Page 88 of Vicious

Not that he really cares; I know that much, and if someone interfered with him, he’d have been pissed. But he is a good friend to have on my side. He may sit at a desk most of the day, but he’s no slouch.

He turns to me. “So, everyone heard screaming.” His lips curl into a sneer. “She even tried that ‘fire’ trick, but no one fell for it. One dude peeked out and saw them throw her into the trunk of a car that definitely didn’t belong here.”

Fuck. I glare at the girl again. “Show us the security footage, now. Or I really will call down an entire swarm of cops.”

She scurries over to the ancient-looking computer and navigates to one of the open windows. For fuck’s sake, she could have been watching as May got abducted.

“One second,” she mumbles, looking ashamed. She clicks a few times, rewinding the footage.

There’s no sound, and the cameras aren’t angled at the doors, but I see a man drag May out and dump her into the trunk of a car. I stare at the license plate, trying to make out the letters and numbers.

She glances at me then pauses it, zooming in as much as she can. The image is grainy, because why wouldn’t it be? But I can still make it out.

I turn to Drake, but he’s already on his phone. He gives the license plate number to the person on the other end.

“Thanks,” I tell the girl. I pull out my wallet and hand her a twenty. “Be more proactive next time.”

I manage to appear calm, but my blood is boiling beneath my skin. I want to eviscerate everybody who’s touched my Ah-May.

I want to hurt Simon, too, for having caused this situation. I knew I was right about him.

“So what now?” Hunter asks when Drake and I exit the front office. “I don’t see any patients.”

“Yeah, well.” I give a bitter laugh. “She’ll need medical attention when we find her.” I glance at Drake. “How long is the license plate thing going to take?”

“Not too long,” he says slowly. “But I doubt we’re going to get a name right away. It’ll probably be under some sort of pseudonym, and the address will lead nowhere. You could try to get the police to put out an APB, but they probably took May and her useless fuck of a dad somewhere private.”

I should be doing all those things, but I’ve been useless recently. I’d even had to take a few sick days at work because I couldn’t fucking concentrate on anything else.

“You are so far gone for this bi—” At the look Hunter gives him—before I can even glare at him or say anything—Drake amends, “This chick. I was going to say chick.” He shakes his head. “We’ll get her back, all right? In one piece.”

“Yeah.” I let out a frustrated sound and clench my fists. My hand bumps against my pocket, and I realize I still have Simon’s phone.

I pull it out and stare at the screen. “The last person he called. Jake the Lender. That must be who took them, right?” I flip to the recent calls again and click on the contact. “I’m going to call him.”

Hunter gives me a look. “That’s a bad idea, Chase.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” I snap at him. The call goes through after a few rings.

“Simon, why are you calling me?” a rough voice says on the other end. “Or should I say, how are you calling me?”

I hear mumbling in the background, as well as some shouting—and definitely May’s voice. “Please! I can get you the money, just let us go!”

“This is Jake the Lender?” I ask in my most professional voice. “You seem to have something of mine.”

“Something of yours?” The man laughs. “Who the fuck is this, anyway?”

“How much does Simon owe you?” I ask. Hunter and Drake are both shaking their heads, but I don’t give a damn about the correct course of action. I just need to be sure May is safe. “I want Simon and his daughter back, safe and sound.”

There’s a long pause, and the background noises get dimmer. I can’t hear May anymore.

“Yeah? That’s nice for you.” Jake the Lender makes a noncommittal sound. “Let’s say twenty grand. Think you can pony up that amount within, oh… five hours?”

“Sure,” I say as casually as I can. “Where are you? I’ll drop everything off there.”

Jake scoffs. “Yeah, right. No, I’ll text you an address. After you tell me your name.”

“My name is Drake Brutal,” I say, and I can see Drake glaring at me. “You’ll have your money, but rest assured that if a single hair is harmed on May or Simon, I will track you down and make you regret you were ever born.”

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