Page 115 of Working for the Mob

He cut me off with a glare that screamed worry and fury in one. An entire espresso machine dropped in my stomach. Henry wasn’t one to overreact.

“They took them,” he said, simply. “They took them both.”

“What?”

“They took who?” Lance asked.

“The Valuncias took Lucy and Genevieve.”

Chapter 35 – Art

The crash of a ceramic mug seized me out of blackness and I awoke to a white-hot rage. I had crushed the coffee mug in my hands. The shards clattered to the wood floor.

Cissy gasped, Jamie swore, a perturbed expression stole over Lance’s face.

“When?” I demanded. I’d get her back. Even if it meant storming into the Valuncias’ estate myself.

“Just now. I drove here straight from the train station.”

“Where’d they take her?” I pressed, but Henry looked down to the floor.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“Why didn’t you follow them?” I asked.

“I wanted to make sure you knew,” he said, on the defensive.

“You should’ve followed them to find out where they took her, and then came back. Why didn’t you stop them?”

“There were too many of them,” he said in a higher voice and took a step back.

“Did you even try? What’d you do? Just keep your head down to stay safe and––”

“That’s enough!” Lance yelled. I was surprised to see he stood at my side. “Art, take a breath. Henry, tell us exactly what happened. Take your time.”

Henry’s eyes flicked from to me and back to Lance. He nodded and licked his lips nervously. “I went to the Bakers’ house this morning, right after Art told me to. When I got there, it was just Lucy. She said that Genevieve snuck out around eleven, and thought she went to the train station.”

“That’s about the time I picked her up,” Cissy confirmed. She had inched next to Jamie, and clutched both his hands.

“Lucy said her suitcase was gone, so she had me check the train station,” Henry said. “Lucy said to wait for her in the car, and I did. But all of a sudden, this man runs out from the other side of the station, with Genevieve and Lucy right on his heels. He ran through the parking lot and then a couple of the Valuncias grabbed Genevieve and some bastard got Lucy. I came back here as quickly as I could to let you know.”

He shot me a pleading look, to assuage the scowl I kept on him. “I was outnumbered four-to-one.”

It wanted to break every damn glass bottle in the display case.

“You did well,” Lance said, and clasped Henry on the shoulder.

“He was there himself, Art. Lawrence Valuncia took her himself,” Henry said, and I shook my head.

I caught the implication. It would be suicide for Henry to take on Lawrence Valuncia. He most likely had more than three of his goons at the station with him.

I picked up my revolver, made sure it was loaded, and put it in my holster.

“What are you doing?” Lance asked.

“I’m going to get them back,” I said.

“I’m going with you,” Henry said, before I even finished my sentence.

---