have one of my drivers escort you all home. Thank you again,” Alejandro says to her.
“Please keep me updated, won’t you?” she asks.
“Of course. We’ll call you as soon as we can.”
I watch her and her children being escorted to her car by one of Alejandro’s security staff.
“Alana is on her way. She’s going to stay in the suite with the boys,” he says to me as soon as Jordan is out of sight. As though he has conjured her by speaking her name, Hugo’s car pulls up and Alana jumps out of it. She runs to us, taking Matthias from her husband’s arms and squeezing him tight.
“Nana,” he giggles, still blissfully unaware that his mother is missing. A few seconds later, Hugo unstraps the twins from their seats and walks toward us with them.
“Take them all upstairs and we’ll call you as soon as we can,” Alejandro instructs Hugo, who is one of the few people he trusts with his family’s safety. There is no danger to anyone else that we’re aware of yet, but having them at the hotel is a precaution in case there’s something bigger going on. He knows they’re completely safe here so he can focus all of his energies on finding Lucia.
“How will you find her?” Alana whispers as she presses Matthias’ face to her chest and covers his ear with her hand.
“I have my methods,” he says cryptically. “I’ll have her back to you before tomorrow morning. I promise you.”
“You’d better,” she says and rests her hand on his cheek.
“Go inside,” he orders and she does so, along with Hugo and the three boys.
“I’ve got all of the information Jessie could dig up on this guy. His parents’ address. Every relative—”
“We can track her,” he interrupts as he walks to the curbside where one of his drivers pulls up in his armored SUV.
“We can’t. She’s not in her car and he’ll have ditched her phone. This guy is tech-minded and he knows who she is. He won’t do anything to leave a trace of where he’s taking her.”
His driver steps out of the SUV and tosses him the keys.
We climb inside and as soon as we’re buckled up he passes me his phone and pulls away from the curbside.