Page 102 of Gangster's Empire: Leeza & Havel

I’m beside the Grand Hotel Bohemia. I traced the van to this area before losing it.

I’m on my way.

Havel climbed into his Hummer and fired the engine, tires squealing as he pulled out, heading toward Simion. He was going hunting and he wasn’t stopping until he found the man who took his wife.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

“Wake up.” Something tapped Leeza’s cheek. “Please hurry. I think he’s coming back soon.”

The smell of rotting flesh hit Leeza and she curled onto her side, clutching her stomach.

“Good, you’re awake.”

Leeza blinked a few times, but bright shards of light pierced her eyes and she was forced to squint. Sitting up, she realized she was on a wooden table. There were restraints attached to the table, but thank goodness, she wasn’t strapped down.

“I’m going to kill you,” she muttered to Anne, lifting a hand to her head and wincing as she felt the goose egg left behind after Adam had hit her with his gun. She had no recollection of anything beyond speeding away from her son.

Anne was pacing next to the table, wringing her hands. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“What did you think was going to happen?” Leeza demanded, taking stock of her surroundings.

She was in a large room with stone walls, a concrete floor, and no windows. Bright fluorescent lights flooded the room. It looked like a cellar. Besides the table, there was a human-sized cage, a mirror, a cabinet and a rocking chair with a decaying corpse in it. She quickly turned her head away and took a few gulping breaths through her mouth.

Anne twisted her fingers together. “He seemed like such a nice man. He was genuinely sorrowful when you were separated and he was desperate to get you back. I thought I was helping him reunite with his wife.”

“A little difficult when I’m married to another man,” Leeza said sarcastically.

“Havel forced you to get married. I saw your reluctance at Babi’s. You were so frightened of Havel, you threw up.”

“Havel didn’t force me to do anything.” Leeza clutched her spinning head, taking shallow breaths to stop the nausea. “I don’t understand why you’re with Adam. I thought you loved Havel.”

“Of course I don’t love him!” Anne said emphatically. “He’s a monster.”

“Adam is worse.” Leeza pushed herself off the table, standing on shaking legs. “At least Havel doesn’t murder innocents.”

“Adam doesn’t either,” Anne protested.

Leeza glared at her cousin-in-law, striding to the door and trying the knob. It was locked of course. “The corpse in the rocking chair would beg to differ.”

Anne averted her eyes from the body. “We don’t know what happened to that person.”

“Adam shot at my six-year-old son and you dare to defend him? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“He wasn’t aiming for Kris!”

Leeza stalked over to Anne and slapped her, her palm connecting with a satisfying crack. Gripping the front of Anne’s shirt, she yanked the woman closer. Channeling Havel, she growled, “Tell me everything you know and do it quickly.” She snapped her hand’s off Anne.

Anne stumbled back a few steps rubbing her reddening cheek. “Why did you hit me?”

Anne’s whiny tone enraged Leeza. If she had a gun, she would seriously shoot the stupid bitch. It was clear Adam had preyed on Anne’s insecurities, her loneliness, and her fear of Havel to manipulate the woman into helping him get to Leeza.

“If Adam is so harmless then why are you locked in the cellar with me?” Leeza paced the room, searching for ways out. She avoided the corpse, going to the cabinet to search for weapons and rattling the locked doors.

“I don’t know why he’s doing this,” Anne worried. “I don’t know what I did wrong. He seemed so cold in the van, but I did exactly what he asked me to do. I got you close to the road so he could talk to you. Then when we got back here, he carried you down to this room and he pushed me inside too before locking us in.”

Leeza said sharply, “Describe the trip here. How long did it take? How many streets did we pass? How many flights of stairs did you come down before we were locked in?”

Anne looked panic-stricken as Leeza questioned her. “I don’t know, I don’t know!”

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