Dante slowly walked toward our reluctant host with his hands folded behind his back. He was a huge guy, maybe six-four, and he towered over Simeck. “Gabriel is currently missing. You don’t know anything about that, do you?”
Simeck’s eyes bulged, and he started to sweat as he blurted, “No, I swear! I haven’t seen him.”
“In that case, you won’t mind if my people search the house.”
“No, go right ahead. I have nothing to hide.” When Dante nodded, four of his men fanned out into the building. Simeck’s uneasy bodyguards stayed behind. So did Dante and Vincent, who flanked me on either side, and an enormous guy on Team Dante with a crewcut, who stood near the front door. I thought it was a nice touch that my newfound ‘cousin’ Vinny still had his arm around my shoulders.
Simeck looked confused as he glanced at me, then looked at Dante, then glanced at me again. I couldn’t resist getting in on the act, and I asked, “Don’t you see the family resemblance?”
“I do, I see it. I just had no idea,” he stammered. “You never said a word.”
I shrugged and muttered, “Well, now you know.”
“Let me make something crystal clear,” Dante said. “Whether or not you had a role in Gabriel’s disappearance remains to be seen. But either way, you need to understand that both he and Riley are under my protection. Not just the Dombruso family’s, but mine. If you ever do anything to harm or even annoy either of those two men, I’ll consider it a personal insult. You get what I’m saying?”
Simeck nodded and blurted, “Yes, Mr. Dombruso. I get it.” I’d never seen him so flustered. In fact, I’d never seen him flustered at all. He really must be terrified to fall apart like that.
Dante lowered his voice and sounded so menacing that it gave me goosebumps. “You better hope Gabriel is found unharmed, and soon. Otherwise, I’m holding you personally responsible, Simeck.”
“But I didn’t do anything!”
Dante removed his sunglasses and stared him down. “Why don’t I believe you?”
Simeck wailed, “I’m telling the truth, I swear!” I had to wonder what Dante had done to inspire such fear, especially since he seemed like a really nice guy. Well, to me anyway. Simeck clearly had a different perspective.
A few minutes later, Dante’s men returned and announced they’d searched the entire house and basement, but they hadn’t found Gabriel. Simeck blurted, “See? I told you he wasn’t here.”
“No, but now that I know you’ve been harassing a member of my family, I want you out of my neighborhood. Scratch that, I want you out of my city,” Dante said. “You have forty-eight hours to pack up and leave. Do I make myself clear?”
“But—” Dante cut him off with a poisonous glare, and Simeck nodded and said, “Forty-eight hours. Understood, Mr. Dombruso.”
Dante let him squirm for a long moment, and finally he announced, “We’re done here.”
His men started to head for the door, but I whirled on Simeck and growled, “If anything ever happens to Gabriel, you’d better hope Dante gets to you first. Because if I do, there won’t be anything left for him to finish off.” Simeck looked dazed as he stared at me with wide, panicked eyes.
Dante and Vincent fell into step with me as I left the house. Two of their men had been flanking the door, and once we passed they brought up the rear. It was all so smooth and coordinated that I wondered if the Dombrusos recruited from the Secret Service, or possibly a super buff marching band.
After we all climbed back into the SUVs and drove down the block, Dante turned to me and asked, “Okay, so how can we help find Gabriel?”
“I don’t know. I really thought he’d be there.”
“Simeck wouldn’t be keeping him off-site, would he?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “If Simeck had him, I think he’d want to use Gabriel to lure me to the house.”
“How long has Gabriel been missing?”
“It’s been about eighteen hours at this point. That might not sound like a lot, but I’m worried sick about him.”
Dante took off his sunglasses and said, “If my husband Charlie went missing for eighteen hours, I’d fall apart.” We’d pulled up in front of an attractive, modern home, which really was just about two blocks from Simeck’s. As we climbed out of the SUV and stood on the sidewalk, he asked, “What are you going to do now?”
“The only thing I can think of is to rent a car and drive around San Francisco, on the off chance I happen to spot him. I know that sounds stupid, but I’m out of ideas.”
“You don’t have to rent a car.” Dante turned to Vincent and said, “Give Riley your keys.”
Vincent frowned and asked, “Why don’t you give him your keys?”