“We’re going to be okay. We’re going to make it out of this hell.”
“Lencia…even through this hell, we still found our life. Heaven is a place I go when I’m with you and I never want to stop visiting.”
“Then don’t stop.”
“I won’t.”
I catch her smirk and take the moment to take her all in for the millionth time tonight. I could look at her for a single second and find a billion things I love about her. I could continue looking for centuries upon centuries and still find those things.
“Please don’t ever feel as though you are alone in this, Giulio. When the days get hard, we can talk about it. You’re not alone in this. You never have been and never will be. I’ve got you.”
My heart cannot stop flipping for all the right reasons. Valencia is happy and that is all I have ever wanted. However, there are three more things we need to make this complete. That and uncovering who is behind this.
In the middle of bathing, we make love against the shower glass. It’s just after 3 A.M. when we enter the kitchen, just as Valencia’s phone begins ringing. She hits speaker and our hands intertwine.
“Mrs. Giannotti?”
Sergeant Flynn.
“Speaking. Giulio is here too.”
“I have developing news regarding the kidnapping of Oscar and Slonne. We have located the Porsche. It was torched just a few miles away from the scene, and unfortunately it’s a write off. No bodies were located which gives us extreme optimism your children are alive. Witness statements are currently being taken. I do suspect this will soon escalate into a ransom…Mr. and Mrs. Giannotti, we’re going to need you down at the precinct.”
Valencia
Once inside the police department, we follow Sergeant Flynn’s orders and hand over our phones to be hooked up to a monitor so if a ransom call is made, the chances of identifying the caller will be significantly higher. The memory of the oak desks in the precinct reminds me of the night Addilyn went missing.
“What are you going to do about the car?” I ask Giulio who is pacing.
“Oh, it doesn’t bother me. I just want our children to be okay.”
“I al—”
I cut myself short at my blaring ringtone. It’s an unknown number.
My mind begins spiraling. “Could this be it?”
Detective Brigs signals to Sergeant Flynn who gives me a nod towards the phone. “This very much could be. I would like you to answer. Do not sound nervous or give any indication you are with us. Everyone else is completely silent, okay?”
Giulio falls into the seat beside me as I answer with a sharp breath. “Hello?”
I tap the speaker button and set it on the table.
There is a soft crackling on the other line before a highly distorted voice speaks. “Valencia Giannotti, I have your children. I have them and I will kill them if you do not listen to what I say very carefully.”
Panic in my voice cannot be defused. “Please. Please, don’t hurt them!”
“Listen to what I say very carefully. Are you listening, Valencia?”
Sergeant Flynn gives a thumbs up. My eyes meet Giulio’s helpless ones and he squeezes my hand tighter with a nod. I can do this. “Yes. I’m listening.”
“Two-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars in cash and you will have your children back.”
My heart falls to my feet. There’s no way in hell we have cash like that laying around.
“Wait a minute. I can’t…” Sergeant Flynn instructs me to continue talking. “I can’t withdraw a sum like that in the early morning. I need to request it from my bank first.”
“That is not my problem,” the distorted voice hisses. “Two-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars or I start with the pretty girl first. Trust me, she will not be this pretty when I finish up. Is that understood?”
My baby. My Slonne.
With his free hand, Giulio covers his mouth in a tight grip. It restrains him from saying a word, even though it’s evident something is threatening to slip out.
It’s as if I’ve been thrown inside an inferno, forced to accept the consequences of a deal I’m sure we won’t be able to complete. “Okay. Okay. I can give you the money. Two-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars in cash. Where do I meet you?”
The man states a Seattle address causing Sergeant Flynn to glance over at Detective Brigs. She points at something on her computer and he nods at whatever he sees.
“I want you to hand me the money, Valencia. Only you. I do not want anybody else to be there or to know you are coming here. Am I clear?”
“Yes.”
“The moment I see somebody else, I will break every bone in your daughter’s body and I will make your son watch his sister die a long and painful death. Is that understood?”
“Yes! I will have the money! That will not happen. It will just be me.”
“For your own sake, it better be. You have thirty minutes or it’s over for your family.”
That’s until 4 A.M.!
My voice wavers. “Okay, I’ll have it. Just let me talk to my kids. Let me tell them—”
“Twenty-nine minutes now. Alone, Valencia.”
“Please can—”
The line goes dead.
Shit.
I have never felt this kind of nervous determination in my entire life. If this were to have happened with Addilyn, I would have crumbled. This time around I want to scream in anguish at the person.
Giulio massages the tension away from my shoulders. “You did well, baby.”
We wait in anticipation for anything the detective can give us. Detective Brigs collects something from the printer and when Sergeant Flynn’s eyes find ours, they’re promising. “I can confirm the location the person provided is legitimate. It is where the call was made. We tracked the number throughout the call and have pinned a man.”
“Nick Conrad,” Detective Brigs says, setting down the printed photograph. “A twenty-five-year-old male originally from Kent. He was arrested and jailed back in 2011 for accessory to murder. Following his release, it didn’t take him long to venture into house invasions, battery, and assault.”
Oh.
My.
God.
The man in the picture—Nick Conrad—is the man
