Page 40 of King of the Cage

We both stared at black-and-white footage from inside the club.

“There!” I murmured, and Giada’s hand shot out to pause the video.

We watched Giada’s friend follow Enrico from the club, hand in hand.

Giada paled and shook her head, sitting back and staring. “She wouldn’t just go with him. She didn’t feel well. She wouldn’t.”

A horrible thought tickled the back of my mind, tying together last night and Quinn in the ER, and the sight of Giada’s friend happily leaving the place with a guy who’d been a stone-cold arsehole to her the night before.

“Find them outside… Look for her, I think she’s in serious trouble,” I urged Giada.

I didn’t have to tell her twice. She switched over to some scrolling black screen I’d only seen in movies and typed furiously, cursing the slow keyboard. She pulled up street cameras heading in both directions from the club until she found them. We followed them down the street to a seedy dive bar.

Then we lost them.

“There’s a blind spot — no CCTV that I can access. I have to see for myself,” Giada said and stood.

I already had my phone in my hand, calling Declan. I passed her the phone.

“Give him the address, he’s halfway there,” I told her quickly.

She hesitated for a moment.

“Trust me, selkie, I don’t want to see your wee friend hurt, either. And if that drug is what I think it is, I want to talk to Enrico, tonight.”

Something in my tone or my expression must have convinced her to take a chance on me and my men, because she gave Dec the address.

“Good girl. Now, let’s go.”

The dive bar/loungewhere Enrico had taken his stolen date was four blocks over, in a terrible part of town. Unluckily for Enrico, the O’Connors were far worse than anyone we might meet on the way.

Declan was already inside by the time we got there. He had a crowbar and was casually tapping it against the owner’s knees from where he had him pinned against the wall.

“See,” Dec said, pointing the crowbar at me. “Now the boss is here, and you’ve missed your chance to tell me where they went… Now, you’ll not just lose your knees, but maybe your head.”

“Enough, Dec,” I commanded.

Declan pulled back, and the man slid to the floor. He had sweat right through his shiny suit, which, considering he’d only been alone with Declan about ten minutes, was some feat.

I read his name tag. Alan.

“Al, do you mind if I call you Al? Where did they go? Whatever Sepriano has promised to pay you won’t be enough for what I’ll do to you if the girl gets hurt.”

The owner had clearly had enough and immediately stammered, “End of the hall, lower level.”

Giada took off in that direction without a backward glance, and I jerked my head at Declan to follow her. I dropped the man, took the crowbar, and smashed both his hands.

“That’s for costing us time, motherfucker, and protecting a rapist.”

I turned on my heels and went down the stairs to the basement level.

Giada was already fiddling with the door, trying to break in. My woman had skills. It was damn impressive. Seconds later, it swung open. Declan nodded, impressed, as Giada stepped into the room.

I followed, barreling in after her. I had no idea what Enrico was up to, but if he’d used the same drug that had been used on Quinn, nothing was off-limits.

It took a second to take in the sight inside the room.

At the end, Enrico sat with his feet up, smoking a cigarette with all the arrogance and confidence of a man who had no idea he was about to meet his maker.

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