He looks down. “No, have you tried Jackie?”
“No, I’ll call her next, but if you hear from her, please contact me.” He doesn’t even answer. He just slams the fucking door!
When I get downstairs, I call Max. “Hey I just left Marco’s place, he said he hasn’t heard from her. He suggested I call Jackie.”
Max is silent, “Um, don’t bother. I’ve been with her all night, and she hasn’t heard from Raven.”
I’ve noticed the way Max looks at Jackie but, he doesn’t do relationships. I’ve been so preoccupied with everything going on, that I never took the time to talk to him about her. What kind of friend does that make me? “Oh, okay, I think we need to talk to Joseph. I’m going to call him to come to The Tower. I’ll meet you there as soon as possible, please.”
I know there is something I’m missing. It’s just floating around in my brain, but I can’t put it together.
Max and I reach The Tower at the same time. “Max, did Tony find out anything on the car that she got into?”
“He got a partial plate, and we’re running it now.”
Joseph finally shows up. And I ask him in an accusatory tone. “Do you have Raven?” Max is watching Joseph’s every move.
“Jax, maybe if you told me everything, we wouldn’t be in this position that we are now!” Joseph seethes.
“I’ll take that as a yes. I just need to know that she is safe.”
He nods, “I have her in a safe house, but she is refusing to tell me anything other than she needs time to think. I disabled the tracking app you put on her phone, and when she is ready to talk to you, she will. For now, just wait. Having her locked away and safe will give us time to figure out what to do next. I know you don’t believe me, but I really just want what’s best for her. Putting her up for adoption was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but if I had kept her with me, it would have only put her in danger.”
“Max pulled files on her family. They are a nasty bunch, and apparently, there is a sister. Did you know about her?”
He shakes his head, “No, I didn’t find out about her until after Antonio died. You need to understand. He disowned his whole family and cut all ties. He never spoke to them, or of them. It was one of the conditions for joining the Feds. His knowledge of the inner workings of the Mafia was beneficial in bringing down key players in the organization, but that also brought enemies.”
Max shoots me a look. I understand what he’s asking and I nod. He turns to Joseph, “Listen, we found out some interesting stuff that might be beneficial, but you need to understand, this is for your eyes and ears only; trust goes both ways.” He pours Joseph a drink.
“Okay, Max, what do you have that requires me needing a drink first?”
“For one, you need to know about Erica.”
He nods. “That would be Jax’s ex, correct? My understanding is that she was a real piece of work; corporate spy shit. You really know how to pick them.”
Max doesn’t give me a chance to respond, he knows I’m teetering on the edge.
“You also need to know that we found out who the half-brother is. And he’s right here, in Manhattan.”
His eyes light up, “Really, who is he?”
Max starts pacing. “He’s the same person who bugged Jax’s office. That’s how they found out that we knew where they were being held. We left the bugs in place, so that we can feed them what we want them to know.”
Joseph puts his drink down, “So, who is he?”
Max takes a steadying breath, “That would be Jax’s assistant, Duke. But there’s more. He is working with Erica. Oh, and one more thing, there is a mole somewhere in the FBI, and that person is close to you. We need to find this third player.”
Joseph stares at us like we have three heads. He’s doesn’t say anything, and then he gets up and starts pacing. I realize that like Max, this is his way to process the information..
He turns to us, “This is not some Hardy Boys mystery. We are talking kidnapping, extortion, and a slew of other shit. When the fuck did you find this out?!”
Max grabs his arm, “We just found out, and that is what Raven overheard. That’s why she ran. I know you think she will be okay in the safe house. Now that you know everything, including the fact that there is someone near you who is a mole, do you still think she is safe?”
The realization on Joseph’s face is a horrible. All three of us start running for the elevator.
Max jumps in the Rover’s driver’s seat and Joseph and I follow; me in the passenger seat, Joseph in the back. “Joseph, tell me where to go.”
He shakes his head, “Max, I can drive us there.”
I turn back to Joseph, “Trust me when I tell you, no one can get us there faster than Max, not even me.”
It seems to register with him to just let Max drive. “Okay,” he gives Max the address. Max is flying around the traffic and then decides to cut through the park, where cars are not allowed. Joseph has a death grip on the seat, and he’s starting to sweat. “Good God, man, where the fuck did you learn to drive?!”
Max never even breaks a sweat. “I spent my summers in Italy, working for Lamborghini.”
Max looks over at me, “Jax, get the light from under your seat and put it out, so the coppers don’t bother us.” I do so and now we have lights and sirens to clear the way. And Joseph looks to have aged quite a bit.
We get to the house. The door is wide open and Raven is gone. The agent that was guarding her is dead—shot in the head at point-blank range. Now, we have to add murder to the list.
We drive back to the tower in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. My girl is gone, and in so much danger. How could this have gotten so out of control?
WE HEAD UPSTAIRS AND try to form some sort of plan. We need to go through all of the events leading up to Raven’s most recent disappearance. I just know we are missing something. Max makes coffee and starts with Joseph. “I need you to start with when you picked up Raven last night.”
“I was on my way here, to see her. When I saw her run out of the park, I stopped my car and opened the door. I called her name, and she got in. We drove to the safe house, but she didn’t want to talk. So, I got her settled in for the night, then this morning, I got the call from you and came here.”
Max starts pacing, “Was your driver the dead agent at the house?”
“Yes, when you called, you said to come alone and not to tell anyone where I was going. I left my guy there to guard Raven and came here.”
Max takes a deep breath. “Did you tell anyone else that you had Raven at the safe house?”
All the color drains from his face, “Yes, I called Marco when I found her running from the park. I told him I was going to take her to the safe house. I knew he was worried about her. The only other person who knew was the agent who was shot.”
Max turns to me, “Okay, Jax, you’re up next; what did you do?”
I have to organize my brain. “My mum came by and after she left, I texted Raven. Then I headed to Marco’s place to see if he had heard from her.”
“What exactly happened at Marco’s?”
That fucker. “I kept banging on the door until he opened up a crack, then I told him about Raven.”
Max’s hands fly up! “Hold up. What do you mean, he opened the door a crack?”
“His exact words were, ‘Jax, I’m not alone.’ Then I told him about Raven. He was shocked and suggested I call Jackie, and I left.” I run through. I’m confused. “Max, what’s the problem?”
Max turns to Joseph, “Joseph, Jax had me pull a file on Marco, and he is squeaky clean. However, before Raven, there is nothing on him; what do you know?”
Joseph is now as white as a ghost. I pour him three-fingers of scotch. “Drink this. You look like you need it.”
He takes the glass, but he is shaking. “Max, Marco was a street kid who was a wiz with a computer. The Bureau nailed him for hacking, and rather than prosecute him, we decided to go wi
th hiring him.”
I run my hand through my hair. “Max, it couldn’t have been Raven with Marco. She was still at the safe house with Joseph. He knew Raven was at the safe house when I was there. You said he got a delivery of Chinese food last night. Did anyone see the guy leave?”
“Jax, he would never hurt her.” Joseph pipes up.
I growl, “I’m not prepared to take any chances.”
“Jax, I can get a warrant, within the hour, to pull footage from the cameras around the building.”
Max is already on the phone to Tony, “I’m not waiting around while you get a warrant. Max is getting the footage now.”
Joseph starts to protest, “If you get the evidence without the warrant, it will get thrown out of court!”
“Joseph, get your head out of your fucking arse, I’m not waiting on some fucking warrant. I want my girl back now, and God help anyone who gets in my fucking way!”
Max grabs me. “Jax, where’s your laptop?”
I go get it from the back office. Max opens my MacBook and before I know it, he has all the footage from last night. Max freezes the frame and blows it up.
I just stare at it, in shock. Staring back at me, from the footage, is Erica, dressed as a delivery man. Max and I are frozen, staring at the screen. It can’t be.
“Who the fuck is that?” Joseph yells.
Max looks at him, “That, my friend, is Jax’s worst nightmare come to life, Erica.”
I can’t move, I can’t think, and I’m holding my breath. It’s amazing what stupid random shit comes to light in your brain when you’re in shock.
“I thought Marco was gay?” Even after it left my mouth, I knew what he was going to say, and personally, I could give a royal fuck who he’s shagging. However, my girl’s life is in danger by a woman who despises me, and a man whom, by all accounts, she thought was gay.
“Well, not that it has ever come up in conversation, but I believe him to be bisexual. Why do you ask?”
“Well, we all thought he was gay. Marco with Erica changes things. Erica is a predator; she uses sex to get what she wants. Raven trusted Marco. Did he know where the safe house was?”
Joseph grabs the bar, his wan appearance only getting worse as he probably just came to the same realization that I did. Marco had to be the one that shot the agent, point blank—the kill shot.
Neither one of us is paying attention to Max, but then I hear him talking on the phone while he starts to pace. “Hold on, Tony, let me ask him.” He pulls the phone away from his ear a bit. “Jax, you know that tracker app you put on Raven’s phone?”
“Yeah, but Joseph said he deactivated it.”
He grabs me. “Do you remember which version you purchased?”
“Yeah, the deluxe, but it’s only because she kept running away and I wanted to find her. I was not being all stalker-like.”
Max looks pleased that I was acting like a crazy stalker. “Tony, did you get that? Yeah, thank Christ the crazy fucker got the deluxe package. Can you do it?” He takes a deep breath, “Okay, mate, call me back, as soon as you know.”
Before I can say anything, Max hands the phone to Joseph, “Call the clean team you have at the house and make sure they didn’t find a cell phone.”
He heads over to me, “Jax, the deluxe package comes with a code that enables you to remotely turn on the tracker app from any computer. With the access code, I had Tony hack your account and he is turning it on now. Hopefully, she had the phone on her and didn’t leave it in the house.”
Joseph hangs up his phone. “No cell phone was found at the house.”
All we can do now is wait. Something I’ve never been very fucking good at doing.
J
OSEPH HAD TO GO out. And now, suddenly, Marco shows up with a girl. How did he even know where I was? Joseph said no one would know I was here. I see Marco talking to the agent. He puts his arm around him in a loving gesture, puts his gun right between the agent’s eyes, and pulls the trigger! I scream. Dear God, no please I can’t believe this is happening, again.
"Marco, please no, not you, too! What the fuck are you doing? Why, Marco, why?!" I cry. The smell of blood and gun powder fill my nostrils, catapulting me back to that one moment in time--the moment that changed my life forever. I scream a silent scream; the shrill sound, only in my mind. I'm seven, frozen with fear. Blood is everywhere. The metallic smell, turning my stomach. I'm trembling. I can't breathe. Help me, Daddy, please don't die. Marco slaps me out of my haze. His eyes are dark and he's wiping blood splatters from his face.
“Raven, this is my friend, Erica. She is going to help you deal with everything.”
I look at him confused, “What do you mean, help me deal with everything? I don’t even know this woman, and at this point, I’m not even sure about you anymore!” And without another minute going by, I suddenly realize—Erica is the same corporate spy that Jax was in love with. My knees give out and I hear the most evil laugh right before I pass out.
When I wake up, I find I’m tied up, in the back of a van. Sitting next to me, is Duke; the other player in this mess. My eyes engage Marco’s, and I feel my tears pool again just before they start to fall. I have to look away. I feel beyond betrayed. At this point, I have no idea who to trust or what to do next.
We get to a small house in a quirky town. The sign says, “Welcome to Woodstock, we’re all here ‘cause we’re not all there.” I almost want to laugh at the truth behind it. Slowly, it’s starting to snow. Erica asks Marco if he was able to stock the house with all the needed supplies. He just nods. We get inside the small house and Marco unties me. “Don’t think of going anywhere. It’s snowing and dark out; you’ll get nowhere fast.”
Marco comes in with tea. He knows me so well. Stupid me, I thought it was because we were friends, but it was his job. I thought I knew him, but I really don’t know him, at all. Duke is glaring at Erica because she is hanging all over Marco. The fog is clearing, and I’m realizing so much that I really don’t want to know. “Marco, is Joseph in on this, too?”
He shakes his head, “No, Raven, he is clueless, although he did call me last night to tell me he found you running out of the park, apparently away from Jax. He said he was going to take you to the safe house and he would disable the tracker app on your phone. He practically gave me the keys to the kingdom.”
“Oh,” I whisper.
He smiles at me. “Yeah, oh.”
I avoid his eyes. “I don’t have my phone. I left it at the safe house.” It’s really in my pocket, but maybe he won’t figure that out.
“It doesn’t matter. You couldn’t get a call out from here anyway.”
I sip my tea while I watch the three of them. Erica keeps eyeing me up and down. Finally, she stops and looks me in the eye. “Raven, you’re a smart girl, have you figured out why this is happening yet?”
I’m so overwhelmed, I can’t think straight. “I have an idea, but why don’t you enlighten me.”
She laughs, “That day at school, when we took Michael, you were just collateral damage, and I was prepared to kill you.”
My whole body tingles. “So, what stopped you?”
Marco smirks. “I did.”
“Why did you stop her?”
He takes a deep breath. “I stopped her because you’re worth a lot more money alive than dead to the right people.”
I’m shaking. “So, it has nothing to do with friendship or loyalty?”
He throws his head back and laughs, “Oh, baby girl, get your head out of the clouds. You’re a high maintenance bitch and I’m tired of being your babysitter. I have been watching your ass, for the past twelve years, and now you’re my golden goose; my ticket out.”
“I wasn’t supposed to be on the playground that day. If it was Jackie, what would you have done?”
“She would be dead right now. Although, her father would have paid big bucks for her safe return,” he informs me. I believe him, and I’m happy she switched places with me.
<
br /> “I don’t understand how Duke comes into all of this? I think I deserve to know how my half-brother, that I never knew about, was brought into this plan.”
He takes a deep breath. “You’re right, you deserve to know the truth. Six months ago, Joseph was diagnosed with advanced stage prostate cancer. He was worried what would happen to you when he died—ironic, I know. So, he sat me down and told me the entire story of your life and your parent’s lives.”
“I was already with Erica, and she wanted revenge for being blacklisted from every major corporation, thanks to Jax. I had a friend, in the Lansing office, pull the file for Duke. After reading Duke’s file, I realized that he would be a perfect mole, just like I was Joseph's perfect mole. Poor Duke didn’t know anything about you. He’s in it for the money and the sex. We just needed to get him into Raiders Inc.”
“Erica still had some contacts, so she reached out to the ones that were burned by Jax. It didn’t take long for one of them to help us. Duke was supposed to find out everything he could about Junior, imagine my surprise when I found out that you were his teacher!” He throws his head back and laughs. “After that, all the pieces just fell into place, which started with you dumping your coffee all over Jax.”
I’m in shock. I can’t believe this man, sitting in front of me, is the same man, that I have been friends with, for the last twelve years.
“But they didn’t fall into place. We got away from your kidnappers.”
He nods. “Yeah, well, thanks to the bugs that Duke put in Jax’s office, we found out that your phone had a tracker app. Believe me, I would much rather have gotten the fifty million wired to my off shore account, then having to abort that mission. Instead of sitting on a warm beach, drinking champagne, and living off the interest, I’m now sitting in a cold house, with snow all around me, and still dealing with your high maintenance ass!” He gets up, kicking the chair as he leaves the room. I look at my tea, betting it’s cold. Duke is still glaring at Erica, and she is smirking at me. Ugh!
The Unraveling of Raven (The Unraveled Trilogy Book 1) Page 18