Page 30 of Between Control and Chaos
I do trust Halsey enough to give him a security detail on Paige and keep an eye and update me on Moreno’s condition. But he has to stay with the family; I can’t let him leave.
“Sir.” Bruno approaches me, albeit reluctantly. We’ve already had our little interrogation. He confessed that he should have known what Nico was up to, always texting on his phone, hidden in the corners in the dark on strange phone calls.
He hadn’t wanted to see it for what it was.
That makes two of us.
I keep a watchful eye with Bruno, but he doesn’t strike me as lying or hiding the truth.
Perhaps killing Matteo may not have been entirely in vain.
“Yes, Bruno.” I give him my full attention as he comes barreling into my office.
“The McKennas are here to speak with you.”
“Who?” My gaze tightens as I recognize the name, but I’m not sure why they’d be showing up at my front door.
“Jack and Catrina. They’re worried because they haven’t heard from their daughter.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I grumble and toss my head back. “Bring them in.”
Catrina rushes into my office, worry mounting on her face. Jack just looks like he’s shitting bricks with his stoic expression.
“Where the hell is my daughter?” Catrina’s eyes are wide, her breath stolen from her lungs and I haven’t even told her the truth.
I can’t tell her all of it.
I’m not even sure I should tell her some of it.
“She’s not here,” I say but force a smile. “If you’d like to see Zeke, he’s in the playroom.” At least he’s oblivious to the turmoil happening under my roof.
Lucky bastard.
“I called my daughter and some strange man answered the phone, yelled at me, and then told me to go fuck myself!” Her eyes tear and she covers her mouth with her hand. “I didn’t want to believe it was your son—and then I called him, definitely not the same voice…” Her words trail off.
Jack clears his throat, getting right to the point. “Who has our daughter?”
Catrina wipes away the stray tear. “I heard Harper pleading in the background—something is terribly wrong.”
I bite down on my tongue.
“Say something!” Catrina shouts at me, and I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Your daughter has been kidnapped.”
Catrina gasps. “What?” Her eyes are wide as she glances at her husband and clutches his arm, clinging to him. “What do you mean, kidnapped?”
“She was taken against her will. My cousin, Moreno, was shot in the head—I can’t get into the specifics.”
“Have you contacted the police? The F.B.I.?” Jack asks, stepping closer. “If our daughter is missing, why isn’t it on every news report? Why aren’t you trying to bring her home?”
Eleven
Harper
My eyes lazily flutter open. There’s a pounding in the front of my skull, a dense throbbing that doesn’t want to cease in the slightest.
I feel sick.
