Page 127 of Wilde Abandon

“It’s two-forty-two in the fucking morning.”

Twenty-four minutes without her.

“Who is this?”

“Lyric, it’s Fox.Melody’s been kidnapped.I need to speak to Mason.”He needed an FBI agent who’d do anything to keep his wife happy.One who would move heaven and earth to make sure her sister came home alive.

“Start talking,” the gruff voice said immediately.

“Long story short, one of my employees broke into my place tonight, trying to break up me and Melody.It didn’t work.Melody went down to her car to get her phone and take a minute after what happened.Amy must have followed her down, there were words exchanged in the lobby, then a van pulled up; one guy wearing a ski mask jumped out.Amy tried to subdue Melody, but she got in a couple of punches, which are on the surveillance video, she tried to run, got tackled and subdued by the van guy, who bound her wrists, put a hood over her head, then dragged her inside, right before Amy jumped in with them.They sped off.Now fucking help me find her.”

“So at least two assailants in the van, plus Amy, and Melody as the hostage.”

“Yes.”

“Van details?”

“White, nondescript panel van with a side sliding door.No window in the back.Probably a delivery vehicle or rental.”

“Did you get a plate?”

Dean was playing with the video footage and shook his head.

“No.The angle’s bad.Not enough light this time of night to see more than the outline.”

Mason remained all business.“Why would they take her?”

He exchanged a look with Dean.“If it was just Amy, I’d say revenge and to get Melody out of the way so she could have me.But with others involved and after Amy made some pointed remarks to me, I’m guessing I’ll get a very high ransom demand.”

Mason didn’t mince words.“Several hundred million sure does put a target on your back, doesn’t it?”

Fuck.Mason knew.

“What are you talking about?”Lyric asked.Obviously Fox was on speaker with both of them.

“I might have done some digging on Melody’s boyfriend,” Mason confessed.

“You background checked Fox.”Lyric didn’t sound annoyed, she sounded grateful and appreciative.

“Just to be sure he didn’t have any skeletons in his closet we didn’t know about, Angel.”

“Great.So you know my not-so-secret secret.”

“Yeah, but I’ve got resources.How did Amy know about it?Did you tell her?”

“No.I don’t share that with anyone.”

“Does Melody know?”Lyric asked.

“Yes.But I only told her right before our trip to Boston.”

“Why would you keep it from her?”Mason asked.

“Because I wanted her to want me, not my net worth.”

“Melody is not like that,” Lyric, snapped, defending her sister.

“I know that.When you only have less than a handful of people you can really trust, it’s hard to open yourself up to others.Not when you’ve been disappointed, abandoned, mistreated, and used the way I have since I was a kid.But I don’t have to worry about that with Melody.She’s amazing.Now help me get her back.”

---