Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
“You cost us millions,” Mr. Z said.
“Jared will pay millions,” he said.
And he meant it. He knew that Jared would pay whatever it took to get him back.
“We can’t do that,” V protested. “He knows too much about us.”
“Not that much,” Mr. Z said.
“And I’ve no incentive to talk,” North said. “If I do, I’m sure you have blackmail material on me. Things you can release.”
“Indeed we do,” Mr. Z said. “Enough to put you away for a long, long time.”
Yeah, that’s what he’d figured.
“He could talk for immunity,” V said.
Jeez the asshole had a real hard-on for killing him.
“If you kill me, Jared won’t stop until he finds you. And he has some strong allies. Have you heard of the Fox?”
It was a risk. A big risk. If the Fox found out he’d used his name, he could slit his throat. Mr. Z might contact him and the Fox could deny any sort of tie to Jared.
Yep, a big risk.
But he was desperate here.
Wanting to live was really quite inconvenient.
“The Fox?” Mr. Z said.
“Of course we’ve heard of him,” V added. “We don’t want the Fox’s attention.”
“No, we don’t,” Mr. Z said with a frown. “You realize I can verify Jared’s tie to him.”
“Go for it,” he bluffed.
“Bartolli will just pay the ransom, then leave us alone?” Mr. Z asked. “Won’t he come after us anyway?”
“Not if it’s part of the bargain. Ask for your millions and release me on the basis that we forget your organization exists. Jared will do what I want.”
Another empty-ish boast.
But he’d do his best to keep Jared clear of these guys.
Mr. Z and V left without a word.
Fuck.
This could all very well blow up in his face. But he had to do whatever he could to get back to Jared and Angie.
“You need to eat something, baby,” Jared told Angie as she sat on the sofa and stared at the TV. It was turned on to a news channel but she wasn’t really paying any attention.
She stared at him tiredly, shaking her head.
They were in her old room at Zander’s place. It had its own attached bathroom and a small living area. So it was more like a suite than a bedroom.
It still felt like the walls were closing in around her.
She felt so helpless.
Where was North? Was this because of her? Richard had claimed to be working alone and Eli believed him.
Which meant someone else had kidnapped North. What if they couldn’t find him?
“Angie. You’re going to eat,” he said firmly, placing the tray of food on the coffee table.
She stared down at it, feeling nauseous. “I can’t.”
“North is going to be really unhappy to find you’ve lost weight when he returns.”
“I just want him to return,” she whispered. “What are we going to do if he doesn’t?”
“Listen to me,” Jared said firmly. “North wouldn’t want you talking like that. Understand me? He would want us to look after ourselves. We will find him. Now, you’re going to eat something. Then I’m going to put you in the bath and tuck you into bed. And if you give me any arguments, you’re going over my knee.”
Tears filled her eyes, flooding down her cheeks.
“Shit, baby. Fuck. I’m being an asshole, aren’t I?”
“N-no, I j-just can’t imagine l-life without North.”
He lifted her, then sat with her on his lap, rocking her back and forth.
“Neither can I, baby. Neither can I.”
After a few moments, he stopped rocking her. “I have an idea.” He grabbed his phone and messaged someone. “Good Miles can get what I need. He’ll get it dropped off to us soon. But I want you to eat a little food first.” He fed her some bites of food until she didn’t want anymore.
His phone started ringing and he lifted her off him onto the sofa and grabbed it out of his pocket. “Unknown number. How would anyone I don’t know get this number?”
Jared answered it and she watched him anxiously. “Wait a minute. I’m here with Angie. I’ll put you on speaker.”
“Angie?” the voice said through the phone.
“F-fox?” she whispered.
“It is I or is that it is me? I never cared for grammar. Didn’t care for school. Seems like your man is more like me than I realized.”
Huh?
“Jared is more like you than you realized?” she asked.
“No. The other one. My Bunny has been asking about you. She wants to meet you. We’ll make that happen, Bartolli.”
“Yes, yes, whatever you want. Just tell me that again. You know who has North?” Jared demanded.
“I don’t know them personally. I know of them. I got a call an hour ago from a man called Mr. Z. I take it North never mentioned him to you?”
“No,” Jared said. “Who is he and what does he have to do with North?”
“Mr. Z runs The Collective. It’s an organization which recruits children off the street and in orphanages, mainly in third world countries. It puts them in nice homes with people who take care of them and train them.”