“Yeah, that’s me, but who are you fucking people? Why are you here? How the hell can you help my sister, and what the fuck do you want in return?”
Misty looked at Josh. “Since you downgraded your duties, command wants you to train two newbies under your house. They happen to be Curtis Frost and Jesse Markinson.”
Josh looked at her stunned.
She shrugged. “I was supposed to tell you once you got back from London.”
Josh looked back at Curtis and eyed him more intently. He then looked at the man standing slightly behind him.
“I take it you’re Jesse?”
Jesse simply nodded.
Josh looked at his brothers and shook his head. He took a few deep breaths. This was unreal to say the least. Josh decided he would explain himself to only Curtis, since in fact he had been out of the loop for a while.
“Your sister and I met while she was living in Pittsburgh. I don’t have the patience to tell you anything further but this, she’s mine, and I’ll be the one that’s going to find her and bring her home.”
“That’s outrageous! No daughter of mine would purposefully date a white man, especially when she’s married to that man you just beat senseless.”
Josh frowned, disgusted with the sight of her father and didn’t have a problem with telling him, “You are a fucking disgrace as a father and a man. For you to have treated your own daughter as if she was a fucking nuisance when all she ever wanted was you to love and accept her makes you lower than the people that have her now. Someone like you should be laid to pasture and put out of his fucking misery. That sick twisted motherfucker was choking out your daughter every night for a week, and you didn’t notice. He had her locked in a basement, chained to a fucking bed, but you didn’t have a clue. You accepted that asshole because you were too fucking glad someone finally took her off your hands to care what was happening to her.”
Kenya’s father puffed out his chest and was about to say something when the phone started ringing. Josh stopped Kenya’s father from answering it.
Josh moved closer and said, “Do what I say and don’t fuck up. If you do, I will kill you.”
Kenya’s mom started crying again, and Kenya’s dad cursed.
Curtis said to Josh, “I hope you have two point five million dollars.”
Josh looked over at Junior, but he was already on the phone. He nodded, and Josh motioned for Kenya’s father to pick up.
The same masked man he saw on the video before came on the screen.
“It seems you have company. Didn’t I tell you not to call the Feds?”
“I’m not the Feds. Who I am, though, isn’t of your concern. You want two point five million dollars. I can give it to you right now for the life of the girl.”
The man spoke in rapid Spanish, announcing to someone that wasn’t in view what he saw on his end. Josh replied in kind, asking for him to remove the mask and quit playing this fucking game. Josh could only see the eyes of the man, and he could tell he was surprised.
“Look, I don’t have time for this shit. I want Kenya back, you want money. Let’s make a deal. You’re going to sell her anyway, why not sell her to me?” Josh barked.
“You seem so eager to have her back. Where’s her husband? He’s the one that sold her to me to pay off a debt that he owed.” The man asked, his eyes falling on Noah’s father.
Josh said, “She was never married. As a matter of fact, she was never his to begin with to bargain for. The intel you got was a rouse by the CIA in order for them to apprehend you. She is no one’s responsibility in this room but mine. Tell me what you want so I can get her back, the sooner the better.”
Josh heard a voice in the background, and the man on the screen nodded, “The amount of money I will make on her is something you can’t pay.”
“Why don’t you stop fucking talking shit and tell me how much?”
“Five million dollars is what you will pay to get her back.”
Josh looked incredulously. “You want five million dollars right now?”
The man shrugged. “It’s not our fault you came to the party late.”
Josh waited a beat as if he was thinking. He knew he had the money. That wasn’t the issue.
He said finally, “Before I agree, I need proof of life. I saw what you did to her, and before I pay you shit I want to know she’s still alive. And you better not lay a hand on her from this moment on, or I’ll hunt each and every one of you down and kill you slowly.”
The man laughed. “That’s colorful. We can provide proof of life.”
Josh folded his arms.
“Show me now, and I’ll wire you half now. We then work out a swap, and I’ll forward you the rest at the same time as the exchange.”
“No, all of the money. I show you she is alive, and we work out an exchange,” the man replied back.
Josh shook his head. “Listen, pendejo, I really don’t give a fuck about you or what you have going on with these fucking people behind me. I want my woman back now. So if you want this money, we can do business. I don’t give a shit about the money. I need assurances you will hand her over to me and not kill her or sell her to someone else.”
The man remained silent as he obviously was listening to someone else in the room.
Finally he said, “Fine, wire three million now, and we’ll show you proof.”
Josh turned and looked at Junior. Junior opened his computer and hit a few keys. He looked at Josh when he was ready.
Josh turned to the screen, “Give me the routing numbers to the bank you want the money sent to.”
The man read off a series of numbers, and Junior typed them in, and when he had successfully wired the funds, he looked back up at Josh.
Josh turned back to the screen. “Check to see if you have the money. Then show me that she’s still alive. I want live feed and not some picture of her. I want to see you prove she is still breathing.”
“Alright, we can do that as soon as we confirm we have the money.”
Josh waited a beat, hoping that the trace they had on the money was working. He knew he kept this guy on the line long enough for Nickels to get a trace. But he would keep him on as long as possible to make this happen.
Finally the man nodded. “Okay, ready to see your lady?” He laughed and covered the camera.
It didn’t matter to Josh either way. He stood stock–still and waited. After a few minutes, they removed the covering, and he found a figure not moving lying on a dirt floor.
“Hey you, are you still alive?” a voice asked.
She didn’t move.
“Kenya!” Josh called out. He figured there was audio still set up, and he hoped she would respond. When she didn’t, he tried again. This time he said her name louder, “Sweets, baby, it’s me!”
He heard her moan again, and she tried to move.
“No, Sweets, don’t move, just hold on for me, okay? I got your message, and I’m coming to get you. Did you hear me?”
He didn’t hear a sound then the next thing he saw was a hard kick to her leg. She screamed out in pain, and it racked not only her body but Josh’s.
He heard rapid Spanish, and this time he heard what was said, and he knew the voice wasn’t the man he’d been talking to.
“So you see she’s alive. We will call in thirty minutes with a place to meet us. You will wire the funds the moment we call.”
The call ended, and Josh stood there not moving. He was trying to calm his breathing. He wanted to murder them. He couldn’t wait to get his hands around their throats and watch the life leave their eyes.
Josh turned to Junior. “Tell me you know where they are?”
Junior didn’t answer. He kept punching keys.
“Junior!” Josh yelled.
“Give me a second, damn it.”
“We don’t have a second.”
“So what do you think you’re going to do? Go in there guns blazing?” Noah’s father scoffed.
“If need be, yes.”
“And how do you think that’s going to end for her. You’re out of control, and you’re going to get my daughter killed.” Kenya’s father added.
“I agree. We will contact the police once they name where she will be dropped, and they will take it from here.” Noah’s father exclaimed.
“The last thing you will do is, call the police. You will stay out of it and out of my way. If I said I’ll bring her home then that’s what I’m going to do,” Josh replied.
Wayne stepped up and said to Josh, “How do you expect these people to trust you. You came in here attacking that man, dropping millions of dollars then tell her family to stay out of it. You seem to be unstable and out of your fucking mind. Why don’t you let us handle it from here? Clearly we know and love her more than you could ever do.”
Josh’s eyes fell on Wayne. He expected to see more from the man, a presence or something, but he saw a lost soul with the same pain in his eyes as he saw in Kenya.
Josh knew he was running out of time, so he made what he said brief and to the point.
“The woman that you knew is still missing. She was lost to you and this family. You actually let her go. You let that son of a bitch, come here,” he pointed to Noah, “and take her without a fight. If anyone in this fucking room gave a shit about her, she would be right here with you. That useless son of a bitch wouldn’t have had the opportunity to touch her.