Two hours later, D’andre came rushing into the bar. “Our men said the boy was taken by ambulance from the hotel to the hospital. Adric, who has been keeping an eye on the outside of the hospital, said he thought he saw the boy leave in another ambulance.”
“Does he know where he was taken?”
“No. He said he was afraid to follow. Afraid of being caught.”
Onyx fisted his phone and sent a text.
42
Savio woke to find Becca at his bedside. His lips dry and cracked. When he spoke, they bled. “Where am I? How did you get here? Where is Pia?”
Becca smiled. “You’re going to be okay thanks to the doctors.”
“How did you escape?”
“The kidnappers let me go,” Becca said.
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. I think the FBI agent had a lot to do with my release.”
“What agent?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m okay and that you’re alive.”
“But what about Pia?”
Becca’s expression changed. Her eyes fluttered shut and her lips turned downward. “I don’t know.”
“My phone? Have you seen my phone?”
“Your phone? Yeah, why?”
“If Pia was able to get a message through, she might have texted me.”
She found Savio’s phone on the dresser and handed it to him. He read the text. “Becca, do you know where we are?”
“Not really,” she shrugged. “I know we’re not too far from Key West. Somewhere I’ve heard the others refer to as the Johnson Place. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
Savio scrolled through his messages.
“Anything from Pia?” Becca asked.
“No.” Savio’s hand shook as he stared at his phone.
Becca clutched his hand. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I think I’m just dehydrated. Would you do me a favor and get me a glass of water?”
“Sure,” Becca smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
While Becca was gone, Savio typed a message. “The Johnson Place.”
43
Sin’s phone buzzed and woke her from a sound sleep. It was Frank. She ignored it, but after the third call, she answered. “What?”
“We’ve got problems, Sin. The phone you had me trace, Savio’s phone. It’s active again. He sent a text to the West Palm Beach number. Sin, I was able to get the transcript. He told whoever was on the other end that he was at the Johnson Place.”
She hung up and quickly called Carmelita. She picked up immediately. “Madre, get Becca and Maria and go to the basement. Now!”
Carmelita didn’t ask why. She just hung up, jumped out of bed, and ran to Maria’s room. She woke the little girl and told her to be quiet and follow her. She then ran up to the fourth floor, woke Becca and did the same. The three of them ran down four flights of stairs into the basement. Carmelita opened the door to the saferoom and shoved the girls inside. She was about to join them when she remembered that Savio and Jason were still sleeping upstairs. “Wait here and don’t open the door for anyone. Understand?”
The frightened girls nodded.
Carmelita closed the door and ran out of the room and up the stairs. As she ran past her own room, she heard gunshots and the sound of wood splintering. Her pulse racing, she ran into her own room, jumped into bed, and pulled the covers over her head. She lay there, listening to men yell in a foreign language as they kicked in door after door, searching the rooms. She knew they were getting closer to her room and began to pray.
Her bedroom door slammed open. Her pulse raced. Her heart pounded.
Carmelita jolted to a sitting position as three men swarmed her bedroom, all pointing guns at her. They yelled something and were joined by the biggest, scariest man she’d ever seen. It wasn’t just his height that made him appear so frightening. It was a mixture of his scowl, his scars, and his eyes. Mostly his eyes. She couldn’t help but think she was in the presence of Satan, himself.
“Where are the others?” he said in a heavy Jamaican accent.
“Yo habla español,” Carmelita shuddered.
Onyx scowled, the silver and black grill covering his teeth making him appear even more menacing than before. He grabbed her by her pajamas and yanked her out of bed. She could smell his foul breath as he breathed in her face. A growl emanated deep in his chest as he opened his mouth to speak. Before he could, a man in the hall yelled out.
“We found the boy and the agent.”
“Watch her,” Onyx said as he tossed her back onto her bed.
From her position, Carmelita could hear the conversation in the hall. “You want to live, you better tell me everything you know.”
“I don’t know anything.”
Carmelita could hear a distinctive Italian accent in the second voice. Savio, she breathed.
Another voice joined the conversation. “Onyx, I found girls clothes in another bedroom. Her clothes. She’s here.”
The next sound Carmelita heard sounded like a slap and something hitting the wall.
“Stand him up,” the Jamaican said.
“I’ll ask you one more time before I kill you, have you seen the Lancaster girl?”
Carmelita could hear sniffling. “She was here, but I don’t know where she is.”
Then she heard more rustling in the hall. “Maybe this one knows something.”
“Do you have anything to add?” Carmelita heard the Jamaican demand.
“Go to hell. I’m not telling you shit.” Carmelita knew that voice. It was Jason. She heard the sound of someone getting punched and a body hitting the floor.
“What about Pia?” she heard Savio ask, his voice breaking between words.
“The Russo girl is dead.”
“Dead!” Carmelita heard Savio yell. “You son of a bitch, that wasn’t part of the plan!”
“Plans change.”
Carmelita then heard what sounded like a cracking noise and a thud. “Pick them up and take them to the car and wait for me,” the Jamaican said.
Carmelita trembled as the giant reentered her room. “The girl, where is she?”
Petrified, she remembered what Sin had told her numerous times. “If you’re ever confronted by people you don’t know, speak Spanish. Play dumb.” Carmelita looked up at the big
