Page 32 of Corrupted By the Shadow King (Hope Runs Deep #3)

Alex

I broke down, but it might be more accurate to say Angel drove me out of the house.

I was on the very precipice of committing myself to a psych ward when Ricky pressed a set of keys in my hand and shoved me out the door.

I could have gone one floor down, the one reserved for my men, but I found myself in my car.

My only intention was to drive around and clear my head.

Instead, I wound up at the hospital, parking next to her car.

I don’t think or wonder where I’m going.

My body is moving on autopilot. I’m no longer in control of anything in my life, not even myself.

Making my way through the throngs of people lining the halls, I finally find the surgical ward and speak to the person manning the front desk.

The same person who escorted me to Nikki only a few weeks ago, only this time, she doesn’t appear as cheery. “Hello, I’m here to see?—”

“She isn’t here,” the woman snaps and drops her head.

“Sorry about that.” Sighing, she looks up, and I can see the worry in her eyes.

“Neither she nor Erin came into work today. No call, no show. It isn’t like either of them.

They just disappeared. They aren’t answering our calls or texts either.

” She leans closer to me. “I know who you are. Get them back. I could be overreacting, but something feels wrong.”

Missing? A fury I’ve never felt before rushes through me. “You have my word.”

I spin around and leave quickly, pulling out my phone to call Angel and Ricky as I dodge people. “Ricky, get to Nikki’s apartment. She and her friend Erin are MIA. Her car is here, but I want to make sure she didn’t get a ride back to her place with a friend.”

“Yes, Alex.”

“Send Angel to the hospital with a couple men.”

“On it.”

“Get me answers,” I demand.

“Yes, boss.” Ricky didn’t tend to call me boss except in serious situations.

I could do this. I could take control and channel my fear and anger. She is missing, and I can take care of this. And whoever chose to make the biggest mistake of their lives would pay the ultimate cost. I would kill them.

Returning to her car, I find her keys by one of the back wheels, but don’t find anything else. That’s all I need to see. Someone took her. She wouldn’t have left her keys there if she had casually dropped them. No, this was a clear message, and I have one of my own.

As I wait for my brother to arrive, I call my number one suspect.

“What do I owe the pleasure, El Lobo?” Mateo sneers into the phone.

“Where is she?” I bark.

“Who?” He laughs. “Are you talking about your little girlfriend? I haven’t touched a hair on her head…yet.”

“Funny thing. You show up, and suddenly, Nikki goes missing along with her friend Erin.”

“What?” That got his attention.

“Where the fuck is she?”

“Erin…you said Erin is missing. Erin and Nikki?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I didn’t know that was Nikki when I ran into you last night. I was coming to pick up my sister and tell her what you did to our uncle.”

I growl, but I don’t say anything.

“Just listen. Nikki is someone my sister talks about a lot. My sister Erin.”

“Your sister?” I am shocked. Never did I suspect sweet Erin would be related to one of my enemies.

“Are you sure they are missing?” Mateo asks, his voice loud and cracking.

“ Sí . When I came to talk to Nikki, I was told neither of them had shown up for work, and they didn’t call in either.

No one can get in touch with them. I inspected Nikki’s car and found her keys under her wheel.

She wouldn’t have left them there unless something was wrong. Why would anyone take Erin?”

“Why would anyone take Nikki?” he counters.

Breathing out in a rush, he says, “You know as well as I do that there is always a chance our families will find themselves in danger because they are related to us. Erin chose a different path, but that doesn’t make her immune.

Are you sure your men didn’t take them?”

“I can promise you they have not. If they did, they know what awaits them. What about your men?”

“They all know Erin. They wouldn’t have taken her without a direct order from me or Emiliano.”

Fuck! “I hate to say it, but if both women were taken, we are going to have to come to some sort of truce to find them. Check Erin’s apartment and then meet me at the hospital. I don’t know what she drives, so you will need to point it out.”

“I’m on my way.”

Within an hour, Emiliano and Mateo had arrived, and I wanted to shoot both of them. “Shut the fuck up!” I shout in an attempt to bring order to chaos.

“Do not order me, El Lobo. You are lucky I haven’t put a bullet through your black heart already,” Emiliano says with contempt lacing his voice.

“You don’t scare me. If you still try to kill me after, fine, but right now, we focus on finding Nikki and Erin.” There had been no sign of anything wrong at either apartment, and Mateo was able to point out Erin’s car a few spaces down, but unlike Nikki’s keys, no clues about Erin were left.

“El Lobo,” one of my men calls out as he runs up to me.

“ Sí , Daniel?”

All eyes turn to him. “I sent you a copy of the tapes from the garage. A man wearing a black mask got them in a van. The mask was removed when he left the garage.”

I cue up the video and curse. “Mierda!”

“What is it?” Mateo asks.

I find my brother. “Kevin.”

“Who is Kevin?” Emiliano asks.

“Someone who doesn’t like the word no,” Angel explains.

“Why would he take my sister?” Mateo inquires. That is a very good question.

Shaking my head, I pocket my phone again. “I have no idea.”

I’m about to give everyone their marching orders when one of the doctors that Nikki works with approaches cautiously. “Are you Alex?”

“I am. What can I do for you, Dr. Jacobs? Have you heard from Erin?” Maybe Kevin let her go. A small flicker of hope ignites. If that is the case, I can ditch the Sol idiots and work to get Nikki back on my own.

He presses his lips together and shakes his head. “No. I was told you were looking for her, and I want to help.”

“I’m sorry, Doc, but unless you can give us information, you are going to have to wait. I have enough to deal with between finding Nikki and dealing with these people.” That earns me several groans and grumbles of disapproval, even from Angel.

“Do you know who took her?”

I debate telling him the truth, but logic wins out. He has worked with everyone longer than we have known them, maybe he has insight. “It was Kevin. I believe he is a nurse on the cardiac floor.”

“Kevin?” he gasps. “N-No, that can’t be. You have to be mistaken.”

“I am not.”

“But he is friends with Erin and Nikki.”

“More like obsessed with Nikki,” Angel scoffs, and I glare at him. He isn’t helping.

“My brother is right. Do you know where he could be?”

He opens and closes his mouth several times, shaking his head in the process, and then he frowns. “I can’t believe he would do this. Do you have any proof?” I am impressed with his loyalty, but he is standing in the way of saving Nikki and Erin.

“I do. I have video showing him holding the women at gunpoint and forcing them into a van. Now, if you can’t help us, get out.”

“Look, I still don’t believe you, but I know he bought a new house somewhere just outside the city. He is fixing it up and trying to flip it.”

“Where?” Emiliano demands.

“Who are you?”

Lifting a hand, Mateo drops it onto Emiliano’s shoulder. “Emil, back off. We need to get Erin back, even if we do have to work with these assholes.” He turns to the doctor. “I’m Erin’s brother, Mateo, and this is her cousin, Emiliano.”

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry. I don’t know where it is. I just know he was bragging about it to Nikki and Erin one day. I think he was trying to impress Nikki, but in all the time I’ve known her, stuff like that hasn’t impressed her,” the doctor says, his ears turning red.

“Angel!” I bark.

“I’m on it!” It feels as if a lifetime passes while he makes a call. Soon, he shouts, “Yes! Gracias!” He hangs up and meets my gaze. “I have the address. Recently purchased and sitting on four acres of land about thirty minutes north of here.”

“Let’s go!”

“Wait!” Matteo snaps. “We can’t just go in there with guns drawn. We don’t want to risk hitting either Nikki or Erin. We don’t even know what the property looks like or what we are dealing with.”

“I don’t care,” I snarl.

“If you want a chance to prove yourself to Nikki, you do,” he snaps back.

A hand presses against my chest, and I glance down and then to my right to find Angel holding me back. “ Hermano , he is right,” he tells me, and then addresses Mateo, “I am getting the schematics for the property sent to me. Let’s start driving and regroup closer to the house.”

“ Sí , we will follow you.”

I can’t resist. “I bet that hurt to say.”

“No more than a bullet in your ass if you try to stab us in the back,” Emiliano threatens, glaring at me.

Nodding, I agree and hold out my hand. “Truce.”

“For now.” He grabs it and holds tight. It will be an uneasy truce, and I don’t trust them, but I don’t have much choice right now. Both sides have every reason to work together, and not many to remain at war right now.