Fighting Silence (On the Ropes #1)(83)

My stomach knotted, and bile rose to my throat. Clay f*cking Page.

“Whoa. Wait just a f*cking minute. You never said anything about involving his family.”

“Well, originally, I was only planning to involve your family. But I figured she would be a little more enticing than your youngest spawn.”

“You went after Quarry?” Clay yelled as he took a huge step forward.

Frankie moved to the kitchen and poured a glass of amber liquor. “You know, I have to give it to you. For such a *, you managed to raise some fearless kids.”

“He didn’t raise them,” I interjected into their conversation as I glared at Clay. “Till did. I did. He had nothing to do with those boys. Don’t you dare give him any credit for who they have become,” I growled. I shouldn’t have said anything, but Clay Page was somehow involved in this bullshit and it enraged me that he could do this to his own f*cking son . . . again.

He put his hands on his hips and leveled me with a glare. “Bullshit. Those are my kids. I raised them all until I got locked up.”

“You are so full of shit. You’ve thrown Till to the wolves twice now. Flint’s a f*cking nervous mess, and when I was dragged out of that hotel room, Quarry was unconscious in a pool of blood. Is that your idea of raising them?” I pushed to my feet, my arm still connected to the door. “You know what?” I turned my attention to Frankie. “You never needed me for insurance. Till would have been happy to throw the fight if you just promised to put a bullet in that *’s head.” I nodded toward Clay. My chest heaved as I finished.

Frankie burst into laughter, spraying liquor from his mouth. “That bitch is tied to a door and still talking shit to you, Page. I like the spunk.”

Clay held my eyes as his tongue slid over his teeth. Then he cracked his neck but didn’t respond.

“Oh, look! The dip-shit bodyguard is back.” Frankie leaned over the computer that showed a grainy feed of my hotel room.

I tried to lean around him to see the screen, but his back blocked my view.

Clay waved to catch my attention. I sucked in a breath as his hands brokenly signed, They’re still my kids. Sit down. Shut up.



“Why was no one watching them?” I yelled at Slate.

“They were inside the room. Leo was on the door, but he took Flint down to grab some food. They can’t be everywhere.”

“Bullshit!” I boomed. “What the f*ck about Alex?”

“He’s pulling nights!” Slate explained for at least the tenth time. “Not a single one of us could have anticipated something like this happening. All that matters now is that we get her back. So calm the f*ck down and let’s figure this shit out.”

Every muscle in my body twitched, but calming down wasn’t a possibility—not when she was missing. I intertwined my fingers and rested them on the top of my head.

“Found it.” Leo rushed into the room and slammed a tiny, black camera the size of a pencil eraser down onto the table. “It’s cheap. Low end that you can grab almost anywhere. This guy’s no f*cking professional.”

As soon as we had gotten to the conference room, we’d found that, while Frankie obviously did know that Johnson was assigned to Sarah and Erica, nothing had actually happened to them. They were all safe and unharmed in the restaurant downstairs when Leo got in contact with him.

We all congregated in the conference room with Alex and Johnson standing guard at the door.

“He’s no pro. He’s a small-time, cracked-out bookie. I met him once when I was eighteen. This has something to do with my dad. I don’t know if he’s in on it or what, but you find Clay Page. He’ll have some f*cking answers.”

“He was released last week and already skipped parole. It’ll take me longer to locate him than it will Eliza,” Leo answered as Flint furiously signed for me.

“This is out of control. We need to call the cops,” Slate announced.

“No!” I yelled. “No cops.”

Leo stepped in front of me and began talking, but I was forced to watch Flint fill in the words. “Till, there is no guarantee that he will even release her after you lose. We need some backup here.”

“No, we don’t. Just find her.”

“I’m working on getting access to the hotel surveillance cameras. It’s a casino. There isn’t an inch of this hotel we can’t see. But I’m hitting walls at every turn. I need a badge. I’ll explain the situation and get minimal officers, no uniforms.”

“What if he finds out? He’ll kill her . . . He’ll kill them!” I roared before I felt my throat close and I was forced to depend on my hands. I can’t risk it.

“I’m sorry, but I think you’re wrong about this. I’m calling it in.”

As Flint finished signing Leo’s words, I exploded and rushed across the room. “No! That’s not your f*cking choice!” I batted the phone out of his hand, sending it flying across the room.

Slate wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind, and Flint stepped in front of me.

“That’s my wife. My daughter. Goddammit, I get to decide how this goes down.”

“Till, you’re making decisions with your heart based on fear right now. I’m trying to think logically.”