The Bratva King's Kidnapped Bride - Page 52

Detective Simons whistled, watching beside me. “So that’s where all the blood ended up.”

The last scene that was visible was Katie fighting valiantly to get away, and almost slipping free. Then, one of them smashed her in the side of the face, and she went down like a sack of bricks as they dragged her out of range of the camera. My fists were clenched so tightly I could feel the skin of my knuckles about to rip, thinking about those men putting my woman in the trunk of their car.

“You recognize them?” Detective Simons asked cautiously.

Anyone with half a brain cell would know how dangerously close I was to erupting. Anyone who watched their loved one being beaten and manhandled like that would have felt the same.

“No,” I said.

But I knew who they worked for. I clicked through from the beginning to watch it again in case I missed something. Rage had a way of clouding your vision, and I had to focus right now. I winced as if I was being hit when it came to the final frames, but in truth, I would have given anything to trade places with her. I was more than ready to unleash hell on my enemies for this, but not until she was safe in my arms.

“There were no more cameras that might have gotten a location?” Detective Simons asked his officer.

“We’re still working through the other buildings’ footage. Not just behind but the ones on either side of the alley, and across the street.”

“Keep me updated,” I said, forcing it to sound more like a request than a demand.

“Got it,” he said with a tight nod. For the moment, we were on the same side. Neither of us liked it, but we both had our reasons for doing it. His might have just been duty, but if it had helped find Katie faster, that would have been all I needed from him. He turned to the officer. “This isn’t just a murder; it’s an active kidnapping. Let’s light a fire under everyone’s asses.”

I returned the officer’s phone to him, and left, calling Lev as I jogged to my car. We didn’t have much, but we had something.

“Let’s set up a base at your house,” he suggested. “I can get my people and their gear there in less than an hour.”

I could hear clicking in the background. He already had a team working their way into the surrounding cameras, and our other brothers were gathering men to go out and find information the old-fashioned way, since that was how this new Armenian gang liked to operate. We’d see if cracking some heads led to information faster than computer databases did.

My adrenaline was fading, and my rage was fast turning to despair. All I could see was that fist hitting Katie, over and over in my mind. I could sense her fear, and as terrified as I was that I was about to lose her, it couldn’t have come close to what she was feeling.

“Hey? You still there?” Lev asked.

I shook away the dark thoughts that threatened to overwhelm me. “Yes,” I said. “I’m on my way back to my place. I’ll see you there.”

“We’ll get her back,” he said, ending the call.

Out of all my brothers, he was the one I confided in the most. I’d never actually told him the depths of my feelings for Katie, but he knew me well. He knew exactly how I felt about her, with no words needed.

But did Katie? Was she fighting for her life this second while wondering if I was still angry with her? If only I’d swallowed my pride and taken the time to tell her the real reason I’d gone off the rails at her. If I’d told her the truth, maybe she wouldn’t be in this situation at all. I could have prevented this, but I didn’t want to lose her. And here she was, gone from me anyway.

No, I wasn’t losing her. She wasn’t gone. My girl was a fighter, clever, and strong-willed. I had to believe she was coming back to me. I wanted to believe she’d stay.

Glancing down at my death grip on the wheel, I pressed the gas and swerved around a few cars to get onto a less populated street. Whether or not she forgave me was still up in the air, but that wasn’t at the front of my mind right now.

The only thing keeping me going was the belief that I’d get Katie back safe and sound.

And imagining wrapping my hands around her kidnappers’ necks and squeezing until their eyes bulged out of their heads.

Chapter 31 – Katie

I must have fallen asleep or drifted back into unconsciousness because the next thing I knew, I was in a shack. Plank wood walls, no windows, but a rusty metal door barred shut. The ceiling looked to be ancient sheet metal. It was literally just a shed, but where we’d ended up, I had no idea.

I was still handcuffed but grateful they hadn’t put the bag back over my head. That was the only thing I was thankful for, because my stomach was still churning, and my head throbbed. That probably meant a concussion, which also explained the dozing off. How else could I sleep when I could be killed at any time?

The two men sat at a rickety card table, with a bottle of cheap whiskey between them. Next to the door was a low plastic table that held a battery-operated lamp, the car keys, and another bottle of booze. Were they already celebrating this mission of theirs being over? If so, why was I still alive? It was a tiny glimmer of hope, and I clung to it.

Hunched over their half-full glasses, they were speaking to each other but too low to hear, even in the tiny place, and even so, I wouldn’t have understood them. Except for when they were talking to me, they mostly spoke in some other language I didn’t recognize.

The only languages I was even a little familiar with were from hearing Aleks speaking on the phone in Russian a few times, my sparse recollection of high school Spanish, and my latest attempt at learning Portuguese. None of the words I heard now resembled any of those languages. I still tried to make anything out, maybe the name of the town we’d arrived in, or a name I could use later.

They still didn’t seem to care about hiding their identities in any way, not even hats or hoodies to hide their hair color. I took in every detail so I could make sure a sketch artist got an accurate drawing.