Page 74 of Red

“Where is my daughter?” Christopher Manaforte said from behind his mother.

“Please. Where is Melinda?” Grams said, her hands folded together. “Is she still here, or did you—” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Is she still here?”

“Erik what are you doing? We need to—” Ian stopped directly behind him. “Manaforte.”

“Come inside.” Erik stepped back and made a sweeping motion with his hand. “I’m not talking about this on the front stoop. Come in,” he pressed when they remained motionless.

Erik shut the door once they were in the front hall. “We can go into my office, Ash. I think we may have a different approach now.”

“Agreed.”

Ian led them into the office and offered seats to their new guests.

“What’s going on? My mother said you took Melinda. You have intentions of selling her off? Is that true?” Manaforte met Erik’s gaze.

Erik took in the sight of Manaforte. Old enough to be his own father, but more worn out from the pressures of hiding, the weighted guilt of his previous actions colored his tired features. A man who left his child behind while he turned state’s evidence and went into hiding.

“What are you doing here?” Erik questioned in a hard tone.

“Looking for my daughter.” Manaforte stood from his chair. “You took her.”

Erik nodded. “I did.” He owed him nothing more than that. It was because of this man Melinda had fallen into Bertucci’s crosshairs. Her father abandoned her, her grandfather sold her—had any man in her life been loyal to her? Had anyone actually taken care of her?

“Where is she?” Manaforte demanded, though he had no right to claim Melinda. Not after leaving her behind and letting her believe both her parents had died in that car accident. The anguish she must have felt, standing at their funeral, wanting nothing more than the loving embrace of her mother and father.

Erik stepped forward, his temper pounding in his ears. “Bertucci has her.”

Manaforte’s eyes widened, his jaw slacked at the news.

“Your testimony put her at risk, but you didn’t make sure she was safe. You left her behind, unprotected.”

Manaforte’s lips thinned. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“Really? Tell me how that went, then?” Erik tilted his head.

They were wasting time, but Bertucci wanted Manaforte. Melinda was the bait to bring her father out of his court-appointed security. She would be relatively safe for the very short future.

“I don’t owe you anything.” Manaforte advanced, his jaw set.

“Christopher,” Grams intervened “we need to find Melinda. If she’s with Mr. Bertucci, we will need Erik to help us.”

“You can help, too.” Erik stepped closer to Manaforte until the toes of his shoes touched his. “You can turn yourself over to him. You’re why he took her. He was drawing you out. Mario was killed last month.”

Manaforte paled. “I know. I heard. I didn’t think they’d go after my daughter. I thought she’d be safe with my parents.”

“Why wouldn’t they? Did you really not know the sort of people you were working for?” Erik asked. “Even as a kid, I understood the men my uncle worked with were dangerous. You can’t have been that naive as an adult.”

“He left her behind because I begged him to. I was scared they’d find him, and she’d be hurt. I had already lost my son. I didn’t want to lose my granddaughter, too,” Grams said.

Manaforte grabbed his mother’s hand and squeezed. “It’s not your fault, Ma.”

“At this point, the blame can be spread around to pretty much everyone in this room. It doesn’t change anything. We need to get to her before Bertucci loses his patience.” Ian spoke the truth. Erik’s desire to have his own casino had led him to fulfill his uncle’s requirements. If he’d given up on it, he would have left Melinda alone. She might have still been safely tucked away at her grandmother’s home.

“We can’t just walk into Bertucci’s house. He’ll have all the power. We need to meet somewhere neutral. I’ll give myself over to him in exchange for Melinda,” Manaforte said.

“There has to be a better option.” Grams clawed at his shoulder. Erik noted her panic. Sending Manaforte to Bertucci was a death sentence, and she knew it.

“No, Ma. I have to do this. I’ve already lost my wife and my daughter over the stupid choices I made. I won’t let Melinda lose anything else because of me.”

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