“Will you tell me who?”
“When the time is right, but first we need to ensure that Reaper stays alive. If he is killed, Goldman won’t waste a second before ordering all of our deaths. He has men and women stationed everywhere, watching and waiting, eager for him to call. Plus, there is one more thing. The only reason I am telling you this now is that there is a task I need your help with. Something we need to do before we arrive in California.”
“What is that, Tesoro?”
“Goldman’s trump card. Reaper’s daughter.”
Sitting up, I looked at the woman who held my heart and couldn’t believe what she had just said. I only found out a day ago that Reaper had another child that Goldman was using against him. Like most people, I hated the thought of any child being used as collateral. The thought sickened me. But to realize the very woman I loved knew where this child was. That brought me up short.
“You know where she’s at and said nothing?”
“I couldn’t. Right now, she is protected. She is safe, but she won’t be for long and if Reaper dies, Goldman will kill her. She is only alive to keep her father in line. Now that Reaper has spilled the beans to his club about his other child, the Golden Skulls will stop at nothing to find her. Hell Gio, Phantom is already searching every database on the internet. I wouldn’t be surprised if Goldman already knows. He will kill her out of pure spite. He is that evil. He can’t let Reaper get his hands on her. If he does, Goldman loses any hold over Reaper and the Golden Skulls.”
“Where is she?” I asked sternly. I wasn’t playing around. I wanted that girl found and secured. She was innocent in all this mess. She needed to be protected, not a pawn in this messed-up game.
“She’s in Oregon.”
Grabbing my phone, I dialed my pilot. “Stephan, change of plans. We’re going to Oregon first.” When I disconnected the call, Layla sighed and slowly shook her head. “It’s not going to be that easy, Giovanni.”
“I don’t care. Who has her?”
“She is in the care of the Oregon Chapter of Sunshine Child run by the Disciples of the Word. The very charity Sylvia St. James created.”
“Shit.”
I hated that damn charity. Everything about it curdled my stomach. It wasn’t a charity to help kids. It was nothing more than a flea market were bright, intelligent children were sent to cultivate and warp their minds. My own sister-in-law, Donatella, worked with them, barely escaping with her life. Sylvia St. James was a vile, nasty woman who used these intelligent kids to better the Society’s agenda. If the kids didn’t live up to her expectations, they were sold to Bianchi to further his breeding farm in Italy. Just thinking about how my mother was once a part of such so-called charity sickened me.
I wanted that charity eradicated. I wanted it wiped off the face of the earth and those kids set free.
“What is your plan to get her?” I asked, already knowing Layla wouldn’t send me on some fool’s errand unless she had everything thought out perfectly.
I knew I was right when she smiled.