Page 71 of Shifting Hearts
FIVE
Maddy
I enter the dark room, and it takes a few seconds for my eyes to focus. Fiery red images start to glow as I walk deeper into the cavernous space.
The door behind me is yanked open, and it takes him two steps to reach for my elbow and guide me to a room away from the commotion.
“Wait here until I come to get you,” he seethes.
He throws open the door and unceremoniously pushes me into what looks like a small office. He follows, and after he switches on the lights, goes to the cupboard in the corner and scrounges around for what seems to be a huge, grey T-shirt.
“Here, put this on and stay put. I will attend to our guests and return to you. Don’t leave this room. Understood?”
He throws the T-shirt at me but doesn’t expect me to immediately drop the jacket from my shoulders onto the floor. I take my time to pull the T-shirt on and only break eye contact when the shirt slips over my head.
With him still standing motionless, I casually stroll over to where he is and put my hands on his chest. My hands have always been cold, but he feels just as cool under his shirt.
“Somehow, there has been a misunderstanding. I might be your guest here, but I am in control. And the sooner you realize that fact, the quicker we will get along. You might even find that I can be more accommodating once I get what I came for.”
He sneers and leans closer before he hisses in my face, “You are way out of your depth, little girl. Here, I make the rules, and you obey.”
My hand wanders down his hard, steely planes until I rest it on his thigh, ever so close to his cock. I don’t dare to move my hand closer, but I do challenge him with my intense stare while I say, “Such a shame. I could be so good to you if you would only oblige me.”
It doesn’t take a genius to know that if I have any chance of finding Alexi, this man before me is going to be the key. Not only is he very well-connected, but he also has the power to take action to find her.
And that is precisely what I need right now because the only thing I accomplished on my own was getting on the radar of a very dangerous man.
He says nothing, but I can see something brewing in his eyes. He grabs my hand to push it directly onto his hard-on, and I gasp. After years of pathetic limp dick, this sure is a surprise.
“You are playing a game you can’t win, little girl. And I won’t hesitate to give you exactly what you want, as soon as you tell me the truth about why you are here. You are much too calm in this situation.”
I wave away the comment with one hand and squeeze his cock with the other. Hard. The groan that leaves his body is filled with want.
Thinking back to all the times I promised myself that a man would never be allowed to have such power over me, I scrape my press-on nails against his shaft.
“You will be surprised how fun it is to let me play with you. But first we have some business to take care of.”
As if on cue, the sound of a commotion rises outside the office. Gunshots ring through the air, and he is watching me closely to look for any sign of fear.
However, he will have to be sorely disappointed today. This girl is used to situations like this, but I won’t be telling him today how many times I have fled the scene of a crime under a wave of bullets.
My skin gets that strange, animated feeling, and I can’t wait to get my hands on these guys. For all I know, they could have a clue as to where I could find Alexi.
With flourish, I turn to Alejandro and bow mockingly before I say, “Let the games begin. May the best woman win.” Then I turn to walk out the door and join the fight.
It doesn’t take Alejandro’s crew long to contain the situation and the men who were following us.
They drag the newcomers to a room at the very back of the warehouse.
It is brightly lit with what appears to be surgical lamps, and the light reflects off the white tiles, visible from top to bottom.
There are multiple drains on the floor at various places, and it has all the characteristics of a professional murder room, complete with a table filled with torture tools.
Alejandro’s men have strung the intruders up on an intricate pulley system to suspend them in the middle of the room, a few inches from the floor, with their arms tied at the back.
From the expressions on their faces, they must be in excruciating pain.
Alejandro follows me into the room but never pays me any attention. He is now in full business mode, and it seems like he has forgotten about my existence entirely.
“Who sent you? Who do you work for?” he keeps asking the same questions over and over again. When the men refuse to answer, one of Alejandro’s men beats them with a massive wrench in the gut.
Their ribs must be broken by now. One is wheezing, and still, Alejandro gets nothing out of them.
The middle one only casts sideward glances at the other two, and their lips stay sealed. If we have any chance to break them, I am going to need to use my special gift.
I was hoping to keep it secret from a man like Alejandro. You can never know who would take advantage of me to use my gift for their own gain.
And as we all know, there is no honor amongst thieves.
Either way, I need to make my move soon before these men are beaten to death.
“Maybe I could offer another interrogation method? That is, if you want to get some answers today.” My voice sounds too sweet to be sincere.
I know it, and so does he, judging by the strange look Alejandro gives me.
He gestures with his hand to the hanging men, and I decide to push my luck even more.
“I need some privacy to work. That is if you want results.” My arms are on my hips, and I feign nonchalance.
Alejandro stares at me with an incredulous look. Then he nods to the rest of his crew, and they filter out of the room.
He stands motionless with his hands in his pockets and a blood-speckled shirt, head cocked to the side, daring me to tell him to leave.
The challenge in his eyes is clear. Not only does he doubt that I will be able to get anything out of them, but he also doubts that I have the stomach to approach them.
I stroll closer and look for one who has the least amount of damage to his face. I need him to be able to see me clearly.
As it turns out, the leader, who is the tallest of all of them, has escaped with his face mostly intact.
I take a deep breath and aim to create a report. “I have been a failure of a hostess. My name is Maddy, and I am thrilled to have you here today. Pity your boss couldn’t join us. Would you like to tell me his name? Then I can send a personal invitation.”
He starts to laugh hysterically, like a wild dog in heat, and the other two join him with a hesitant sneer, as the jostling only enhances the ache in their suspended shoulders.
Alejandro steps forward, but I hold my hand up to stop him. He hangs back, and I turn back to the leader with renewed focus.
“My apologies, gentlemen. I must have asked the wrong question.” I stare into the leader’s eyes and will him to answer my questions honestly. “Firstly, tell me your name.”
The man fights against the urge, struggling against the rope's hold on his hands as well. I wait patiently, just staring into his eye because eventually, they all break.
What feels like minutes pass until he finally gives me what I want. “Grant. My name is Grant Mullens.”
“Excellent. And who do you work for, Grant?”
I resist the urge to give Alejandro a gloating smile and focus purely on my next victim.
“The Alvarez family. We are FBI agents who have been in their pockets for years. Which means that someone is bound to realize that we are missing.”
I nod slowly, contemplating my next question.
I need to be careful not to break the spell I have on him.
An upsurge of emotions usually counteracts the strange hypnotic hold I have on my victims. I had to learn that the hard way.
I can’t even make my victims feel guilty about their heinous crimes against humanity.
“Did you report your whereabouts to the bureau?”
“No, but the plan was to get the location of this warehouse and return home. This idiot to my left wanted to take you hostage to garner more favor with the don. He wasn’t pleased that you escaped his wrath after foiling his plan.”
“And you were just waiting outside the club for instructions?”
“Yeah, as an extra measure, should the Rivera family double-cross the don,” he states.
“Why did the don have the drinks poisoned?”
“He was doing a favor for the Rivera cartel. His uncle”—he nods in Alejandro’s direction—“is the only reason they have not expanded the business, and they are getting sick of his righteous, outdated stance. They want him out of the way, so they can move forward with the plan.”
I don’t know the inner workings of the Rivera cartel, but by the clenched fists by his sides and the tic in his jaw muscle, I can assume Alejandro is not happy about the news.
“And what does the don want with me?”
Now he laughs, an evil expression marred on his face. The sounds echo off the stark white tiles. “He wants to make an example out of you. Said he would take you back and break you before he releases you into the wild…piece by…piece.”
A shudder goes through me, and I gulp at the prospect of what Alejandro saved me from. Still, I push through it.
“Are there any other plans we need to know of? Surely, he must have told you something that could be useful?”
He bites his lower lip, and I increase the intensity of my stare. He is trying to resist, but they all fail.
Eventually, he sighs and says, “He said that he wants this mess cleaned up before the big auction at the end of the month. He is collecting merchandise as we speak, but he won’t divulge any other information unless all the players on the board are true to him and his cause. I don’t know anything more.”
This is what I have been waiting for. Something, anything that could point me to Alexi’s location. “Where is he keeping the merchandise? Does he have a compound somewhere?”
Rumors have been floating around of such a place where the woman and children are kept in cages like animals. I can only pray that is not the case here.
“I don’t know. What I do know is that he is taking them young because the auction has a theme.”
“Which is?” My voice has a slight tremble that I try to repress.
“Vodka and virgins. He thought the play on words would be cute. Said he is trying to lure more than the average businessman. I think he took some boys too.”
I scrounge my nose, disgusted by the notion that the innocence of youth can be so callously bargained with. I look at the other two. “And what about your friends? Would they know something useful? Maybe, they know the location where the merchandise is kept.”
The man shakes his head and answers. “No, I always go in alone to see the don. I just got these patsies to come along in case something goes wrong.”
I tried one last time. “Then surely you must have heard something about Alexi. Your willingness to give me honest answers will not be forgotten.”
He shakes his head, clearly giving up on his demise that is evidently going to follow.
The one on the left spits in his direction, but it lands on the tiles before my feet. Thoroughly grossed out, I ask my last question, “Who knows your location?”
Hesitantly, he opens his mouth to speak, but Alejandro interjects, “We have signal jammers all over this place. If you had any device tracking you, they would have lost the signal about a mile from here.”
Dejection covers his face, and he sighs deeply before he answers, “Then I guess, no one. We haven’t called it in yet because we first wanted to kidnap you back.”
“So, when you die here today, you will go missing without a trace and no one will know where to start looking for you?” Alejandro asks.
I look into his desperate eyes and almost feel sorry for him.
Almost.
“Yes,” the leader whispers.
His short answer warns the men at his side that the time has come. And the one on the right starts weeping.
I turn to Alejandro, pointing my thumb at the sight. “Good to know the bureau only appoints the best of the best, right?”
Alejandro snickers at my statement and takes a step closer. I step out of the way, my work done, and go to lean against the wall and hopefully out of the range of blood splatter.
He lets the men down, one at a time, before he breaks their necks. The sound of the crack that fills the air is overwhelming. To snuff out a life in a second is truly a rare gift but should take no effort for a man of Alejandro’s stature.
Each man dropping at his feet in a useless pile signifies another worthless, arrogant, self-entitled piece of trash the world is rid of.
Stepping over the bodies, he makes his way to me and stands squarely before me when he asks, “Want to tell me how you did that?”
“Not particularly. Are we going home yet? I am starving.” His eyebrows pull up at my innuendo, and I allow him to think what he wants to. For the first time in my twenty-two years, I won’t object to demanding what I want. There is something so enticing about breaking in this man before me.
And after I have claimed all of him, he will become my greatest tool in getting Alexi back safe and sound.
“I will wait for you in the office to clean up. But hurry. I don’t like to be kept waiting.”
Smirking, I turn and walk out the door, never looking back.