Page 4 of Between Control and Chaos
His eyes flinch for a fraction of a second. To almost anyone else, it would be unnoticeable. “We wait,” Dante says, his voice calm.
“For what?” I glare at him. “A ransom call? Should I just stare at my phone, hoping someone will reach out demanding money?”
Nova clears her throat, interrupting the storm between Dante and me. “What about the DeLucas? They broke into our home, we killed one of them, maybe they want revenge?”
Dante purses his lips. “It’s possible they’re behind the abduction, but if they are, as I’ve told Luca, we will find out soon enough.”
“How? From a ransom call? What if they don’t want anything except to hurt her?”
I wince, the realization a painful possibility I don’t want to acknowledge.
“We have someone on the inside,” Dante says. “If she’s alive and being held captive by the DeLucas, we will know soon enough.”
I don’t even want to consider that as a possibility. After Massimo’s and Santino’s deaths, if they have Harper, it’s not going to be for ransom.
It’ll be revenge.
Nova’s voice is soft, hesitant, as she says, “Maybe Harper will escape and call you.”
It’s wishful thinking.
Not that I don’t think Harper wouldn’t try to flee, but whoever has her, they’re not going to just let her go that easily. I shove Dante out of the way and take the seat behind his desk, taking command.
“What the hell are you doing?” Dante’s tone is fueled with shock, but he’s not screaming at me to move. Even if he were, I’d ignore him.
I open his desk drawer, retrieve a notepad and pen and scribble down every possibility as a list.
Man in bar offering Harper drinks. Jayden?
DeLuca’s men. Who is in charge?
Zeke’s bio dad.
It’s currently a short list. I glance at Nova. “Anyone else?”
“What if it’s someone like the feds? I mean the police would be loud, noticeable, if they came to arrest her. But what if it were someone who wanted her to turn against the family?” Nova suggests.
I grind my teeth together, praying that it isn’t the feds who got to Harper.
Feds?
Hospital.
“Do you think she’d have walked to the hospital, Luca?” Nova glances at me skeptically as she studies my list.
“No, but if she did escape, she doesn’t have her I.D. on her or her phone, maybe she hit her head,” I suggest. Right now, I’m hoping for a case of amnesia over a kidnapping. I feel physically sick.
Dante clears his throat. “I’ll have my men check the hospital, call to see if anyone matching her description was brought in tonight.”
“Any other ideas?” I ask, glancing at Nova and Dante.
Dante examines the notepad and taps his finger on the second line about DeLuca’s men. “Livia DeLuca, Santino’s widow, is running his empire. She’s as cruel and cutthroat as her father-in-law Massimo, from what I hear. She already murdered two capos who dared to consider taking her throne.”
“Livia, it is,” I say, putting her name down on my list beside DeLuca’s men. “She would certainly have a grudge against Harper, for killing Santino.”
Nova huffs under her breath. “He broke into Zeke’s room. Tried to kidnap a child. Sounds like a monster to me. And one with a motive.”
I meet Nova’s stare. “Are you in?”
