Sonata (Butcher and Violinist 2)

“Kenji wanted me on that line, to make sure I was busy, but how did he know he could take Eden?” I was still stained from Giorgio’s blood. I wouldn’t shower, until I knew he was safely out of surgery and doing fine. In fact, we all kept the bloodied suits on. As if somehow that gave him strength.

Louis paced. “It’s not that simple. Kenji couldn’t guarantee that you would be downstairs on the phone. Why were you downstairs anyway?”

I pointed to Rafael. “He met us at the limo and gave me the phone.”

“Because the service kept going in and out on this floor,” Rafael explained. “The tech guy came in, right as I was cursing out the phone. He told me that there was a problem with service and that downstairs would be better, until he fixed it.”

“The tech guy, just happened to come to you, while you were having the problem?” I asked.

“I’ll grab him.” Louis left the room.

I placed my blood-stained hands in my pockets. “What happened after you went downstairs?”

“The guy remained on the line,” Rafael said.

“What guy?”

“Kenji’s assistant.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “You waited downstairs with the assistant on the phone. Later, I came up in the limo with Eden and then you told the assistant that I was there?”

“Yes.” Rafael frowned. “I had no idea—”

“Of course you didn’t. Just help me get her back.”

“You know I won’t sleep until she’s back with you.”

No one will get any sleep until she’s back with o me.

Unable to keep calm or sit down, I headed to the window and pulled the curtains back.

I’ll keep this whole city up and full of terror, until she’s back to me. Whoever you are? You’ve made a dangerous mistake this evening.

Flashing lights surrounded the perimeter of my building.

I’d called the president.

No one would leave Paris tonight. Not by airplane or bus. Not train or boat. The news had announced a possible terrorist on the loose. A curfew had been put into effect. People were to assume their regular activities today but be off the streets by sunset.

I had every traffic and street camera in this city. I’d called in more men from our further Corsican sectors to come through. Not just various provinces in France. I called in favors and grabbed our people from all over—Belgium to Haiti. Oceans to oceans. Canada to Senegal. We had our specially trained men in Montreal, and street warriors, from the Ivory Coast.

It would all go down in Paris.

Until Eden was back safe and alive, no one would live their lives normally. No one would leave the country or enter. No one would move without my knowing who, what, and why. Everybody would be on alert. Everyone would be in fear, looking over their shoulders, searching for the possible suspect.

All I need is a face or a name and that bastard won’t be able to piss in a toilet without me knowing.

Rafael interrupted my thoughts. “Bratva are here, but do you think this came directly from Kazimir?”

“He should know what the fuck is going on in Paris, especially since he’s here.”

“I just want us to be careful, before we think he’s involved. Let’s just be rational.”

You think I’m going to be rational?

A dark chuckle left me.

Louis returned with a scared and shaking skinny man. His glasses kept falling off his face as Louis shoved him inside. The guy’s eyes swept around us. His gaze stopped on me. He went pale as we came close and stood in front of him.

Rafael brought over a chair. “Would you like to sit?”

“Uh. . .n-no.”

Rafael scowled. “Sit.”

The guy did. “L-like I said, Louis, I-I don’t know—”

“I don’t believe you.” Louis crossed his arms over his chest. “If I don’t believe you, then Jean-Pierre won’t either.”

“What’s your name?” Rafael asked.

“Ju,” he said.

Rafael glowered. “What kind of name is Ju?”

I ended their discussion. “Tell us something, Ju. How did men come into my building without me knowing?”

Ju’s bottom lip quivered.

I turned to Rafael. “Get my bows.”

Ju wrung his hands. “No. No. No. Y-you won’t need your bows. I…”

We watched him.

Stay calm. Don’t kill him. Not yet.

I placed my hands in my pockets. “You what?”

“I…my wife. . .” Ju glanced at Louis, then Rafael and then returned back to me. “My kids. . .they said they would…they have them now. You have to understand—”

I kneeled down and gazed at him. “Someone took your wife and kids?”

“Yes.” Ju quickly nodded. “It was twenty of them. They woke me up in the middle of the night—”

“When?”

“Three days ago.” Ju trembled. “They took my wife and kids into the other room. They told me, I had to go to work today and put a file into the system, so they could get in, and then they would leave us alone. I came back that night and…and it all had just begun. . .they wanted the layout of the penthouse. . .they. . .”