The badgering questions kept coming. Stephen rushed her inside. She covered her ears. The nurse was waiting to escort them upstairs. He recognised her from the last time Rebecca had been in the hospital.
James and Cadeon were in the waiting room. Violet lay curled on the chair next to her man fast asleep. Tate and Kevin came out of one room while Sean and Lucas came out of the other.
All four men looked like they’d seen death.
“What happened?” Stephen asked. Ursula helped him to focus.
“A couple of guys broke into Rebecca’s place. They trashed everything and then—” Tate couldn’t finish.
“Her neighbour alerted the police. The house was in Cadeon’s name, so they called him first,” Kevin said.
“Was she ... raped?”
“No. They slapped her around. Someone stopped it. There was an ambulance already on the way when the neighbour called the police.”
Stephen frowned. The person had to be Paul. The police came to ask them some questions. He called his lawyer to begin the deal to get Eugene.
“How is Isabella?” he asked Lucas.
“She’s not woken up. Whatever has happened to her, the doctors don’t know if she’ll wake up. There was the cold, and from the track marks she’d been taking plenty of drugs.” Lucas stopped talking. Stephen understood. The pain of everything was too much to deal with.
“Excuse me, Mr. Knox, Mr. Sanchez, there is a phone call for you. They want Mr. Castleden and Mr. Ashwood as well,” a nurse said to them. Stephen left Ursula with Tate and Kevin as all of them went into the doctor’s room. “He told me to escort you here.”
The nurse closed the door behind her. The speaker phone beeped on the phone. Stephen pressed the button waiting for the person on the other end.
“I see you got my message.” The unmistakable sound of Eugene Black sounded on the line.
“What the fuck have you done?” James asked.
“Patience, James, Patience. I’m surprised you’re not thanking me. Not only have I cured Rebecca’s problem about getting out of the house, I’ve also given you your freedom. Possession and Ravage will be no more,” Eugene said.
James looked angry.
“What do you want, Eugene?” Stephen said.
“I want to meet. I think the abandoned warehouse from where Dominic took Violet would be the best location.”
“Why? You got what you wanted. The clubs are in tatters. Your message has been received loud and clear,” Stephen said.
“Actually, it hasn’t. There is something else I want from you. I paid a pretty penny for Violet. I want my money back. She would have gotten me so much more where I would have put her.”
“You’re not having Violet,” Cadeon yelled.
“I don’t want used goods. Did you know there are a lot of men looking for virgin women? I mean millions of pounds or dollars for the use of one.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” Stephen asked.
“Because you have information that connects me to this crap. My father is in prison. I don’t want the same. Give me what I want, and Ursula won’t disappear along with all the women connected to the club. You don’t want to mess with me. I’ll be at the warehouse in one hour. Be there, or lose everything you’ve ever known.” The call rang off.
“Dane is not in the country yet. He can’t help us,” James said.
“Suddenly it’s a good idea?” Stephen asked.
“Sarcasm won’t get us anywhere.”
“We have copies of everything. I’m coming with you. I’ve got my contacts in the police force. They’re already smoothing over the impact of the exposure of the clubs. The exposure now is based on the media’s attention. They’re not going to bring us in for questioning. They want answers to the disappearance of women,” Lucas said.
“Then get in touch and tell them where we’ll be in an hour.”
“Stephen, without Dane we don’t have much to go on,” Lucas said.
“We’ll get him to talk. I’ll go in first. I want someone to stay at the hospital with Ursula and Violet.”
“Tate and Kevin won’t leave Rebecca. They’ll be safe with them,” Sean said.
Stephen nodded. “Don’t you two want to stay here with Isabella?”
“She’s out of it at the moment. In a coma. The doctors don’t know if she’s going to wake up. I want to get this dealt with before she does,” Lucas said.
They made arrangements. The men left the room to go and get the people they would need for a showdown. An hour’s notice wasn’t great, but if they could work it right, they would get everything they needed.