Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Then he hauled me to my feet again, and something fell to the ground between us. He frowned. “What you got here?” He picked up the card that had come from my pocket, holding it up and squinting to read it. To my shock, he stepped back, handing it to the other man.
“What the fuck?” he said, then grabbed my face. I braced myself for more pain, but I saw the fear in his eyes.
“Why do you have a card from Roman Costas in your pocket? Whose number is on the back?”
The words were out before I could think. I grasped the only lifeline I had.
“That’s his number.”
“Why would you have his number?”
I lifted my chin. “Because he’s my fiancé.”
The man gaped and stood back. “Liar.”
“Call the number and tell him you have me. See what happens.” I bluffed.
They looked at each other and hurried away. They snapped the light off, leaving me in the darkness again. I crumpled to the floor.
I prayed with everything in me that my gamble was going to work. I’d seen the terror in his eyes when he read Roman’s name. That terror was all I had.
ROMAN
I returned to the casino, furious. Livid. I headed straight to the computer room, opening the door so hard it slammed against the wall. My head guy looked up, lifting his eyebrows.
“Careful, Roman. Expensive equipment in here. Maybe have your tantrum somewhere else.”
I ignored his words. Gordon was one of the few employees not scared of me. He knew how valuable he was to me.
“Why did the chip on one of the white cards you gave me fail?”
He sat back, regarding me. “If you recall, it’s still being developed. It’s not perfect. It could have been destroyed. Malfunctioned.”
“It was on my screen one second, gone the next.”
“Then the card was moved.” He tapped on his screen, peering at it. “It shows it is active but undetectable right now. It’s somewhere the system can’t find it.”
“Keep your eyes on it. I need to know the second it’s back online. I need the location.”
“Sure.”
“Can you tap into traffic cams by Fireway Drive?”
He sighed, turning to another computer, typing away. “Not many around there. There is one on the corner by Third and Fireway.”
“Perfect. Bring up the footage for the last two hours. Put it on the wall monitor.”
He did as I asked, and we scanned the footage. It was grainy and dark, but I found what I wanted. A car pulled up outside the diner, and a man wearing dark clothes and a hoodie got out. A second car pulled up, and another man got out, dressed the same. A woman joined them, and I knew without a doubt it was Marianne Warner. I recognized the coat she wore from earlier. I checked the time stamp. They’d taken her before Marianne dropped off the cash.
“Fast-forward again until they come back.”
My suspicions were confirmed when they reappeared, one of them carrying a sack over his shoulder that he put in the car trunk and sped off. Marianne got in the second car, and they pulled away, heading, I knew, toward the casino.
“Fucking bitch,” I snarled. “That fucking cunt!” I slammed my hand on the desk. “Find that car, and tell me where it goes.”
“I was about—”
I cut him off. “Now. I don’t fucking care what you had planned. Until I tell you to stop, you’re on this, you understand?”
He held up his hands. “I hear you. Relax, Roman.”
I stormed from his office and headed upstairs.
Until I found either Effie or Marianne, relaxing was the last thing I could do.
CHAPTER 5
ROMAN
Midafternoon the next day, I was pacing my office. I’d been up all night. I had no idea why I was so upset. Marianne had done something horrendous, but the bottom line was, it didn’t affect me. I didn’t know Effie. We had no relationship.
Except, every time I shut my eyes, I saw her face. Those eyes. That sweet smile. The fact that I had inadvertently caused this chain reaction didn’t sit well with me. Knowing those eyes would soon be pits of despair and that mouth would never smile again bothered me on a level I didn’t understand.
The car Marianne was riding in showed her getting off at the bus station. I had no doubt she was headed to Toronto. Gordon dug around and found a plane ticket. She had departed late last night for Costa Rica. I couldn’t find her there, but I had him tag her passport. If she came back to Canada, she would pay for her crime.
The car that contained Effie had disappeared quickly, and Gordon couldn’t find it. The license plates of both cars were unreadable. No doubt purposely dirtied up or damaged so they couldn’t be read.
The chip on the card I’d slid into Effie’s pocket remained dark.