Page 32 of Coming Home

Our car is getting closer to the drop off point, and when I turn around, I no longer see Shaun’s car behind us.

“Don’t worry,” Romeo says, not looking at me, “he won’t be far away. ”

As I face forward again, I realize that this is up to me now. I need to be strong. For Stephen, for my family, for Shaun, but most of all for myself. I need to do this for me.

This is it. It is now or never.

39

Shaun

Seeing her get in the car and leave was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my entire life. The air left my lungs, and my knees went weak. Had Marco not been there next to me, I think I may have faltered, but his presence gave me strength, such is our bond. I got into my car before I crumbled right there in the basement, in front of the entire security team.

I was confident, though. We had a plan. We worked on it quickly, but it was solid. We had teams of people positioned throughout Boston. There was no way that she would leave this city or be locked away anywhere where we couldn’t find her. I just had to trust that Ray wouldn’t kill her, which I knew he wouldn’t. I had to believe that he wouldn’t. She has been in Boston for weeks, and he hasn’t tried to yet. I have a feeling that he wants to keep her alive, for what reason I am not sure, but I have to trust my gut. My gut is telling me that he may actually care for Scarlett in some weird and twisted way.

Being one of the country’s richest men has many advantages, one of which is that I have many contacts. I own a lot of land and properties around the city, and I have a few favors that I call in. My team has secured the airport, the docks, and properties all around the drop off point. They are also strategically positioned on the outskirts of town and any known places of interest that Ray has. I am not sure what Ray is going to do tonight, or what he wants, but I am confident I have all bases covered.

Marco and I are driven to our off-site security warehouse. We have a team stationed here, who have full access to all street cameras and the city security cameras, thanks to a favor I called in from the Chief of Police who was friends with my father. He is also pulling together a task force, now that I have handed over all documentation and evidence that we have. He already has a team of police at the Heatherstone Enterprises building gathering more intelligence and is putting together a team of forensic accountants to go through the boxes of paperwork and digital files we have gathered. It is going to be a long night for all, but by sunrise, I am hopeful that Ray will be in police custody and my Princess will be back by my side.

As we turn off the main road to go to our safe warehouse, I stare hard at Scarlett’s car before she disappears out of sight. Sending a small prayer up to my father to keep her safe and bring her back to me. He would have liked Scarlett; I am sure of it. As if sensing my feelings, Marco slaps me on the shoulder, providing support, although concern is etched on his face.

Our car comes to a halt outside of the off-site security warehouse located near the docks. I am ushered inside where I find more men from my security team, and I am led to our control room, where I can hear and see everything. Monitors flicker between images of streets and intersections, and men work quietly on computers tracking traffic and searching for cars that match any registered to Ray.

I pace the room, starting to feel anxious. I have been in this room before, hell, I 100% fund this room. This is the base where Romeo works from. Security for me and my family over the years has been needed. It is during times like these that I am glad I have the means to have all this at my disposal. But once I see the activity, I am reminded about how serious this situation is, and I start to second guess my choices this evening. I should have kept her at home; I should have kept her safe.

“Okay, we have visuals,” someone yells out to the room, breaking my thoughts as we all pay attention to the screens.

We see Scarlett get out of the car at the intersection and the car drive away. My Princess, even in the darkest time, is such a shining light to me. All I want to do is reach into the screen, grab her, and pull her back to me.

“A car has pulled up,” Marco says, looking at the screens just as intently as I am. As I lean closer to the monitor, I see a big man step out of the car, he doesn’t look familiar, but another team is already running him through facial recognition software. Opening the back door of the car, he encourages Scarlett to enter, which she does.

“Okay, keep a visual. Simon, do a search on the plates. Jones, bring the street camera up on the big screen, and let’s track this motherfucker,” Romeo says as he walks in the door. Looking at me, he says, “She is good. She is strong. She can do this.”

“Okay, audio coming in now,” one of the guys says, and all of a sudden, I hear her. My Princess. I can now breathe a little easier.

“Where’s Stephen?” I hear her ask, her voice strong and clear.

“My Scarlett, it is good to see you, my dear. I knew you would come. And what a pretty necklace, did Shaun give this to you?” Ray’s voice makes me sick to my stomach as I hear him through the speakers in the room talking to Scarlett in the car.

“Don’t touch me!” Scarlett yells, and I detect a slight panic in her tone.

“Where did such a pretty necklace come from, my dear?” Ray snickers as I hear muffled sounds.

“Shit, he knows it is a listening device,” Romeo says as I see him rubbing his eyes.

“No! Don’t!” I hear Scarlett cry before a loud scrap and the noises of cars and traffic come to my ears.

“Fuck, he threw the necklace out of the car,” Jones comments.

I grip the chair in front of me; my knuckles are white. We all watch the monitors and track the vehicle. We may have lost audio, but we still have our eyes on her. The car is driving in a repeat pattern around a city block, going around and around, seemingly to always get a green light so it never stops. As we watch and wait, suddenly all our monitors go black.

“What the fuck?” I say, looking at Romeo.

“Where are our visuals? Jones, talk to me, what the fuck is happening?” Romeo yells at his team.

“Someone has cut the feed. Not us, boss, on the outside, our access has been cut,” Jones yells back.

“FUCK!” I yell. “This cannot be happening!” I run my hands through my hair, yanking on the ends as I pace back and forth in the small room. What feels like hours go by, but it is a matter of only minutes before we are back online.

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