Page 5 of Fixate

Before I could think on it any longer, the man behind me spoke up. “Sir?”

I turned. “Yes.”

“Tank said he’d see you now.”

“Tank?” I questioned.

He squinted, confusion filling his features. “Tank is Memphis’s boss.”

“Ah, yes. I’d love to see him.”

Tank… Memphis… it didn’t matter who met with me. Someone was going to give me answers. I wasn’t leaving until I knew more about Dante and this disappearing act.

CHAPTER 3

Ricardo

After being givena visitor’s badge and strict instructions, I took the elevator up to the floor for NightShade Security. A quiet young man met me as soon as I exited. He led me down a series of hallways until I entered a space filled with unfamiliar faces.

“He’s all yours, guys,” my guide said as he backed out of the room.

Once the door closed behind him, I took in everyone’s scowling faces. They each had unique features that would make them easy to remember after this meeting.

There was the obvious brute. He was huge and frowned deeper than the rest. Another was a pretty boy type, his frown looking more like a smirk. The next was of Asian descent, and his bored expression told me he wasn’t happy about my interruption of whatever he’d been doing. Two more guys were hulking giants as well, though with their closeness, I also suspected they were either close friends or lovers. None of my business.

It was the last two men who gave me pause.

The first was big and bulky, his stature that of a commander type. I’d guess he was Tank.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the other man was lean and tall, with glasses that looked two seconds away from falling off his face.

“You must be Memphis.” I said as I nodded his way.

“Ricardo,” he replied smoothly.

I tilted my head. “See, it’s funny that you knew who I was, but I don’t know you. Care to explain? Oh, and maybe you could tell me where the hell my friend is.”

“Your friend?” The man I suspect to be Tank directs the question my way.

Nodding, I leaned forward, my hands moving to the back of the chair before me. “Yeah, my friend. He up and disappeared while I was in the shower. I have to find him and bring him back before…”

I trailed off, unsure how to explain this to them. While I knew they weren’t exactly the good guys, they weren’t also fully ingrained in our world either.

“Before Domenico loses his shit and demands to see his son for some stupid reason? Yeah, we get it. Too bad for him we had a favor to pay back, and Tank here never lets a favor hang loose,” Memphis boasted.

“He’s right. This was about a favor. Several of them actually. All I can tell you is that he’s safe right now. If that changes, I’ll be the first to tell you.”

I shook my head. “That’s not good enough. If you know about Domenico, which it seems you do, then you know he’s watching the house. Without Dante around, he’ll get suspicious. It’s only a matter of time before he tries to call.”

“Which is why you’re going to tell him that Dante is sick,” one of the other men in the room announces. It’s the big brute I eyed up earlier.

“Sick? You expect him to believe this?”

The man stepped forward. “He has to. For your sake and for Dante’s. We don’t have a timeline on this. As much as we’d love to give you one, it’s out of our hands.”

“I’m supposed to go back and act like nothing is amiss while I wait for a call from you?”

“That’s right,” Memphis replied. “It shouldn’t take long for a plan to form on their end.”