Page 71 of Red

“No.” Montgomery said. A car horn blared in the background.

“If he contacts you, you call me next.”

“Yeah, sure, of course.”

“Thanks.” Erik ended the call and focused his attention on Ian. “We need to find Nico now.”

“What about Melinda?” The same accusatory tone lifted his question.

“If we find Nico, we’ll find Melinda.”

“What do you need from me?” Ash asked.

“I’m going to need men,” Erik said. “And you have no reason to help, after what my uncle did.”

“His sins were his own.” Ash pulled his own phone out and quickly tapped away on the screen. “You’ll have the muscle you need.”

“And where exactly are we going with these men?” Ian asked. “You wanna clue me in here?”

“Our little brother made a decision today,” Erik said in a hard tone.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Nico wouldn’t go against you. He wouldn’t betray us.” Ian’s hands cramped into fists at his sides.

“Melinda never showed for her appointment today with Montgomery. Nico called him and said she’d reschedule. Nico hasn’t come home with Melinda, and neither of them are answering their phones.

“That doesn’t mean he did something to her.”

“Ian, I know you’ve had your head wrapped up in undoing the mess Uncle Kristoff’s will caused, but you have to see clearly here. Nico came to me saying he wanted to pick up some of Kristoff’s business dealings.” He turned to Ash. “Not trafficking, he’s not that far gone, but he wants his own contracts, and he wants to rebuild what our uncle destroyed.”

“What? Why?” Ian said.

“Maybe Clarissa Bertucci has something to do with it.” Ash aimed his screen at them to show a picture of Nico walking across a street. A woman followed him, her hand enclosed by his.

“Did you know he was seeing her?” Erik asked Ian with as much control as he could muster.

“No. I knew he’d started seeing someone, but he didn’t say who. And we were otherwise occupied with all the women trafficking.” Ian’s words shot straight through him. He hadn’t allowed himself to use that particular word to describe his actions, but there was no other word for it.

“If Bertucci is using Melinda as bait, you’ll only have a short window here, Erik. Taking her today could mean the time’s right,” Ash spoke up.

Bertucci had Eric’s wife in his clutches. Cold ran up his neck.

“What if she’s not there?” Ian asked. “What if Nico didn’t take her to the attorney because she wanted to go somewhere else? Isn’t it possible she’s not with Bertucci at all? Maybe she wanted to get away, and Nico helped her.” Ian’s words mashed together in the desperate tone of a man trying to make sense of his brother’s betrayal.

“Melinda’s manuscript getting published means everything to her. She wouldn’t have missed that meeting for anything,” Erik stated flatly. Melinda’s passion for her writing matched his own desire to reach his dreams. She wouldn’t delay it.

“Not even to get away from you?” Ian’s eyes narrowed as he squared off with Erik.

Melinda had seemed content, happy even at times. When she didn’t realize he was watching her, she seemed peaceful. He didn’t have to coerce her into sharing time with him or warming his bed. Could it all have been a cover to find an opening?

“Where would she go if she did run away from me, Ian? As far as she knows, her grandmother went off on a vacation. She has no other family in the area, and all of her things have been moved out of her apartment.”

“Nico’s involvement with Clarissa Bertucci doesn’t suggest he was playing hero to Melinda,” Ash interjected, stepping forward. “Clarissa Bertucci is his only child. She’ll inherit everything once he goes.”

“Has he named a successor?” Erik asked. Ian would have to come to terms with Nico’s betrayal in his own way. And so would Erik, but he didn’t have the luxury at the present. He needed to find Melinda.

“Not as far as I know. He only had one nephew, and he was killed in prison last month,” Ash said.

“The man Melinda’s father put away with his testimony,” Erik stated firmly. “Bertucci has every reason to want Melinda. He’s using her to drag her father out of hiding.”

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