Chapter Thirty-Nine
Austin stood outside of Axel's gym and waited. There was another team at Axel's apartment, but no one had shown up there either. Where were they going? Where could she be? He walked over to the hood of his black SUV and peered over the map spread out in front of him. Paper maps were still in use in Austin's business. Sometimes he needed a bigger view of his surroundings. He needed to think of all of the places where his mark could be going.
The various streets and highways slid along streams and rivers on the paper below him. There were train tracks still in use in this area, as well. There were two major roads that led to one major highway. They were near hunting grounds and there were miles of nameless roads dotted with hunting cabins. Marie could be at any one of those.
"Axel fucking Connelly," he said shaking his head.
"It's crazy," Charlie said next to him.
Austin was drinking an energy drink and his stomach was starting to hurt from want of a good meal. It had been a long flight with a long and miserable layover in Charlotte. They had arrived in Philadelphia about two hours ago. Austin had been in a foul mood ever since. He wanted to take a shower, his suit was rumpled, and he had been stuck sitting on the floor for the layover. Marie was going to be in a lot of trouble for all of this.
Hayden had been sitting at the bar, one of only two patrons there. Austin had marked him right away. He was sitting, hunched over, desperately clinging to a beer and looking around nervously.
"H?" Austin demanded.
Hayden had jumped and then stammered an introduction that included his first name. He cursed his own mistake and Austin smirked at him and waited for him to make another.
"You got the money?" Hayden demanded in a harsh whisper. His hand was resting on a manila folder and he drummed his fingers nervously on it.
"Yes, I do." Austin said. He remained calm. He looked at Hayden directly in the eye. He only said what he needed to say.
"Well, where is it?!" Hayden demanded. Austin's hands were empty as were the hands of the other men with him.
"I'm not just carrying ten thousand dollars around with me. It's in the car. Let's go downstairs where we can talk in private."
"I kind of thought we could do this in public," Hayden said, shifting back and forth on his feet.
"You thought wrong."
Hayden chugged his beer and dropped a ten on the counter. Austin led the way down a steep set of red stairs to the street below. They stepped out and into a waiting limousine. Inside there was a suitcase filled with neatly stacked rows of money. Austin sat down next to Hayden and nodded to Charlie to hand the case over. Hayden's mouth fell open as he stared at the neatly stacked pile of hundred dollar bills in front of him. He reached out to grab onto of the bundles to make sure it was all actually money. He flipped through and his eyes grew big as saucers as he saw hundred after hundred flicker past him.
Austin slipped the folder out of Hayden's arm and began to flip through it. He saw Marie's address in some small town called Harskburg not too far away. There was a picture of her coming out of a huge mansion and several more of her walking down the street.
"She lives in a museum?" Austin demanded.
"She's the caretaker," Hayden said. He closed the briefcase and took it from Charlie and made a move from the door. "We never met and this never happened." He stepped out and into the street and Austin let him go.
He had considered flipping on Hayden, taking the info and keeping the money. But he didn't have a lot of contacts down here and he was worried about making an unnecessary enemy. Besides, the man had been an enormous help. Austin might never have found Marie without him and Austin believed in paying for good service. They left Austin behind and drove straight to Harksburg.
Austin had planned on grabbing her at the museum and bringing her home. It was supposed to be done quick and easy. She would see him, know her little vacation was over and then they would get into the car and go back to Arizona. He wasn't interested in starting a manhunt in an unknown town. He would have to bribe the local cops to look the other way, he would have to create contacts, and he didn't have the time for it. Standing in the street like this was the last thing he wanted to be doing. They were not supposed to be standing guard or setting up traps. It was supposed to be a rush job, in and out no complications.
But she had said no. That bitch had actually said no to him. Who did she think she was? Didn't she understand she was nothing without him? She was trash and he had made her something better. How dare she think she could ever leave him? She was coming home and he didn't care what it would take to get her there.
Charlie was trying to call Hayden, but there was no answer. Ten thousand dollars should buy him a lot more than an address and a couple of pictures. Hayden was going to have to help Austin wrangle Marie into some sort of trap. Austin was pacing in front of the entrance to the gym. People walked past him on the street and gave him a strange look, but he ignored them and focused on pacing.
Axel Connelly, the Axel Connelly, she was with him? It was impossible. Austin knew who Axel was. He had followed the same eating plan as Axel. He had read about it GQ. He had idolized Axel Connelly and now that guy was dating Marie. It was impossible. Marie wasn't good enough for a guy like Axel Connelly. She was barely good enough for Austin. He didn't know how to deal with this. He couldn't accept it. How had she even met Axel Connelly?
"He must live here," Austin said out loud, standing in place. "But why would he live here? He could live anywhere. He must have some attachment to this town. Maybe he was born here. Maybe he has family here?"
"Searching now," Charlie said as he started tapping his phone.
"We any closer to a phone number?" Austin said to the tech nerd sitting in the back seat of the SUV.
"Working on it," the tech said.
They were close. Austin could feel it. Marie was nearby. She was like a deer hiding in the forest. But he would find her. He would track her. He would sniff her out.
"His mother still lives in Harksburg. Name is Elizabeth Connelly."
"Searching," the tech said. "Got it. Her address is 447 Sycamore Grove. It's less than five miles from here."
"Good!" Austin said. His heart began to pound. He was close. They were at the mother's house. That had to be Marie's only other connection in town. That was where she was. There wouldn't be anywhere else for her to run.
"Boss," Charlie said. Austin turned to look at Charlie who had his hands up in a conciliatory gesture, "Maybe we should think about this. It might just be an old woman. We can't just all descend on her. She could call the local cops and they'll want to know why we're here. That leads to a lot of questions we don't want to answer."
Austin glared at the other man, but he knew he was right. "Send a car to the house. Check it out but be discrete. Find out if his car is there."
Charlie nodded and made the call and Austin stared at the tech. "Get me a number," he spit and the man stared at his computer and typed as fiercely as possible. This was infuriating. Marie was so close. He was tempted to get in the car and go and get her himself. But Connolly was there. Austin was a good fighter, but he might not win against an MMA champion. This was why he had brought his team with him. He wasn't alone and he was planning on using his numbers to his advantage.
"The car is at the house, but all the lights are out," Charlie said, holding his phone to his ear.
Austin nodded. Now what? He began to pace again. His hands clasped behind his back. What was the right way to play this? He needed to get in touch with Marie. He needed to get her on the phone. He knew how to push her buttons; he knew how to get her to do what he wanted. But he couldn't do anything until he found her or a way to get in touch with her. It was frustrating.
Soon. He forced himself to count to ten as he paced. Soon, he would have her. Soon she would be back and this could all be in the past.
Chapter Forty
Everything looked secure. As secure as a one-hundred-year old house in the middle of the woods could hope to be. He heard a car come down the driveway and he ducked behind the garage until the car came into view. It was Hayden. Axel walked out to greet him wondering why he was here.
Axel glanced back at the house hoping Marie would stay inside. This was exactly what Hayden had been worried about. Axel was now caught up in Marie's life in a bad way. He walked quickly towards Hayden and stepped in from of him, blocking his access to the house.