“What?” She yanks on some pants.
“If she chooses to go, Zoey…”
She shakes her head. “I can’t let her go by herself. Not like this.”
“Zoey.” I tilt her chin up. “You know how it felt when you realized she made all the decisions for you when you could’ve been making them yourself.”
“Yes.” She sniffles. “You showed me that.”
“The same goes for her. You may think you know what’s best for her, but she has to make her own choices, same as you. Okay?”
She nods. “Okay. But that doesn’t mean I won’t help her make the right one.” She gives me a determined smile.
I kiss her forehead. “That’s my girl.”
She grabs her bag and heads for the door with me on her heels. Her phone begins to buzz, and she stops and whips it out. “What?” She holds up the phone for me. It says “blocked number.”
I take it and answer it. “Who is this?”
“I could ask you the same” is the instant retort. “Doesn’t matter. Tell Xanadu’s sister to meet me at the trailer and bring the money or poor little Xanny isn’t going to see another day dawn.”
A muffled “fuck you” sounds in the background in Xanny’s voice. Then I hear a thud, and Xanny groans. “And there’s another fucking broken rib for you if you make another sound, bitch!”
My blood goes cold. Lenny hovers at the end of the hallway, his gaze on us. I hold up a hand to keep him from bolting at my next words.
“Do you know who you’re fucking with, Carlov?” My words are measured, deadly.
Zoey grips my arm, her fingers going white as she clutches me.Carlov? she mouths.
“I don’t know, and I couldn’t give two shits. Tell the girl to bring the money or her sister’s a dead woman.”
He ends the call.
I calmly hand the phone back to Zoey and motion Lenny to me. He dashes down the hall. “Mobilize the men. I want all hands on deck to Zoey and Xanny’s old trailer. Carlov is there.” I turn to Zoey. “He has your sister.”
Lenny takes off toward the stairs and starts barking instructions into his phone.
“What?” She goes pale.
“He wants the money and thinks you have it. He’s holding her hostage until you deliver it.”
“Then let’s take it!” She tries to pull me along toward the stairs. “Come on!”
“We aren’t taking him a dime.” I hold on to her. “Zoey, I need you to stay here.”
“Like hell!” She turns and tries to free herself from my grip.
“Little one, it’s not safe. And it’s going to get ugly.” I let the full weight of my words linger in the air. “Carlov isn’t going to survive the hour. You don’t need to see that.”
“I won’t leave her alone. I can’t.” She turns back to me. “Please, Leone. Please don’t leave me behind.Please.”
Her pleading is something I can’t abide. I can’t stand to see her in pain.
It goes against my better judgment, but with Zoey, I’ve never been able to put reason over my love for her.
“You stay in the car.” I take her arms and stare down at her. “Youhaveto stay in the car. Promise me.”
Her bottom lip trembles, but she gives me a nod. “I promise.”
I kiss her forehead. “All right. Let’s go. We finish this tonight.”