CHAPTER 32
Maxim
I roll on my side with my teeth clenched. I know I haven't been asleep that long, but for some damn reason my phone wants to keep ringing.
It's almost impossible to get any sleep these days with Anna being gone. The exhaustion overtook me. Right when I laid my head down I passed out.
As I reach for my phone, I glance at the clock. Four a.m. I got at least three hours of sleep.
Sitting on the edge of my bed I look at the incoming caller, it's unknown.
I'm half tempted just to hit the ignore button and go back to sleep. Between the Moretti's and I, we received so many calls the past few days from others who think they might be able to help us. Basically, a bunch of kiss asses.
I don't know why I decided just to answer it, “hello.”
“Maxim?” I shoot straight off the bed.
“Anna? Where the fuck are you?” I start to pace as I wait for her reply.
“It's Ray. Ray Sanchez has me. He's been my secret admirer. The one sending me all that weird-ass crap.” Anna sniffles, she must be crying.
“Are you okay, did he hurt you?”
She laughs, a husky miserable laugh. “No, no he didn't touch me. He wants to wait till our wedding night.”
“What?” I need to get her out of there fast. “Where are you?”
I glanced down to make sure I'm still dressed as I head out my bedroom door, which I am, thank God. I don't have time to put on respectable clothes, we need to act now.
“I'm at Ray's family house. I've only been here a couple of times that I can remember. I'm not sure if my brother's know where it's at, though, all I know is it’s on the Upper East Side.”
I quicken my pace as I hurry towards the area the Moretti's are staying in.
It wasn't my intention or even Jax's intention to stay here with us. But, Booker intervened. He said we all needed to stop the fucking games and concentrate solely one hundred percent on Anna.
We realized that I'm the person that she would probably contact first, but just in case she did go to her brother's instead, we all wanted to be in the same area.
Between all of our resources, the Moretti's and the Ivanov's, we will be able to save her faster.
When Booker told us of his plan, Jax and I were ready to come to blows. There was no way in hell that the people responsible for the death of my sister would be staying under my roof.
Jax was also fuming mad, he didn't want to stay under the same roof as the man who kidnapped his sister, twice.
Booker roughly pulled me aside and yelled in my face. “She's every bit as responsible as them. You need to let this go man. How can you have her under your roof but not her brothers. And in all honesty, I don't think it was their fault. I think the guy responsible for killing your sister is Ray Sanchez.
I stormed off and so did Jax and Mason. It took us a few hours until we both finally came to our senses.
This is the third night that they've been staying with me. It's been awkward as fuck, but it's also been very helpful. We've been able to move through the process faster as far as checking out leads and etc.
It only takes about five minutes to get where I need to go. We need to hurry. I'm not sure how much time Anna has.
“How did you get a phone?” I asked as I pick up my pace into a jog.
Anna laughs which makes my heart swell. It's a lot better than listening to her cry. “That's a story for another time, which I’ll share with all of you, but let's just say I swiped it.”
“How much battery do you have left?”
Anna moves the phone away from her face. I don't hear her labored breathing as much anymore.
“Looks like about forty-three percent.” Damn, that's not good.
I take off into a full sprint. I don't want to waste more time than what we need to. I should’ve had her hang up and call back in about five minutes, but I can't let her go. This is the first time I've heard her voice in so long.
I stand in front of Jax’s door. I quickly open the door and pound three times to let him know someone's coming in. If someone just busted into my room, I might shoot first and ask questions later.
Jax sits up as I turn on the blinding lights. His face is full of hatred and I can tell he's ready to rip me a new one, then he stops in his tracks.
He looks from my face to the phone in my hand and jumps out of bed, running over to me.
Anger doesn't mark his deadly face anymore, concern and curiosity do.
“Hold on baby,” I say as I move the phone away from my ear and put it on speaker.
“Jax is here with us.”
“Jax?” Anna squeaks out.
Jax's eyes go big, “Anna, where the fuck are you?”
I don't want to move away but we need all the help we can get. As I head toward the doors where Finn, Colt and Mason sleep, I hand Jax my phone.
I got to figure out a way to get a message to Booker. Him and Mason have been hanging out more lately, so I'll ask him.
I do the same routine on their doors as I did for Jax's. I pound and enter, turning on the lights. As soon as they see me, I wave them to follow.
Mason is the only one that I lingered around for. “I need you to get a message to Booker to meet us in Jax's room now. Don't text, he’s a heavy sleeper, just fucking call him.”
Mason swings his feet over the bed. “Why? What the fuck is going on?”
I look over my shoulder and yell, “she called my phone and she's talking to Jax right now.” As I run through the door back to Jax's room.
All the other brothers have beat me here, hopefully Booker and Mason will be here soon.
I make my way over to the tight family circle. They’re all crowded around the cell phone in Jax's hands.
All the brothers have a smile on their face knowing that their sister is still alive.
In this moment, I miss my sister now more than anything, but I also realize I need to forgive.
The Moretti's might have had the job, but someone else personally targeted them. I can't hold them at fault anymore, especially now that I realize I'm falling in love with their sister.
They all talk about how much they miss her and trying to get more information out about Ray and where she's at.
“Fuck,” Anna yells out. “I think someone's coming, I got to go. I'll call you guys back later.” The call quickly disconnects.
Booker runs into the room, in his boxers, which makes us all laugh. This man is one of the most kept people I know. He’s always in uniform or in a suit.
Booker runs up to us still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “What's going on?”
Mason takes the lead and tells him that Anna called us. They talk back and forth for a few minutes replaying everything.
Booker quickly gets on his phone and starts spitting out orders about tracing a call from my phone, but we don't know the number. It’s going to be impossible, we all know it, but he's got to try something.
The Moretti siblings follow me as I make my way towards the office. We need to be able to access the computers, phones and surveillance.
We now know where Anna is, we just have to get to her.
“Let's plan. I want to rescue her as soon as possible. Ray Sanchez is a fucking creep. If we can, I say we even go in later tonight.” Everyone watches me and nods in agreement.
Booker watches us, I know he's elated that everybody's getting along, and he's always had respect for the Moretti's. But, he's more loyal to me.
We spend the next few hours making out a detailed plan. Now we just need to wait for Anna to contact us, so we can let her know what we're going to do.