Page 60 of Protecting Charity

The phone clicked, and I stared at my phone, wishing I could throw the damn thing against the wall. How was I supposed to sit here and wait? What was he doing, anyway?

I turned to Elias, who still awaited a request, an idea, something. “Do you have cameras?”

He nodded.

“Good, take me to them so I can see who she was with.”

He led me back through double doors and passed the tarot reader. I visualized pricking her eyes out as they watched me. We trudged through the crowd to a door with a keypad and keycard reader. The snap of the lock disengaging yanked me back to attention.

A small room the size of a walk-in closet held all the screens, showing every angle inside and outside the mansion. A man in tactical gear with a pistol on his hip sat in a swivel chair staring at the monitors, sipping on a soft drink through a straw. Elias tapped him on the shoulder, and he rose from his chair, giving it to him.

“Your doorman said she went around the side where we were standing.”

Elias clicked on the monitor with the mouse, rewound the video feed for fifteen minutes, and found nothing. Christ, how long had she been gone from my side, and I didn’t even notice? He rewound it thirty minutes to see us walking out, then five minutes later, she looked stricken.

“There,” I pointed, “she tugs on my arm, and then she leaves.”

Jesus, she tried to get my attention, and I ignored her. I should have known she would take this into her own hands.

She glanced at me then at the person she was looking at and walked away just as the doorman said. I watched her hike her dress and practically jog to him in her heels.

“Switch camera angles to the corner, would you?” He did as I asked. “Good. Now, zoom in.”

I squinted as the image became clear. Relief flooded through me as I would recognize that face anywhere.

Josh.

But why would he be here? Why not come forward any other time than right this very moment? Why was he sitting there just watching her? What was he up to? So many questions surged in a flood that had me drowning in confusion. I watched the time tick by.

She hugged him, and he hugged her back. He said something to her, then she looked back to me and walked away with him to a black sedan he had parked in the back. Josh looked at her and said something. She abruptly stopped, then backed away from him. “Do you have sound on this system?” What did he say to her?

“No.”

Josh lunged at her, then grabbed her in a bear hug and slammed her head against the trunk of the car. Then she went limp.

My heart fell out of my chest as I watched him cuff her and dump her in the back of the trunk, then speed away. There was no going back from this. He would die for what he did to her. Rage brewed in my veins like acid as I gripped the back of the seat Elias currently occupied and dug my fingers deep into the foam. Bowing my head to the floor, I took a deep breath as I calculated my next move. Do I take the advice of the witch and not work on my instincts, or do I tear that motherfucker limb from limb when I find him?

“I need a car.”

“I don’t have one you can use. I only have one here, and I’m leaving. I wish I could help you further.”

I spun Elias around in the chair and pulled him up by his suit jacket, and seethed. “Give me your fucking car, Elias.”

He put his hands on my fists and smiled. “I don’t owe you anything. You’re in my home. Think before you act again, Luca.” He shook his head, looking at the guard behind me. I turned my gaze, keeping my fists latched on to him, to find the guard with his gun pointed at my head.

I sneered but nodded, understanding I didn’t stand a chance against these odds. Releasing him from my grasp, I stepped back and ran a hand down my face.

Was this what useless felt like?

My phone buzzed as I came close to the edge of losing control and punching someone in the face. I pulled it out of my pocket.

“Max, tell me you know something.”

“We’re coming to get you. We know where she is.”

Chapter 24

Charity

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