by Katie Reus
She needed to contact him quickly before he lost his mind. Because she had a feeling that if he didn’t hear from her, he would send the police here.
Chapter 21
Arianna turned on the water in the shower of the en suite, leaving it cold so it wouldn’t steam up the room as she fished out the burner cell phone Ellis had given her. He’d wanted her to have a way to contact him in an emergency so she’d tucked it into her bra. After what had happened in the parking lot, she knew he was likely going out of his mind wondering what had happened to her. She hated that she’d had to spend time talking to her stepfather at all.
With trembling fingers, she used the hidden camera detector app he’d installed for her and checked the bathroom. She didn’t think Vitaly had cameras in here but she was going to be extra careful. Once she felt secure, she punched in the phone number Ellis had made her memorize. It was his emergency burner phone he was only using for her and other trusted contacts.
“It’s me,” she said as soon as he picked up. “And I’m okay.” She kept her voice pitched low, not whispering because that would carry more. “I’m in a bathroom and the shower is running. It should drown out my voice.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? I checked the tracking app and see you’re at his Orlando estate.”
Relief slid through her at hearing his deep, steady voice. He’d also installed a tracking app on her secret phone, something she was grateful for. “I’m fine.” For now. “What happened to the detective?”
“Carlito got held up at an accident. A motorcycle smashed into the back of a moving truck right in front of him while he was at a red light.” Ellis cursed softly. “He couldn’t leave the guy to die.”
She could understand that. “Okay. So far there seem to be a decent amount of men here. No one is paying me much attention.”
“What did he say to you?”
“Mainly he had a lot of questions and he wants me to look at some pictures later. I told him I didn’t see the face of the man who took me—I stuck to what we practiced. He’s still insisting.”
“Good, good.” He let out a relieved sigh. “When can you get out of there?”
“I don’t know. I’ve supposedly just been through a trauma. He doesn’t want me to leave and I’m not going to push back right now. Not yet, anyway. He also…” She cleared her throat. “He also basically admitted to killing the man who raped me in college. Not himself, but he was behind it.”
Ellis sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t know if I like that he admitted that to you.”
She didn’t think she did either. “I think it was to make sure I understood to keep my mouth shut about the kidnapping and the bank accounts. Which he skimmed right over, refusing to talk about. He might as well have patted my hair and told me not to worry my pretty little head.”
Ellis snorted. “I’m working with a contact on my end. I’m going to figure things out. I’m just glad that you’re okay for now. But you really need to get out of there.”
“I know.” She was trying to figure out a reason she needed to leave, but couldn’t come up with anything yet. “What are you working on?”
“That video I told you about, the one of Vitaly killing Carter. The guy who took the video has to have a backup. There’s no way he got rid of that evidence. He’s going to be treating it like his insurance. So I’m working with someone, trying to figure out where he might have stashed a video, whether online or in a physical location. I’m sure he’s got both, but I’m going to be looking for the physical location because it’ll be easier for me to access.”
That was good. Really good. “Listen, I have an idea. I know you’re not going to like it, but hear me out. Since I have the cell phone, I can just leave it in my stepfather’s office and you can use it as a recorder, basically kind of like a makeshift listening device—”
“No way. You’re not doing that.”
“Why not?”
“You’re not putting yourself in more danger!”
“I won’t be. He won’t know it’s mine if he finds it. And he won’t. He’s been in and out of there with his guys, so you might hear something you can use.”
“No.” There was no give to his voice.
She was silent for a long moment. He couldn’t stop her. “Just answer the phone if I call you. I’ve been in here too long, I’ve got to go.”
He let out another curse. “Check in with me as soon as you can. Two hours?”
“Okay. I will. Stay safe,” she murmured.
“You too. And if I don’t hear from you, I’m sending the police there.”
She wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. There was so much she wanted to say to him but she felt weird and tongue-tied. Still… “I miss you,” she murmured.
“I miss you too.” There was a note of agony in his voice that she felt to her core. “And I hate that you’re there.”
“I know. Hearing your voice makes me feel better.” And it did, which was crazy. He wasn’t here, but just talking to him made her feel grounded. Less alone.
Once they ended the call, she felt…bereft. Hollow. No surprise, she missed Ellis. Missed him so much more than she ever could have imagined. That man was in her blood now. She wanted out of this whole mess, wanted him to get his life back.
Arianna’s heart skipped a beat as she stepped out into the guest bedroom her stepfather had put her in. Otto was standing in the doorway, frowning at her.
“Who were you talking to?” He stepped farther into the room, looking around as if searching for someone.
She gave him what she hoped was a confused look. “No one. Well, other than myself.”
He kept staring at her, his expression unreadable.
Lead filled her gut. What if he suspected something and decided to search her? She cleared her throat. “Sometimes I talk through things out loud. It’s something I learned in therapy. I know it’s kind of weird, but it’s a good coping mechanism. I talk through my worries.”
The tension in his shoulders eased. “Talking therapy. Sounds like something you millennials do.”
She wasn’t even sure she fell into the millennial category, but she loathed the obnoxious catchall term. Still, she gave him a self-deprecating smile to really sell it. “Yeah. So is everything okay?” Because he had to have a reason to be in her room.
“Yeah. Your stepfather wants you to look at some pictures.”
She nodded and fell in step with him, her shoes quiet along the Persian rug runner of the long hallway. This place might not be a mansion like his home in Orlando but it was definitely expansive. She couldn’t help but wonder what her mother had ever seen in Vitaly. Yeah he was good-looking and rich and… Okay, maybe that was it.
Her mom had grown up the daughter of poor immigrants from Cuba and she’d married a wealthy Ukrainian man as soon as she’d turned nineteen—Arianna’s biological father, who she didn’t remember because he’d died when she was four. But according to her mother, he had taken good care of her and had loved both of them. Arianna had no idea if that was true, but it was a narrative her mom had pushed on her frequently. Unfortunately, when he’d died his financials had been a mess and he hadn’t provided for her mom as well as she’d thought he would. So she’d married Vitaly years later.
And gotten pregnant almost immediately, something Arianna was sure was intentional. Once she’d “given” him a son—eye roll—Vitaly had given her mom anything she wanted. As far as Arianna knew he had never cheated, though she had a feeling her mother would have looked the other way regardless. Her mother had liked her lifestyle, liked being secure financially. Ugh. Arianna pushed those thoughts back down as she normally did. She’d loved her mom, but she’d also been aware of exactly who she’d been.
She wasn’t sure why she was thinking about her mother right now. It wasn’t going to help her stay focused on the situation at hand.
And right now her life depended on it.
Her heart was in her throat as she stepped into her stepfat
her’s office. If he found out that she’d lied to him…
“I take it you got some rest?” he asked even as he motioned for her to sit down.
Okay, he was acting fairly normal, so maybe he didn’t know anything.
“Yes, thank you. Ah, what is this?” She looked at the spread of photographs in front of her. A bunch of them looked like mug shots.
“I’m trying to figure out who took you,” he said as if that was obvious.
She tapped a fingernail on the image closest to her. “How did you get mug shots?”
“That doesn’t matter. Now take a look at these. And I have a few more once you’re done.” He motioned to a stack of photographs on the right side of the massive oak desk.
“Okay.” Fighting off a tremble, she picked up the first one, shook her head and set it down. She looked at the second one, a white man with a beard, and according to the information on the paper, he was six feet tall. She shrugged, then looked up at Vitaly who was watching her expectantly. “I had a hood on most of the time, and if I didn’t, he was wearing a creepy mask. I really won’t be able to tell you much. I…never thought about it but the beard might not have even been real. I can say ‘maybe’ about pretty much any of these guys,” she said, sweeping her hand along the desk at the mug shots.
Jaw tight, he simply nodded and turned to speak quietly to Otto who was hovering nearby.
Curious, she picked up the other stack of photographs—which weren’t mug shots, but regular pictures. Some had been taken from a distance as if with a long-range camera. She started flipping through them and nearly froze when she saw a photograph of Ellis Bishop. But she didn’t pause, instead kept going until the end. Oh God, so Ellis was a suspect too. Which made sense, but she hated that his picture was in this pile. There weren’t names or any other identifying information other than the pictures themselves. When she looked up, her stepfather was watching her closely.
“Anything?”
“I wish I could be more helpful. Trust me, I wish I knew who the man was.” She rubbed at her wrists, hoping to take attention away from her face. She was lying her ass off and terrified he’d see right through her.
Vitaly’s gaze strayed down to her bruised wrists, his frown deepening. “We will find out who did this.” His phone buzzed in his pocket and he took the call, turning away from her. Easily dismissing her, he held a finger up to her even as another man stepped into the office and started talking in low tones to Vitaly. She’d noticed since she’d arrived that this place was a hotbed of random people she’d never seen before. Which could mean nothing. This could be just what his normal life was like for him. She had no idea. When she’d lived with him years ago, and her mother had been alive, there hadn’t been so many people in and out of their home. She wondered if he’d done his business somewhere else.
He stepped out of the office as he spoke to the newcomer, even while telling whoever was on the other end of the phone to hold on in that commanding voice.
She looked around the office, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Just bookshelves and photographs. Mainly of Max and Vitaly.
Arianna got up from her chair and strode over to a favorite picture of her brother. Smiling to herself she picked it up, her heart twisting at the sight of him laughing. He’d been twelve years old in the picture. Vitaly hadn’t been with them that day, but her mom had taken this at the beach. Max had been laughing at some random guy juggling, of all things. That day had been filled with ice cream, sun, sand and laughter. Sighing, she wondered if Max had known what Vitaly was as he’d grown older. She really hoped not and she hated that she couldn’t ask him.
The one thing Arianna knew for certain was that Max had loved her. He’d been younger than her but they’d met up for breakfast weekly, had gone to pretty much every local festival together, and had talked on the phone every other day. Yes, his love for her had been real, just as hers had been. You couldn’t fake that. Unfortunately he’d had a problem with drugs, one he’d never gotten under control. She hated that she could relate, that her alcoholism would always be a part of her. Maybe it was something in their genes.
Now that she knew Vitaly sold drugs, it was like a sucker punch straight to her gut. A surge of anger streaked through her as she remembered how Max had looked on the floor of the kitchen, vomit at the corner of his mouth, his face an unearthly gray. She hated that it was her last memory of him—hated that he was gone at all.
Glancing over her shoulder, she reached into her bra and pulled the burner phone out. It was set to silent so she didn’t have to worry about it buzzing or ringing. She knew it was a risk, but she decided to take it. Ellis had been in hiding for months and so far he wasn’t seeing much traction on proving his innocence. She refused to lose someone else she cared about. Not when she could do something about it. Quickly she used the hidden camera app and when she didn’t find anything, she called Ellis.
“You okay?” Ellis asked quietly, not saying her name. He’d told her that he would never say her name across this line.
“I’m in his office. I’m leaving this line open.”
“No! Don’t do this,” he hissed out.
Ignoring him, she found the perfect hiding spot on the top ledge of the bookshelf. There was a fine layer of dust which told her it hadn’t been dusted in a while—probably because Vitaly didn’t even let the cleaning staff in here. She knew him; he was meticulous about privacy in his office in Orlando as well. So why would his Miami one be different? And she couldn’t imagine that he would have cameras in here—because a camera system could be hacked and it would give anyone who was smart enough an opportunity to eavesdrop on him. No, Vitaly wouldn’t risk it.
“I’m putting it up now. Don’t hang up. I’ll get another cell phone,” she murmured. Despite his protests, she set it on the top shelf out of sight just as she heard the door open. This would have to be good enough.
Heart in her throat, she turned to find Vitaly stepping inside even as she smoothly plucked a framed photo up.
He frowned at her but then his expression softened ever so slightly when he saw what was in her hand. “I miss Maximus every day.”
She wondered if he really did, considering he was about to flood the streets of Miami with a new designer drug. But she nodded, not having to fake her emotion at all when it came to her little brother. “I know. Me too. It’s silly, but I miss getting bagels with him. Every time I pass that Einstein’s, I think of him.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, shutting the door behind him.
Yeah, only because now he could find out who knew about his offshore accounts. “Me too. I’m still confused about everything. And…” She looked over the stack of pictures. “Do you really have that many enemies?”
He made a dismissive sound as he rounded his desk and sat down. “No, I just wanted to be thorough.”
“I understand. Look, I don’t have a cell phone and I haven’t been able to check in with my sponsor or any of my friends…”
“Oh, of course. I’ll make sure you get one.”
“I can buy one. I just need a ride—”
“No, no. I will provide you with one. Don’t worry about it. For now you need to stay here and rest. I’m working on a business deal, and after everything you’ve been through I don’t like the thought of you being away from me.”
She hated the idea of staying here but there was no logical reason for her to argue with him. Especially after she’d just been kidnapped. “How long do you think I’ll need to stay here? I need to go to an AA meeting for sure, I need to check in with the woman I’m sponsoring, and I’ve got plans with some of my friends from school, so—”
“Arianna, I can’t give you a time frame. Just stay put and be thankful that you are alive.” He spoke as if his word was law, as if he was God. Which sounded about right where he was concerned.
Sensing that she was about to push too much, she nodded. “You’re right. If you could get me a cell phone though, I really would appr
eciate it.” Not that she would be calling Ellis from that phone—she would never put him in danger like that—but she did want to call her sponsor. And her stepfather already knew about her relationship with Sheila so it wouldn’t be putting her in any more danger than she was from simply knowing Arianna.
She left the office, shoving back the wild surge of emotions sparking through her. Her inner voice was telling her to run, run, run.
But she forced herself to take a deep breath. She had no choice but to stay. If she wanted to get out of this alive, she had to act normal, to bide her time until she could get back to Ellis.
But once she left, she was never coming back.
Chapter 22
Ellis cursed as he heard Arianna leaving Vitaly’s office. He couldn’t believe what she’d done but there was no way to stop her. Fuuuuuuck. He wanted to call in a SWAT team and get her out of there but knew that was impossible. Maybe he could call Duarte and ask him to do a wellness check. No, that might arouse even more suspicion and might get the detective killed. Because when he’d called 911 it wasn’t as if he’d told them who he’d kidnapped.
He pressed mute on the burner phone and hoped she’d hid that cell phone well. On another one of his burners, he called Lizzy.
“Yeah?”
“Arianna just planted a phone in her stepfather’s office.” He clenched his jaw.
Lizzy let out a whoop of excitement. “Seriously?”
He scowled “Yes.”
“Give me the phone number to the burner.”
He rattled off the number. “What are you going to—”
“Dude, it’s a phone. I’m going to hack into it and record anything using the microphone. I can hack into the camera too, if it’s usable. That’s child’s play for me.”
Just when he thought his skills were passable, he realized how far out of his league Lizzy was when it came to technology. She was on a different playing field. And he was damn glad she was on his side. The techs he worked with could do the same thing—he just hadn’t realized how much Lizzy was capable of.