Chapter 53

JUSTIN

Cole was doing well, all things considered, and felt horrible that Avery had gotten kidnapped.

Justin assured him that it wasn’t his fault and to just focus on healing so he was 100% when Avery came back. 'Cause they both knew she would kick their asses if he didn’t heal.

“Do you think she blames me?” Cole asked timidly.

“Not in the slightest!” Justin assured him. “You are her best friend, Cole, and she loves you. You know her—she would never do that. She will fuss over you for weeks after this and you know it.”

Nina smiled. “She is going to be brutal to you, you know.” The men laughed.

Justin told him not to worry about any of the medical bills, the club would take care of everything and anything else he needed.

And while Cole was very thankful, he asked, “Is Avery gonna be okay?”

Justin nodded and tried to be strong. “She will be home soon. I will not sleep until she is back by my side.”

Justin desperately prayed that he was right as Mikey drove him to the clubhouse an hour later. Avery had been gone for almost six hours and he was starting to go crazy.

They hadn’t heard anything from the people who took her, and no one had found anything on the van. He was feeling restless and didn’t know how long he could contain this feeling before he snapped.

He was sitting at the conference table with Mikey when Gio and Tina walked in and went to him, hugging him tightly.

“Any updates? Any news?” Tina asked tearfully.

Justin started shaking his head. “No—”

“Justin!” Stevo yelled, running into the room and interrupting him. “You need to hear this!”

Stevo placed the phone on the table, hit the speaker button, and said, “Luca, you’re on speaker and your dad is here. Repeat what you just said!”

“I played the video you sent to our security team just to see if any of our contacts could help. One of our guys that is usually up north just happens to be here and knows the guy in the video,” Luca explained.

“He is a higher-up guy in a local gang that we used for transport for a few years. We had talked about using them for our deal with you, but they got sloppy and greedy, so we cut them out.”

“That’s when we came to you,” Gio asked. “Oh god, this is our fault!”

“No, we never could have known that this was going to go down,” Mikey added. “Who knew that they could connect the pieces.”

“That’s what Heather meant, that we took something from them,” Justin added, realizing the pieces were fitting together.

“They had to have been watching us and found Heather to be a weak link. And she was pissed at me, so she spilled her guts.”

“But that doesn’t explain about Dominique and how she got into this,” Stevo said.

“Do we know where these guys have a base?” Mikey asked.

“Let me talk to my guy and see what he can come up with. I’ll get as many ideas as we can and get back to you,” Luca promised and hung up.

Feeling hopeful, they started writing things down and making lists.

While they were working, Kiki told them that food was ready, and Justin sent them on to eat. He had absolutely no appetite and wouldn’t eat until the woman he loved was home.

Kiki sighed when he barked at her, and he sat down again to think.

Justin could hear his daughter and Ryan giggling in delight that Gio and Tina were there. He was thrilled that they could distract each other.

***

An hour later, they convened to get updates. Just as they were going to adjourn, Mitch’s phone rang. He saw the number and immediately put it on speaker.

“Tell me what you know and what the hell is going on, Henry,” Mitch demanded. Justin tensed hearing the name of the man that was supposed to be holding Dominique.

“Well, I really am sorry, Mitch. I never thought anything like this would happen. I swear!” Henry fumbled out.

“Why isn’t that bitch with you?!” Justin demanded.

“Um, I ran into some money troubles and needed an influx of cash for an investment opportunity that had fallen in my lap,” Henry admitted nervously.

“The three million dollars I gave you is already gone?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, fell on some hard times… Anyway, about a month ago this guy, real slick guy, came and offered me some money for Dominique,” Henry said.

“Name?” Mikey ordered.

“Colin Mollsen,” Henry replied.

“How did he know she was there?” Mitch asked.

“Didn’t ask. Said he would give me a million for her and I accepted. She has been making my life miserable.

“She’s a real pain in the ass, Justin. Constantly bitching about you and her kid, wanted to get back at you. I swear I had no idea that this would happen!” Henry pleaded.

“God damn it! I paid you that money to keep her locked at your facility! What good is a ‘psych hospital’ if you can’t keep people inside?” Justin yelled.

“I know! My staff was having a hard time controlling her. I thought I was going to have to start drugging her!” Henry cried.

“Why didn’t you come to us?” Mikey asked.

“I don’t know…”

“Well, your stupidity and greed is gonna cost you, asshole! If I don’t get my wife back whole, a phone call will be made to your state’s attorney general about unsafe practices for patients,” Justin promised.

Henry sighed. “I know…”

“If anything else suddenly pops into your greedy little mind, call me!” Mitch growled, then hung up.

“Already on it,” Stevo said, typing away to find things on Colin Mollsen.