Kidnapped by the Billionaire(59)

"Jesus," St. James sighed. "How about we concentrate on the important  stuff instead of comparing dick sizes? Like figuring out where the hell  Violet is?"

Rutherford folded his fingers over the bit of silver wire, clenching his  hand into a fist. "Where's Eva? I have an idea about how we might be  able to track what happened to Violet."

Elijah didn't want to, he really didn't, but his gut instinct was  telling him that if he wanted to get to Violet, he was going to have to  work with these people. He'd have to keep his rage in check and put his  gun away.

Fuck. He'd been on his own too long. This kind of working together shit was foreign to him.

"She's out in the alley across the street." He did it-he put away the  Colt, despite the anger that pulled at him, the desperate feeling that  every second he stood here was another second lost, another second that  might find Violet closer to death.

Like Marie. You waited too long. You were passive too long.

Without another word, he turned toward the doors to the apartment  building and went through them, not caring whether the others followed  him or not.

No more waiting. No more fucking around.

Katya and Eva were still beside the SUV, looking worried as Elijah strode up to them.

"Where's Violet?" Eva demanded.

"They took the tracking device out and left it there," Elijah snapped.  "Rutherford said he had an idea about how you could track her."

Eva's gaze flickered behind him and he heard the footsteps of the other  men approach. "Yeah, I know what he means." Then, to Rutherford, "You  want me to see if I can hack into a cell phone tower and get a signal?"

"I'm not asking, angel," the clipped English voice behind Elijah said. "I know you can."         

     



 

A smile flashed over her face, bright as summer lightning. "Give me a couple of minutes. The laptop's in the car."

Elijah turned to face the Brit, while Katya moved over toward St. James, blonde brows drawn down.

Rutherford's gaze was completely expressionless.

"Cell phone towers?" Elijah asked him. "You want to track a cell phone signal?"

"Yes. We might be able to see who was entering or exiting the building  around the time the tracking signal stopped there. If we're lucky  there'll only be a couple of people, and we can track their signals."

"Then we find them and hopefully find Violet?"

"We'll certainly find whoever put the tracking device there, which'll give us a lead."

The only lead they had. Which meant he was stuck here until Eva managed to work her IT magic. Fucking great.

"Who took her?" St. James asked. His tone was neutral, but Elijah didn't miss the undercurrent of threat.

"How the fuck should I know?" Elijah pushed his fingers into the pockets  of his jeans to stop them from reaching for his Colt. "I met with  Jericho. Shot him like I meant to. Next minute she was gone."

"Had to be him," Woolf growled, pacing like a caged animal. "Who else could it be?"

"This asshole just shot him," St. James pointed out. "How could it be him?"

But a suspicion that had been slowly turning over in Elijah's brain  suddenly solidified into fact. "It wasn't him," he said roughly and with  extreme reluctance.

Fuck. How could he have been so stupid? He'd known something wasn't  right, but he'd wanted to take that shot at the man who'd been  instrumental in his wife's death, had been so desperate that he'd  ignored his instincts completely.

Woolf stopped dead, looking at him. "What do you mean ‘it wasn't him'?"

Elijah made himself go on. "Jericho wanted Violet, don't ask me why, I  don't know and I didn't care. As far as I was concerned, she was bait  and if he wanted her, that's all that mattered. But when I got there and  I met him  …  something wasn't right. He didn't even look at her. Not  even once, and that's not what a man does when he wants a woman."

The other men were silent, but Elijah could feel the force of their  combined attention like the pressure of a hand pressing down on him.

"I demanded proof of who he was," Elijah went on, "but he refused. Then  he demanded Violet. And I knew if I gave her to him, I'd lose the  fucker."

"So what? You shot him anyway?" Woolf's voice was heavy with scorn. "You shot a minion and then Jericho took her all the same."

The big, spiked ball of ice was like razor wire now, cutting into him.

You lost her. You wanted revenge and you lost her.

And it hurt. It just fucking hurt and he didn't understand why. This felt like when he'd lost Marie, a woman he'd loved  …

Elijah shut down the thought before it had had a chance to take root and  grow. Crushed it flat. Killed it. There was no love. Love led to  destruction and he would never let it near him again.

"Yes," he said coldly, flatly, staring into the other man's dark eyes.  Challenging him. "Which means it's up to me to take her back."

"Fuck that," Woolf spat. "I'm her half brother-"

"And I'm the one who's been dealing with Jericho up till now," he  interrupted, his voice harsh. "I may not have met him but I know him and  his operation better than any of you. You want Violet to have the best  shot at getting out? Then you'd better let me get her."

There was a tense, highly uncomfortable silence.

Woolf was looking at Elijah like he wanted to shoot him right where he stood. Yeah, well, the feeling was fucking mutual.

"He's right, Gabe," Rutherford said unexpectedly. "We don't know Jericho, we don't know his men or the way he operates."

"And this prick does?" Woolf stood there glowering, fury gathering about him like a storm.

Elijah ignored it. "I know better than you. Fitzgerald's been dealing with him for the past six months, like I told you before."

"Yeah, and what the fuck do you know anyway?"

A very good point, not that Elijah would let Woolf know that. Because  truth was, he didn't really know. No one did. Because Jericho never  dealt with anyone directly-he was famous for it-only operating via a  series of go-betweens.

So what the hell did you think was happening in Battery Park? Did you really think he was going to front up?         

     



 

But he'd had no choice to believe it, had he? He'd wanted to believe  …   because as soon as he'd seen that fucker, he'd seen the finish line. The  end to all this rage, this pain, this grief he couldn't get rid of no  matter how hard he tried. No matter how deeply he managed to convince  himself.

He'd seen the moment he could pull that trigger and it would finally all  stop. Marie would be avenged and at last, at last, he could end it. He  could rest. Find peace.

But it wasn't the end, was it? Not when they'd taken Violet.

You have to find her. You'll never find peace until you find her.

No, he wouldn't. Because she was his peace.

A part of him fought the realization, the knowledge that settled down  through his bones and into his soul. Fought desperately. But he couldn't  deny it, not anymore. In the brief time they'd had together, she'd  changed him and changed him irrevocably. Her caring, generous spirit and  her courage. The way she touched him like he was precious, even after  everything he'd done to her.

He wasn't the same. And though this couldn't be love, not when he'd made  so sure that love would never be part of his life again, he needed her.  If this was ever to stop, if all of this was ever to end, he needed  her.

Elijah met Woolf's dark gaze. Held it. "What do I know? I know that I'll  die before I let anything happen to her. And I'll die to protect her if  I have to. That good enough for you, motherfucker?"

Surprise flared in the other man's eyes and a long, dense silence stretched out between them.

Then Woolf said, "Yeah, asshole, I guess that'll do."

It was reluctant, but it was something.

The silence was broken by the sound of the door of the SUV slamming as  Eva got out, carrying her laptop. "And I think we have a winner." She  was grinning. "Anyone feel like visiting Alphabet City?"

"What's in Alphabet City, angel?" Rutherford folded his arms.

Eva came over with the laptop, pushing the screen back a little so  everyone could see. "There was only one cell phone signal that entered  the building just before the tracking device stopped moving, then exited  it just after. And that's this one here."

A map rotated on the screen, the orientation spinning as Eva's fingers  moved on the track pad, manipulating then zooming in on the location.

Elijah stared at the map, memorizing it, then finally, he reached for  his Colt. "I'm going and I'm going alone." He stared around at the rest  of them. "Anyone got any fucking objection?"



Violet felt like the earth had shifted beneath her feet, as if she'd  been in a violent earthquake and the landscape that had once been  familiar had now changed beyond recognition.

And the ground was still moving.

"No." She said it reflexively, her voice sounding tinny and strange. "That's ridiculous."