Page 32 of Capture (Primal #3)
E ven though I was busy filling Betty’s role over the dinner shift, I kept looking out for Mikael to signal to me that the job had been done.
I noticed he kept checking his phone, like I did, but he also kept looking in the direction of the private lounges that led up to Annika’s room.
I didn’t know why he kept looking in that direction, so I assumed she was on his mind.
Annika did that to the best of men. Turned a crush into an obsession, but it seemed all three of us wanted her, so all three of us would have to learn to share.
As I perused each table, checking that each member was pleased with their meals, I knew I had to have a conversation with Mikky about hiring someone to preplace Betty, because I couldn’t fill in for her as well as perform my duties and study at the same time.
Then I’d suggest giving Annika a chance, perhaps in a junior role, until she finishes her studies.
I was busy serving drinks to a table of four when I heard my name being called and spotted Mikky standing by the dividing wall with his phone pressed against his ear. He flicked his hand at me to go over, and my heart raced in anticipation.
This was the phone call we had been waiting for.
“They’ve got him,” he stated, and I relaxed. “Outside.”
“Any arrests?” I asked. Mikky decided to let Tindale take over the retrieval of Gunner as it made more sense and kept our name clean. It was a case of two birds with one stone.
Mikky nodded. “Searched the house and found unregistered firearms, drugs, and a ton of cash. Gunner is fine. They’ll be dropping him off soon.”
“Great,” I sighed as my spirits rose.
As I walked away, I glanced back at Mikky, expecting him to be pleased; instead, he seemed distant, his eyes flicking to the private lounges, and I knew something was troubling his mind, involving Annika.
I didn’t say anything and threw myself back into serving and checking on meals.
Then, I retreated to the kitchen to check on the staff, and finally, I checked on the girls at the front desk in reception.
Betty left a large hole, and it needed someone special to fill it.
Maybe if the Kaisers hadn’t taken her for granted, we wouldn’t be in this position today.
It was while I was fixing the card machine after it had chewed the receipt again that Tindale came in. “Can we bring him in?” he mouthed, unsure if the front entrance was appropriate.
I gave him the thumbs up, and a few minutes later, Gunner showed up, looking rough, unshaven, a little dirty, and in need of a long shower and some soap.
I hugged the man and patted him on the shoulder, then shook Tindale’s hand, thanking him. He didn’t seem to want to stay, as he had more pressing issues to deal with, such as the many Ivanovs who had been arrested. As soon as he was gone, Gunner asked, “Is Annika okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine.” It was amusing that he cared more about her than himself at that point. “She’s in the same place she was before you left, but we do have catching up to do about some discoveries we made while you were gone.”
“Hell,” he combed his fingers through his messy, greasy black hair, “I thought about her a lot while I was in that place. She’s what kept me going. I also thought about the past and what happened to Dad. It kept haunting my mind, Ronan.”
We slipped into Betty and Freddie’s empty office so that he could talk. “Yeah, it’s alright,” I spoke calmly, patting him on the shoulder because he seemed distressed. “Everything is fine.”
“You don’t understand,” he protested, agitated, scratching his skin. “I need to see Annika.” He turned and stormed for the door as I followed. “I thought you hadn’t received the GPS signal and couldn’t find me.”
“We came through for you. We’d never let you down, Gunner, never,” I explained as I kept up with his pace as we stormed to the casino floor. He seemed disoriented, stunned by the light and sounds coming from the kitchen, and I was starting to worry for him.
We spotted Mikael, and a smile stretched across his face. He opened up to hug him. “Whoa, dude, you need a shower,” he cringed.
“I need to talk to you,” Gunner wasn’t in the mood for cracking up about bad smells as he usually would. “All of us together. Including Annika. Let me see Annika.”
Mikael hesitated and stood in his way, which surprised me. “Yeah, I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” Gunner pressed, moving past him toward the private lounge.
“You can’t go on the floor looking and smelling like that,” Mikael demanded.
“Look, it’s important,” Gunner stressed, and Mikael and I exchanged glances.
“Stop,” Mikael placed his hand on his chest. “Go up to my office, Gunner, put on some deodorant and a nice shirt, then come back down, and we’ll visit Annika together.”
“Fine,” he replied as Mikael stepped in front of him, herding him to move in the opposite direction toward the stairs that led up to our offices.
As soon as he was gone, I turned to Mikky, “What’s going on?” I suspected something was up.
“I’m not sure if she’s there,” he said flatly.
“Annika?” I needed clarification because where else would she be?
“Yeah, I left the door open,” he said, sounding depressed, as if he regretted the decision.
“Intentionally?” I rationalized as my heart sank.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I gave her freedom back. I couldn’t keep her locked up in there anymore. It was wrong, and she didn’t deserve it. So…I gave her the choice.” Mikky swallowed and folded his arms across his chest. “She probably won’t be there when Gunner goes up to see her.”
“Have you seen her come down?” I asked, glancing up the stairs as Gunner was trotting down wearing a black blazer over a white button shirt, hair combed back, and looking a lot more presentable.
Mikky shook his head. “But I thought if she wanted to stay,” he took a moment where he seemed emotional, which wasn’t like him, but quickly composed himself, “she’d come to my office and boss me around, begging for a job, like she’d been doing for the last few days.
” Again, he took a second to sort his shit out, so Gunner couldn’t see his disappointment. “When maybe she was playing us again.”
I nodded as Gunner approached. “I guess there is only one way to find out.”