Waking up to an empty bed was without a doubt the hardest thing I’d ever had to do. In my initial panic, I searched the room and found nothing.
Jon popped his head in. “Mila just woke me. She saw Kasia about an hour ago.”
“An hour?” I growled.
“I know. I don’t know why she waited, but I will deal with that after we get your girl back,” he vowed.
“Kasia is resourceful. Give her an hour and she could be anywhere,” I said in a rush. I jumped out of bed, not caring that I was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.
I grabbed my phone, called another member of my security and she answered. She checked all the live camera feeds, finding nothing.
There was no sign of Kasia anywhere. She’d disappeared. I pulled on a pair of slacks. When I picked up my wallet, I noticed that it was much lighter. She’d ransacked the cash from it, the naughty little minx.
I dressed and made my way downstairs. My security team was looking through the captured footage right now, and I hoped to hear from them soon.
Mila was sitting down in the front room. I joined her and Jon sat down beside her. She looked nervous and her gaze kept flitting back to her husband worriedly.
“She’s gone after her father,” Jon explained.
“Why did you wait an hour to tell anyone?” I scolded.
She flinched the tiniest bit and Jon kissed the side of her temple.
“Because I understood why she needed to do it herself. I know what that feels like,” she admitted, reaching to take Jon’s hand in her own. He squeezed it tight against his chest.
“That sounds like Kasia. Thank you for telling me, Mila,” I replied.
“I glanced at the blueprints after she left. There’s something you might have missed that I wanted to tell you,” she offered.
“What is it?”
Mila had always been a highly capable and very resourceful young woman. I’d even hired her a few times in the past to steal things for me. She was good at what she did and if she noticed something, then it was well worth it to hear her out.
“There’s an abandoned subway stop beneath the factory. They used it years ago when they were producing product. It was a quick way to get the workers in and out. Depending on the number of people at your disposal, you can come in at them from street level and below. They won’t stand a chance,” she explained.
“Huh. I didn’t know that. Thank you, Mila,” I replied gratefully. “Don’t be too hard on her, Jon. I know my Kasia. It’s hard to say no to her once she’s got something on her mind.”
Mila blushed and looked down at her hands. Jon squeezed them and grinned.
“I’ll give her what she needs, my friend,” he winked.
I left the two of them alone to talk it out. I got to work gathering weapons, people, and anything I could think of. Soon enough, my people found that my Tesla had been stolen. I tracked it, but there was really no need.
I knew where she had gone.
I should have picked up on it yesterday when I’d seen her cock her head and listen to me and the others talking about our plan to lay siege and attack the Polish mafia stronghold. We’d used every tool at our disposal to triangulate Piotrek’s position and she had been keeping track of our conversation the whole time.
Within a half hour, my cavalry and I were on the road. Jon and his men were going to come up from below. My hired men were going to attack from the front and Cyrus’ were going to cut off any escape routes from the back. We had them surrounded.
Sergei and the men at his disposal had chosen to join me. The two of us had formed a tenuous alliance. The Poplawskis had trod on his turf time and time again and he wanted to turn things around once and for all.
Between the four of us, we were going to send the Polish a message.
This was our city, and it was time for them to leave.
A line of cars drove into the Bronx. This part of the city had mostly been abandoned to industry. Most of the buildings were crumbling, but a few still stood strong through the test of time. When we approached the warehouse, I left my headlights on. I didn’t care if they knew I was coming.
I wanted them to, in fact.