“Okay, wonderful. I’ll head out to do the rounds,” she said.
“I’ll be out in a minute. I just want to check on Olivia. She was having a hard time working that tap we’ve had some issues with. Then I’ll meet you outside,” he said to her.
“Karl, don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”
“I know, but we were told to keep an eye on you.”
“What?” she asked.
“They worry about you. They’re very protective and hey, we don’t blame them. You get asked out on a regular basis. If they knew, they’d fire you,” Keith added to the conversation.
“Great. Thanks for not letting them know.”
They laughed. “I’ll be out shortly,” he said, holding the door for her. Karl headed toward the bar and Olivia and she headed toward the tiki bar to check on everyone.
As she made her way around everything seemed to be just fine.
“Excuse me.” She heard a male voice and then turned around to see some tall, skinny guy holding a beer. He stared at her lips and then her breasts. She raised one of her eyebrows up at him.
“Uhm, I have a complaint.”
“Really?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“Yes, really. There’s this bench over there on the side of the building where I can sit and watch the water and the people dancing and stuff, and it’s broken. I think I sat on a piece of wood and it cut me.”
“Oh God, that’s terrible. Can you show me?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said and she followed him through the crowd then to the side of the building. From where the bench was he certainly couldn’t see the dance floor or many people and it was low lit, too. Her
men hadn’t intended on using this part of the property yet. They were still working on ideas for it. Now she would have to tell them they needed to come up with something and move this bench.
“I’m so sorry that this happened. I’ll have to let the owners know and maybe get someone to post a warning over the bench so no one sits on it,” she said.
As she reached for the cell phone on her hip she felt the man grab her arm. “That won’t be necessary,” he said and stuck her with something in the neck.
She gasped and pulled back, falling onto the ground.
“Hey.” She heard Karl yell and then some other guy grabbed her. “Get rid of him and move it,” the guy said and he pulled her up into his arms. She tried to fight him but her head spun and she felt like she had no control over her arms and legs.
As she screamed for help she saw Karl fist fighting with the other guy but the branches were hitting her arms and her face as this guy carried her through some brush. He got to the car, unlocked it, and opened the trunk. “No. No, please don’t do this. Don’t,” she begged and he struck her before shoving her into the trunk.
She felt so weak and suddenly so tired. “Help me. Please, help me,” she said and the trunk slammed closed, filling her vision with darkness.
* * * *
“God damn it, he took her. The son of a bitch took her. It was her he was after this whole time, not us,” Finn yelled as he paced the hallway at Connelly’s.
“Calm down. We’re going to find her,” Burker said to him as they all gathered inside of the office.
“She won’t be able to handle this. She never got over being abducted and assaulted the first time. Now this. She must be so scared,” Salvatore said.
“I’m going to kill these fucking people. They can’t get away with this,” Finn yelled.
“Let Tazer, Lynch and Somers get some answers from the guy Karl caught. He’s our only help in finding out who took her and where they took her,” Parker added.
Finn looked at his brothers Antonio and Billy. They were just as shaken up and angry as he was, except he thought they blamed him and Salvatore. They had suggested she not be left alone and they pushed for her to move in with them. She finally said yes and was starting to move some things a little at a time. But it wasn’t enough.
Finn’s gut clenched. He felt the uneasiness and knew something was up, yet he ignored it. He didn’t think these men would want Missy Ann. They had wanted him and Salvatore. Maybe. There wasn’t any proof to that or any indication that’s why this guy was watching them. Could someone else have been after Missy Ann? He was angry, confused, and no good to this case, to finding his woman and bringing her back here in one piece. He ran his hand over his mouth and the door opened.