Page 55 of My Merciless Don

He smiled in triumph, opening his desk and handing me a modem. “Knock yourself out.”

Oh, I intend to.

I couldn’t do anything as obvious as sending Kylie a message. Especially since his goons were keeping a hawk eye on my every move. But I did truly have failsafes and I could activate them using lines of code that would look like gibberish to these men.

Hopefully.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

MARCO

Iwoke up slowly, stretched luxuriantly before reaching out to the other side of the bed. Where I expected my hand to land on Audry, all I felt was cold bedsheet.

I shot up, looking to my left at the empty side of the bed, uncomprehending. My brows furrowed as I listened keenly, expecting to maybe hear the shower running or maybe the fragrant smell of coffee wafting out to me from the kitchen.

Instead, there was the kind of silence that told me I was all alone in my space. I glanced around for a note, something. But there was nothing. Her clothes, which I’d scattered mindlessly on the floor were long gone.

I got up and walked to the living room, looking around to see if she’d maybe left a note on the fridge or the coffee table, a clue as to why she wasn’t here, but the only clue I found was the absence of her things and her in every corner of my home.

I sighed tiredly. “Oh Audry. Why are you still playing games?”

I just couldn’t find any reason why she would have just vanished. Going back to my room, I grabbed some sweats from the drawer, along with a t-shirt and then added my headphones, a cap and sneakers. If I couldn’t fuck away my frustration, I could at least run it off. Exercise in the morning helped me to think clearly, especially when I had a problem that needed solving.

At the moment my mind felt murky and unfocused, and I definitely needed to clear my head. I started off at a soft jog, stopping at the café at the corner to pick up a coffee to give me some energy. As I stood in line, I could hear the baristas talking and I eavesdropped casually.

“Hey, did anyone lose a phone?” one of the baristas asked, holding up a device.

The other barista glanced over. “Yeah, I found it outside near the curb. Weird, right? Who just drops their phone and doesn’t come back for it?”

I tensed as I recognized the Hello Kitty sticker on the back. Audry had one just like it.

Leaving the line, I went over to the waitress. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear you guys. Can I see that phone please?”

The barista looked at me skeptically. I tried to look as trustworthy as possible. “Please. My girlfriend has a phone like that.”

The frown on the barista’s face cleared. “Oh.” She said, handing over the device.

I turned it over, staring at the wallpaper. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure but it looked like her phone wallpaper all the same. I looked over at the barista.

“The phone you found, was there anyone around or any signs of a struggle?”

The baristas exchanged glances. “Not really,” the first one said. “I found it on the curb when I arrived for my shift. It was just lying there.”

“Did you see anyone unusual or anything strange?”

They both shook their heads. “No, nothing like that. Just the phone. It was weird because it was just left there, and it’s basically new.”

I nodded. “Thank you,” I said before turning to leave, Audry’s phone clutched tightly in my hand. As soon as I left the premises, I dug out my own phone to call Valerio.

“Audry’s missing. I need everyone mobilized to find her, top priority. Drop everything else.”

“Yes, boss.” Valerio said and his usual teasing tone was missing. I could feel my chest tightening and truly feared I would start hyperventilating or even have a panic attack in the middle of the road. I hastened my footsteps, wanting to get home, call George and have him hack all the CCTV cameras on my street.

I was trying really hard not to think about her, or what she might be going through just now. I stared down at her phone, wondering if she’d deliberately dropped it or if it had been an accident and how fortunate it was that it’d landed in my hands. The thought occurred to me that I might trace her whereabouts using the phone, maybe even find out where she had banked my money and the info that she stole. Then I felt like slapping myself for thinking about that while she was in danger.

Maybe later, after I’d gotten her back, we could talk about that, but for now, I needed to find her. I dug my phone out again and called George. “Hey man, I have Audry’s phone and I need you to hack all the CCTV in my neighborhood. How soon can you get here?”

“I heard what happened. Which is more urgent. The phone or CCTV?”

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