No trace of the fugitive

"Luca, " I said, calling out to him to check on his progress. I raised a silent prayer that he had something, anything, to go on. "Any news?"

"The phone's in the house, buddy. You've got to find it. It's our best chance to see what he was doing before he left." Luca's Irish accent sounded bored from the other side. It's easy to be as cool as a cucumber when your ass isn't the one on the line.

"I trashed the place. He's not here, wouldn't I have deleted his messages and calls anyway?"

"Deleting them doesn't mean I can't find them, but I need the device to do it. Find it, Edward , and I'll do the rest."

My fingers tightened against my phone as I scanned the room. There wasn't a single part I hadn't checked. We had searched the other rooms as well, to no avail. "How sure are you that he's in the house?"

"One hundred percent. He never left the house after she did."

"With a deep sigh, I closed my eyes. Okay. I'll call you back."

There was one person who might be hiding something. One person who had been wary all week.

Mery . She and Amelia were close, and if anyone had helped her, or was covering for her, it would be her little sister. He had tried to press her for information, but never alone. I would do whatever it took to get an answer, daughter of the boss or not.

After a few minutes, my fist slammed against the door and a series of knocks echoed throughout the wide hallway. Her eyes bugged out as she opened the door and tried to close it again quickly. Using my foot to stop the door, I pushed it open and entered her room.

Her gaze drifted to the door as it closed behind me, her usual protection wasn't out because I had everyone looking.

"There's no one out there."

I flinched as she let out a high-pitched cry for help. I took two steps toward her and clamped my hand over her mouth, pressing her against me and pressing her mouth and chest. "Cut it out. I didn't come here to hurt you. I need your help."

Mery squirmed against me, struggling against my grip. Despite her toned figure, she wasn't strong enough to have any real effect. Let go. "I want to let you go, but you have to stop screaming.Got it?"

His chin bobbed against my hand, and I slowly lowered it from his mouth.

"Let go of me," he said, his voice full of anger. Nobody treated those spoiled mob kids like that, but I was losing the ability to give a shit.

I let go of her and she pulled away, wrapping her arms around herself as she gave me a dirty look.

"What did Amelia say in the days before she left, where did she go, did she do anything suspicious? I need the truth."

She said nothing. His face was grim as he barked his words at me.

"So, nothing out of the ordinary happened?"

Mery looked toward the door again, but I stepped between her and the door. There was no chance of her reaching it without me catching her. Her shoulders slumped and she gave up, dropping onto the bed and giving me a dirty look.

"There was one thing. She asked me to distract the boys while we shopped. To make it look like we were taking a long time in a store while they waited outside. I saw her come out with a change of clothes and a wig."

"Where was she going?"

"She didn't tell me."

"How long was she out?"

"Maybe an hour?"

"Those guys were idiots. They stood outside a store for an hour and it didn't look suspicious to them? I'd deal with them later. And you didn't think to ask him where he'd gone?"

"I asked him, but he wouldn't tell me."

"Which store?"

Mery fiddled with the hem of her blouse while biting her lip. She was still trying to figure out how not to betray her sister.

"I can ask the guys who accompanied you. In any case, I'll have an answer. It'll be a lot easier if you tell me." There were much quicker ways to get answers, but he was pretty sure Kyle wouldn't tolerate him torturing his youngest daughter for answers.

"Avery's Boutique."

I texted Luca with the information, hoping he could access one of the security cameras on the street surrounding the store and follow her trail.

"Good girl. Now we need to find her phone."

He shrugged.

"Listen to me. what do you think will happen if he doesn't come home? You think there's a happily ever after here? He's left you here without a word. Not only does he intend to disappear, he's left you here. And you're next."

Her face paled as I spoke, her eyes widened as my words sank in.

"If he doesn't come back soon, you will marry William . And he will pay with you for this trespass of Amelia's . Is that something you would endure for your sister's sake? Are you willing to become William's wife? To marry him to save her? To submit to his cock so she doesn't have to? That is the position he has forced you into."

Mery shivered, on the verge of vomiting as my words hit home. I hoped Kyle wouldn't promise his youngest daughter to William , but he must have been pretty desperate to appease him. What's another daughter when you've already promised him one?

"I wouldn't," he whispered.

"Do you really believe that?"

The way he raised his eyebrow told me no.

"What do you want?"

"I need to find your phone. I know it's at home, but I've rummaged through her room and I can't find it. did she give it to you?"

"No. She gave me mom's necklace, but nothing else."

"Is there somewhere she could have hidden it?"

Mery pulled herself upright as realization dawned on her. My chest filled with hope.

"She'll be furious with me."

"Your father and William will be worse, believe me."

With a resigned sigh, she gave up and stood up. "Come on. There's a place she could be. She used to hide her diary, but I saw her put it away one night when she thought I'd fallen asleep."

I followed her into Mery's room as she smiled sadly over her shoulder.

"I used to read it on the sly. I think it was the least obscene diary in the world. Eventually, she threw it in the trash and stopped hiding anything. I haven't thought about it in years." Stepping over the mess he'd left strewn on the floor, he walked to the far corner and crouched down next to the closet. I already knew it was empty, the hope I had clung to shattered. But then he grabbed the baseboard next to the cabinet and pulled hard. It groaned before giving way, revealing a small dark gap behind it.

Mery's arm disappeared as she thrust her hand into the gap, which she reached for to the left and then turned to the right. There was a rustling sound as he frowned. Then she pulled out a plastic bag, and when she tilted it out, she might as well have kissed it. Amelia's phone fell to the floor with a clatter. The battery had long since died, but victory seized me.

"Thank you, Mery." I picked it up and helped her to her feet. She looked crestfallen.

"What if he hates me?" her face almost tugged at my heartstrings. Almost.

"Is helping me worse than the fact that she let you live the life she was supposed to have?"

"I guess not."

I left her there, surrounded by her sister's scattered belongings, while I called Luca , as I headed to my car.

"I have the phone. I'll be with you in twenty minutes."

For the first time since she had swallowed my cock , I smiled.

"Game on, Amelia," I said as I slid into the driver's seat.

"I never lost."

The stench of urine burned my nostrils as I headed for the door near the end. Trash fluttered in the wind, a small tornado of old potato chip packets and cigarette butts. Luca had found the information we needed, a deleted WhatsApp message to Emes Falú himself , and after tracing where he had gone, we had narrowed it down to that alley.

Fingers crossed, we were right.

I had no idea how someone like Amelia could know the forger. It's not like she was involved in running the crime empire, she was simply benefiting from the family's involvement.

Minutes passed as she knocked on the door once, twice, three times. If she wasn't home, she would find a way in and wait. In any case, he would have an answer by the end of the afternoon.

The door opened a crack and a disheveled face peered through the gap. His eyes opened wide enough for me to realize that he knew about me, knew the jobs the Kensingtons were sending me to . I knew it was bad news for him.

I forced my way in as he tried to close the door and struggled with the smaller man. He slipped out of my hands and ran into a locked cabinet, trying to punch a code into the keypad.

With a sigh, I lunged at him, dragged him backwards by his shaggy hair and slammed his body against the wall. The cabinet opened and revealed a stack of weapons, a second too late for me to grab any of them.