Chapter 96 Untitled Chapter

Chapter 96 Untitled Chapter
DANE

Anger and panic had me in its grip as I listened to the older man describe what he'd seen. Fucking hell, Gianna is in danger and we don't fucking know where she is or who her enemy is. Then I remembered the one person who can help us is here.

“Damon, can you trace Gianna using her phone?” We asked at the same time, echoing each other.

It seems I wasn't the only one who thought of the only hacker we know. As we hurried over to his car.

“Yeah, just give me a few minutes to get my laptop. Fortunately, it's in the car.”

He hurries to his car with us fast on his heels. He opened his car, took it from beneath his seat in the driver seat, strides, and placed it on the back bonnet of his car; then he went to work.

I know computers and could do a lot of things the average person could and that was all. But Ruin loves computers, and when I say love, I mean he could talk nerd and tech for a whole day if he meets someone with the same interest.

Looking at him, you will never guess that about him; I was grateful for his amazing skills because it's probably what will save Gianna.

The worst part is the waiting, it made me feel utterly useless, and for the first time, I wish I knew more than the meager knowledge I have of computers and hacking.

“Got it. Come on, let's go.”

“Give me the keys, I'll drive,” I said, “We don't have any time to waste Ruin.” I stretched my hand out to him for the car keys.

Ruin must have understood that I needed to do something other than just sit idly while the woman I love was in great danger with an enemy I knew nothing about.

The same woman I have every intention of not pursuing, but would do anything to make sure she's safe. The woman my brother deserves. Ruin nodded and handed me the keys.

I was shooting through the road the instant we all filed into the car. With Jax beside me and Ruin in the backseat. My teeth grind as I swerved the car, breaking speed limits and every goddamn traffic law there is.

Despite all this, I still feel like I wasn't going as fast as I should, but I didn't want to risk getting into an accident that might delay Gianna's rescue. Jax kept shaking his legs like he could fly out the window at any given time.

Despite driving like a madman on cracks, the drive still lasted a good two hours and twenty minutes. The address of the abandoned building Ruin had tracked Gianna's phone was in the suburban outskirts of New York.

A couple of miles from the residential neighborhoods. I took a narrow paved road that seemed to go on and on. Here the snow was thick, the air fucking freezing.

It was dark and quiet, the kind of place where a person gets killed while screaming, and no one ever hears him.

“There's something you should know, ” I had just parked the car and was about to get out when Ruin said that. The man was working on his laptop, his hands tapping so fast it was impressive.

“What is it, Ruin? We don't have time to fuck around,” I replied, eager to get to Gianna. It took all my patience and self-control for me to sit there and not bolt in the direction Gianna probably was. But I did it.

“Whatever the fuck it is, we can talk about it later; it's already three hours since she's gone,” Jax added voice hoarse. Equally as eager already opening his side of the door.

“Shut the hell up, both of you, and fucking listen, it is important,” he said, lifting his head from the laptop and glaring at us.

“Someone leaked your sex video online,” he said, staring at me. I grind my teeth together at the news.

“Must be Loraine, that bitch is trying to get back at me for not agreeing to another contract,” I swore; it wasn't the first time a client exposed my body without my permission on social media, though not to this extent.

“When was this?” I asked, frowning. To my surprise, I wasn't freaking the hell out as I should have been. It's probably because a leaked sex video was nothing compared to the safety of Gianna and her family.

“An hour ago.”

“Dammit.” I shake my head, this isn't the priority right now.

“You can help me with that later. Right now we need to get moving. Gianna and her family need us.”

“I'm sorry Dane, but it's not just you. It's the two of you with Gianna. I think it's probably her kidnapper, and as we've suspected, Vera is very much involved in this,” he said, anger lining his face.

“She was the one who released the sex tape. Her IP address is the same as Gianna's location. I'm going on a wild guess and assume they're working together.”

Though we've suspected Vera, it was still shocking to find out she would do this. But now that we know where they are, we also know she has a partner. Though Vera is extremely smart, she couldn't have been able to pull that off all by herself.

“That fucking bitch. I'm going to wring her throat when I find her and what kind of an asshole would do something like that?” I bark, my blood boiling with rage.

“A dangerous one. So you have to be extremely careful guys,” Ruin said.

“Show me,” Jax said, his jaw ticking. Ruin turns his phone screen to show us. Rage, unlike anything I've ever felt, courses through me. I don't know this guy and what his beef is with Gianna, but I will fucking kill him if I ever lay my eyes on him, even if that would send me back to jail for the rest of my life.

“I will kill that motherfucker when I see him,” Jax growled, his gray eyes flashing silver with his anger.

“Is there any way you can take it down?” I asked, anger making me see red as I wondered if Gianna knew if somehow she had found out.

“Already working on it,” Ruin answered without glancing up.

“Thank you.”

“We need to go,” Jax said.

“I will be right behind you guys. It won't take long.” We nodded and started walking through snow-covered grounds hurriedly.

The entire drive, I was thinking of different scenarios of what awaited us. Wondering if she was hurt, if she was safe. If she was crying and in all of those scenarios she was alive because to think of otherwise is unimaginable to me.

The other question that kept coming up, was who had a grudge against Gianna so much he'd go to this length.

Most importantly what the fuck is his or her motive. I know there must be money involved, but I also know that couldn't be all. If money was all the kidnapper wanted, he could have just kidnapped Gianna himself and demanded ransom.

I have no doubts her family would have paid any amount to get her back.

But whoever was behind Vera didn't do that. They signed her up with our firm and had us kidnap her. He, I'm assuming it was a he, took intimate pictures of her and us, which he sent to her family to frame us.

And now this, killing her driver and kidnapping her and her family. That gut feeling that saved me countless times back in prison told me this was personal.

“Fuck!” Jax swore “Do you think it could be a stalker? Someone who has professed his love to her, and she rejected him?”

“Could be,” I said. Glancing back when I heard movements, it was only Ruin.

“I kept thinking about it and it just didn't make fucking sense. If they are only doing this for the money, why go through all this trouble?” he said, eyes glaring forward.

“I asked myself the same damn thing.”

“I have a bad feeling about this.” He muttered, lowering his voice as we finally saw what we'd both been looking at.

There's an old uncompleted building smack dab in front of us. It looks deserted which is not surprising considering it looks like a good wind could blow it down.

But what assured us that we were at the right place was Gianna's SUV and another bus parked right outside. The fucking idiots.

We stood a little distance away to gauge the situation.

“That's their car and the bus the old man had described.”

“Idiots, why come all the way here? And why would anyone bring Gianna here?” Damon asked, it was a rhetorical question. Because none of us have the answer. I would very much like to know who that fucker is.

“Dane, you and Damon will go to the back and see if there's another way in. I will go through the front door,” my brother with the hero complex said.

“Don't try to play the hero, Jax; Damon and I will go through the front door; you will go to the back. They probably won't expect someone to come through the back door. But they'll be watching the front door, any smart person would.”

“No, you'll…”

“Jax, we don't have the time to argue. Gianna is in there waiting for us to save her.”

“Fine,” he gritted.

“What are you doing?” I asked Jax when he took out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

“Calling detective Nielsen,” he replied.

“I hate that son of a bitch,” I growled.

“I do, too, but we need him; we don't know what we're walking into; we might need backup.” I hate to agree with him on this but he's right.

“Find, do it,” I gritted. He shook his head and put the phone in his ear as it started to ring.