Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“If you go and ask Francesca, she’ll give it to you,” the burly man said.
The doctor nodded and walked out. Something about the burly guy was incredibly intimidating.
"Have you worked with Ugo long?" I asked, and just as I expected, he didn't answer. Instead, he seemed to be listening to the doctor’s footsteps.
"Why do you do this job? Is it because of the money? Is the money irresistible?"
He turned to stare at the door. "You sure do talk a lot.”
“That’s because I’m nervous. Hey, what are you doing?” I asked in a panic because he was advancing on me.
I tried to sit up to face him, but the pain immediately stopped me. I cried out at the pain coming from everywhere, but he did not strike me. Instead, he did something that shocked me. He pulled out a phone from his pocket and handed it over to me. I looked at the black thing as though it was a trap and then stared back up at him.
"You have twenty seconds," he muttered.
“What?” I exclaimed. Was he allowing me to call Dante? The fact I would be able to talk to Dante in any shape or form seemed way too good to be true.
"Fifteen seconds," he said, and there was no more time to waste.
I grabbed the phone from him and began dialing Dante's number. I kept my gaze on the burly man who had turned to stare at the door. I could hardly believe this was actually happening. Then Dante's voice came into my ear.
"Hello?"
Tears rushed into my eyes and I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come out.
"Are you alright?" Dante asked urgently.
A sobbing sound came out of my mouth.
"Please give the phone to Tommy, sweetheart."
I handed the phone over. The man looked at it, then at me with such disdain that I suspected he would have preferred to shoot me. He walked away toward the door without a word.
"Ten seconds," he said.
I returned the phone to my ear.
“Where are you?” Dante asked.
"We're in the city. It looks like Greenwich. There are townhouses all over ... cobblestone streets. Um ..."
"What else?"
"I don’t …" I tried to think but a headache surged like a demon, perhaps fueled by my panic, and I could no longer think."
"That’s it. Toss me the phone," Tommy said.
"Dante ... I'm-"
"I'll find you," he said. "I promise. I swear."
"I'm sorry. I’m so sorry," I whispered.
“Don’t be. Stay strong,” he said quietly.
My heart swelled with emotion, but before I could say another word, I heard a growl from across the room.
"Pass the fucking phone or we’re both dead.”
I didn't need to be warned again. I tossed the phone to him, and he caught it. Then he paused for a second and put it to his ear.
"We’re even now.” Then he ended the call and I heard the doctor’s footsteps in the corridor.
Chapter 61
Dante
When the phone went dead I hurried to the door, yanked it open, and yelled as I hurried through the hallway.
“Giotto! Giotto!”
He appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Inform Andrea and the others right now. I need backup. Get my car.”
I tossed him the keys and went back into my office to grab my gun and phone, by the time I had opened my front door my Range Rover was waiting outside.
I went over to the driver’s seat to pull the door open, and Giotto immediately jumped out. I heard the second vehicle behind us starting, and in no time we were zooming out of the compound.
I wasn’t sure exactly where she was. I searched my memories back to my days with him. Ugo didn’t own a townhouse in the city then, but this could be a recent purchase. He would take her to a place most of his men didn’t know about. By the time we arrived in Manhattan, I still didn’t have a clue and I was forced to call the one person that I would have preferred not to. What if he insisted on interfering?
Detective Hudgens picked up on the second ring. “Are you calling to return our witness to us?”
“Does Ugo have any homes in the city?” I asked.
He paused for a moment and then he replied. “Why do you need that information? And why would I give it to you?”
“Because he has Zola and I’m heading over there right now.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“No, I’m trying to get to her because he’ll fucking kill her.” I was irritated by his questions. It made me want to smash the phone to pieces.
“Um, we’ll search for this and get back to you. Thanks for the tip. In the meantime, I need you to wait till you hear from us and not do anything rash. We’ll handle this.”
I slammed my fist on the steering wheel. I knew he was going to do this to me. “Stop being stupid, Hudgens. If he kills her before you get to her, imagine the scandal. You could even lose your job. Let me do it. I know him. I know how he operates. This way we both get what we want.”