“He’s been set up!” Valencia says. “They must have found some evidence but it must be planted or circumstantial. Who would do that?”
“I have no idea. I need to call my attorney for him.” I touch on the brakes as we approach a red light. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I only hope they find who really did this because I feel bad for him. He’s suffered a lot. Maybe something to do with his past…with his dad never being there. Would Marcus know Bryce’s whole story?”
“Even if Marcus did, he doesn’t want to talk to us now.” I pull her hand over the console and kiss it. “And Bryce doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who talks to his friends like that.”
“So, you’re saying you believe at times the humor and confidence is a façade?”
“That’s what I suspect. Only time will tell, my gorgeous girl, only time.”
Valencia smiles through the chaos and is about to say something when her phone begins blaring. “It’s an unknown number…”
“Put in on speaker.”
A second passes. “Hello?”
“Mrs. Giannotti, I have a message to pass to you.” The voice is distorted. Shit. It must be one of the men still on the run from the other ransom call. The same ones who stole and burned my vehicle, kidnapped my kids, and attempted to drown Valencia.
What the hell is happening?
Valencia hunches forward in the passenger seat. “Who are you?”
“Mrs. Giannotti, are you listening?”
“You will pay. You will pay for all of this!” she grits, beyond frustrated.
“What do you want?” I growl into the phone seconds after Valencia’s threat. My grip tightens on the heated leather wheel. “Why don’t you just show yourself? Huh? Why don’t you just grow some fucking balls and own up to everything you’ve done?”
“I have Addilyn, Mr. Giannotti. You should not talk to me like that. Not when you’re driving around in your new car with that irresistible wife of yours. The fire…the letters…the kidnappings…You have no idea what types of things I can orchestrate. Understood?”
Valencia’s mouth drops and I flick my gaze to my rear-view. My heart, I can’t fucking feel it. Nobody seems suspicious. Nobody is on their phone. Nothing is out of place.
But the person is out there.
I just know it.
I can fucking feel it.
“You’re not even close, Giulio. Admit it, we know how to play this game better than you can both ever imagine. You won’t beat us. This game was practically made for us. Imagine that…”
“What the hell do you want from my family?” I hiss into the phone, blood heating my face. “Where the hell are you? Who the hell are you? FUCKING SAY SOMETHING!”
“Listen, is Addilyn okay? Please. We will give you anything, please—”
Laughter interrupts Valencia’s sentence. Haunting laughter that makes my core tighten. “So impatient. Remember, we control this game. The next move is made when and how we want it. You have twenty-four hours to find her. Twenty-four hours and then Addilyn Giannotti is no longer. Only twenty-four hours. Time starts…now.”
“Don’t—”
The call ends, leaving Valencia and I searching each other’s faces in dismay.
Fuck.
Valencia
The paranoia kicks in instantly.
Giulio and I spend the entire day attempting to come up with theories. There is only one issue. We can never settle on the culprit or culprits involved. We don’t believe Bryce lit that fire. He couldn’t have, not after we’ve grown so close in the last two months.
I notify Sergeant Flynn straight after the call from Addilyn’s kidnapper and the stakes regarding the investigation are raised again. Twenty-four hours…I need my baby back.
Even when evening falls and there are still no leads, the thought of running out of time is not a possibility. It won’t go that way. We will find Addilyn. Our hope has to amount to something.
Just before midday, Giulio and I received a call from SPD stating they have arrested two of the men who allegedly attacked me. Both names are unfamiliar. But there were more than two people in the room. I just feel it…
Seattle and Mercer Island Police are doing their best with zero clues and no verbal cooperation from the two men they arrested. It gets worse when they state they cannot track the number who called us as it was a burner phone. It forces us to take a whole step back with less than nineteen hours to go.
It’s 2 P.M on this detrimental Saturday afternoon. Something needs to save us before 9 A.M. tomorrow. It’s déjà vu, only this time Giulio and I are a team.
I feel better knowing the security at our Mercer Island home now consists of two men keeping guard at the same time instead of one.
Relief floods me when Kayla calls to notify us that she’s been released from hospital. She wishes us all the best while she recovers at home with Zac who flew in to see her.
It’s different this time for me. No tears fall during this whole ordeal. The fatigue, anti-depressants, and bittersweet moments of the past few weeks have finally caught up with me and all I want is an end to this madness. I don’t want any more tears—I just want Addilyn.
“So you knew about this house too?”
Helena grins as she finishes braiding Daisy’s hair. Daisy thanks her mother and runs off to play with her brother and cousin. “Sure did. Giulio made me join him to preview it. This confident husband of yours turns into a nervous wreck when he wants to please you.”
“Shhh, we all have our weaknesses.” Giulio chuckles and pecks my cheek. “It just so happens to be that Valencia is mine. Isn’t that right, amore?”
“And you’re mine.”
“Well, now that we’ve established that you two are made for each other, can we talk about the elephant in the room?” my sister mocks playfully. “I’m thirty and nowhere near being in the dirty club!”
No. Way!
“Oh my god! You read the card?”
“It may or may have not slipped out of the closed drawer and into my hand.”
“Look at
