“Yes, sir.”
In the meantime, I’m going to tell Jack to find out everything he can about it.
“The man who took Aster. Did you take a picture of him?”
“Yes.” Rob shows me the photo he took on his phone.
In it, I see a man more than six feet tall with a beard and an athletic build. He’s wearing a denim jacket, a baseball cap and sunglasses. A cap and sunglasses? Suspicious. But effective. I can’t see his face. I recognize his earrings, though.
My heart stops. It’s Leander. No wonder Aster went with him.
But what does he want with her?
I give Rob his phone back. “Keep looking for her. Don’t stop until you find her.”
“Yes, sir.”
After they leave, I open the secret door in my office and enter my computer laboratory. The whole building may be equipped with the latest technology, but here is where the fastest and most powerful computers are. Fit for the world’s best hacker. Me.
I sit in front of one of the computers, place my hands on the keyboard and start typing.
I know Leander has Aster. Now, I just have to find Leander.
No. That’s not all. I’m going to find out why Leander did this, what he’s up to and who he’s working with. It’s time to uncover all of my brother’s dirty little secrets.
After a few hours, I have files splashed across my screens – all of Leander’s financial transactions, a map marked with all the places he’s been to in the past two years, and finally, photos of people Leander has been associating with along with their names, companies, addresses, criminal records and bank accounts. They include Owens and a number of others whom I recognize.
“Fuck.”
My brother’s secrets aren’t little at all. And they’re very, very dirty.
But why drag Aster into this mess? What could he possibly need her for?
Suddenly, my phone rings. I answer it and start the program to trace the call.
“Mason Burke.”
“Hello, Mr. Burke,” the voice on the other end greets me.
I don’t recognize it. Whoever it is is using some kind of software to disguise his voice. Only one kind of person would use such software.
A criminal.
I’m speaking with Leander or whoever has Aster.
“Where is my wife?” I ask as calmly as I can muster.
“Here,” the voice answers. “She’s safe. For now.”
I hold back a curse. I swear that if they hurt one hair on her head, I’m going to unleash hell.
“How much do you need?”
“Not money,” the voice answers.
Just as I thought.
“What do you want?”
“We’ll send you an address. Be there at midnight alone and unarmed or your wife dies.”
The call ends. I nearly crush my phone. I have an urge to throw it against the wall. Instead, I put it down.
I stare at the tracing program. The trace failed.
That’s fine, though. At midnight, I’m going to wherever this bastard is anyway.
Alone. But not unarmed, I think as I look at the screens.
I think I have enough here to work with to make whoever took Aster pay. But first I have to get her back and make sure she’s safe.
Don’t worry, Aster. I’m coming.
Chapter Twenty-Seven ~ Monster
Aster
I tug at the pipe on the wall where my hands are cuffed in an effort to dislodge it. I fail. I try one more time to pull my hands out of the metal cuffs, but it’s no use. I wish I knew the technique that secret agents use in movies where they rotate the thumb a certain way in order to slip free, but I don’t. If I’d known it was going to come in handy, I would have learned it on YouTube.
I let out a sigh. But I didn’t know. I never thought I’d end up in a situation like this. I never thought Leander would do this to me.
Why is he doing this to me?
I hear footsteps and the jingle of keys. The door to the room opens. Leander enters. When he sees me, he smiles.
“You’re awake.” Then his smile turns upside down as he sees my wrists. “I told them not to cuff you.”
Them? So he’s working with others? Who? I suspect those people in the antiques shop are involved. Is there anyone else? How many?
I have so many questions, but I keep quiet as Leander frees my wrists. I have a feeling there’s a limit to how many questions I can ask. I have to pick the most important ones, the ones that will help me get out of here.
He places the cuffs on the table and gestures to one of the two chairs in the room.
“Please sit.”
How polite, I think sarcastically. Regardless, I obey. He occupies the other chair and takes a bag of chips out of his pocket.
“Chips?” he offers me.
“No, thanks.”
Does he ever stop eating?
I rub my wrists. Time for the first question.
“What do you want from me, Leander?”