Chapter 34 KIDNAPPED
The New York Public Library on 42nd Street opened at 8 AM sharp.
Mia pushed through the brass doors at 7:58, heart pounding too fast for a place this quiet.
Marble floors. High ceilings. The smell of old paper and dust and floor polish.
No Alex. Good. If it was a trap, she didn’t want him walking into it.
She checked her phone. No new messages.
“Ms. Caruso?”
Mia turned.
A man in a delivery uniform stood by the information desk. Early thirties. Nothing memorable about his face. That was the point.
“I was told to meet someone here,” Mia said.
The man nodded. “Follow me. He’s in the reading room.”
Mia hesitated.
“Alone?” Mia asked.
The man smiled. Too wide. “He said it’s private.”
Mia swallowed and followed.
They passed the main reading room. The long tables. The lamps. The tourists with cameras.
He led her down a side hall. Service corridor. Staff only.
The air got colder. Quieter.
“Mister?” Mia said. “Where are we going?”
The man didn’t answer.
At the end of the hall was a steel door.
The man opened it.
Two more men waited inside. Not delivery uniforms. Suits. Ivan’s suits.
Mia stopped.
“This isn’t the reading room,” Mia said.
The first man grabbed her arm.
“Sorry, Ms. Caruso,” he said. “Orders are orders.”
Mia wrenched back. “Let go of me.”
A hand clamped over her mouth.
The second man moved fast. A rag. Chemical. Sharp and cold.
Mia fought. Kicked. Elbowed.
It didn’t matter.
The world went fuzzy at the edges.
The last thing she heard was the steel door closing.
Outside. 42nd Street. 8:07 AM
Alex stepped out of the shadow of the library steps and stopped.
Marcus was already there, phone in hand.
“She’s not in the main room,” Marcus said. “Security says no Mia Caruso signed in. But there’s a service entry log. One guest. 7:59 AM.”
Alex’s jaw tightened.
“Show me,” Alex said.
They moved fast, cutting through the crowd on 42nd.
Alex’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Alex answered.
“Alex,” Ivan’s voice said. Smooth. Unbothered. “Did you miss me?”
Alex stopped walking.
“Where is she?” Alex asked.
Ivan chuckled. “Gone. Far gone. By now she’s in a car. No windows. No phone. Nice and quiet.”
Alex closed his eyes for half a second.
“You touch her,” Alex said, “and I’ll burn everything you own.”
“I’m counting on it,” Ivan said. “That’s the point, Alex. You come after me, and I get what I want. You stay here, and she learns what happens when she trusts you.”
The line went dead.
Marcus grabbed Alex’s arm. “What did he say?”
Alex looked at him.
“They have Mia,” Alex said. “We’re moving.”
In the car
Mia woke up to motion.
The car was moving. No windows. Just steel walls and the smell of rubber and that chemical again.
Her wrists were zip-tied. Her mouth had tape over it.
Across from her, one of the men watched her.
Mia tested the ties. Too tight.
She glared at him.
The man shrugged. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
Mia tried to speak. The tape muffled it.
The man leaned forward. “Ivan wants you alive. For now. So don’t do anything stupid.”
Mia didn’t stop glaring.
The car hit a bump. She bit the inside of her cheek.
Blood. Metal. Adrenaline.
She counted the turns. Left. Right. Left again.
She didn’t know where they were going.
But she knew who she’d kill first when she got out.
\---
Ivan’s warehouse. Jersey City. 9:22 AM
The car stopped.
The back doors opened.
Cold air hit her face. Salt and diesel.
They dragged her out.
Mia saw the water. The Hudson. The skyline of Manhattan across the river.
Close. So close.
“Move,” one of the men said.
They walked her into a warehouse. Concrete floors. High ceilings. Echoes.
Ivan was waiting.
He stood in a pool of light from a single hanging bulb.
“Mia,” Ivan said. “You look terrible.”
Mia spat out the tape as soon as they let her go.
“You’re a dead man,” Mia said.
Ivan smiled. “You say that like it’s new.”
He walked around her, slow.
“Do you know why I took you?” Ivan asked.
Mia said nothing.
“Because Alex can’t think straight when you’re scared,” Ivan said. “And I need him off balance. I need him angry. Angry men make mistakes.”
Mia laughed. It sounded rough. “You’re insane.”
Ivan stopped in front of her.
“No,” Ivan said. “I’m patient. And you’re going to help me prove it.”
He nodded to the men.
“Put her in the room,” Ivan said. “No one talks to her. No one touches her. Unless I say.”
Mia was dragged down a hallway.
She memorized every turn.
She didn’t scream.
Screaming wouldn’t help.
\---
Back in Manhattan. 9:45 AM
Alex hit the warehouse address Marcus pulled from the delivery van’s GPS ping.
Abandoned.
Empty.
Cold.
Alex kicked the steel door and it bent.
“She’s not here,” Alex said. Voice flat. Dangerous.
Marcus looked up from his laptop. “They moved her. New signal. Jersey City. Old shipping yard.”
Alex was already moving.
“Get my men,” Alex said. “Now. And call in the pack. I don’t care if they’re off duty.”
Marcus nodded and ran.
Alex pulled out his phone and dialed.
No answer.
Mia’s phone went straight to voicemail.
Alex ended the call and put the phone away.
He looked across the river.
“I’m coming for you,” Alex said quietly. “Hold on.”
\---
Warehouse. 10:03 AM
Mia sat on the cold floor, back against the wall.
Her wrists hurt. Her head hurt.
But the bond was there.
Faint. Frayed.
But there.
Alex was looking for her.
She could feel it.
Mia closed her eyes.
She wouldn’t give Ivan what he wanted.
She wouldn’t break.
Not for him.
Not for Alex.
Not for anyone.
The door opened.
Ivan walked in alone.
“Still quiet,” Ivan said. “Good. I like quiet.”
Mia opened her eyes.
“What do you want?” Mia asked.
Ivan crouched in front of her.
“I want you to tell Alex to stop,” Ivan said. “I want you to tell him it’s over. That you’re mine now.”
Mia stared at him.
“Never,” Mia said.
Ivan smiled.
“We’ll see,” Ivan said.
He stood up and walked out.
The door locked behind him.
Mia leaned her head back against the wall and listened.
Listened for the sound of sirens.
Listened for the sound of Alex.
She didn’t have long to wait.