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It was hard enough keeping myself in control after Delilah disappeared, much less chasing after Viktor and trying to stop him from killing everyone who didn’t give him answers. I raced after him as he returned to the deli again to question witnesses. I caught up with him at the car and somehow convinced him to let me drive.
“I don’t know why you think the same people who were there the night she was shot will be there again. It doesn’t make sense. The deli is probably closed for repairs anyway.” I knew it was ridiculous to indulge him, but I wasn’t about to let him drive anywhere in his condition.
Vik hadn’t showered or shaved since Delilah disappeared. He was getting more erratic and frantic in his need to search. “Someone saw what happened. We just have to find them so we can find her.”
“Maybe if you had let me question Jones before you killed him, we’d know where she went.” It wasn’t fair to blame him, but I couldn’t help it. Neither of us had stopped since that night. We had barely fed, and there had been no time for sleep. We were on edge, and it was only a matter of time before we were fighting again.
“You think I don’t know that now? I’m not an idiot. I should have been calmer that night. And now she’s gone. We have to find her.” His guilt squeezed at his insides, and I had to put up another mental block to avoid absorbing his emotions.
I parked the car in front of the deli, and Vik got out before I even turned it off. By the time I made it inside, he had a small man with a name tag claiming he was the manager up against the wall, holding him a couple of inches off the floor. “Vik, let him go. I’m sure if he knows anything, he’ll tell us.” I encouraged as I put my hand on his arm. He slowly lowered the human to his feet.
When Vik removed his fingers from the man’s throat, I raised an eyebrow. He shivered and shook his head. “I told you already. I don’t know her or anything about her. I saw her that night. There were so many people in here. I don’t know what happened.” I could taste his fear and Vik’s rage. I knew that this would be the end for the human if I didn’t step in.
I turned to Vik, placing myself in front of the man. “You see? He doesn’t know where she is. Let’s keep looking.” I tried to escort him out of the deli, but Vik wouldn’t budge.
“No. He knows something. Someone in here knows something! I’m going to make them talk.” Vik was losing it fast. It was as if he’d stopped trying to control the anger and was instead channeling it to make himself feel stronger. I wished that was the answer but knew it would get us nowhere.
I gestured for the man to get out of the way, and he took off running to the back. If this didn’t work, I’d be paying to rebuild the deli. I’d have to find out who owned it. I took a breath, then raised my prosthetic fist and punched Vik in the side of the head. He turned to look at me as the pain registered, then fell to the floor unconscious.
I dug a bill from my pocket and dropped it on the counter. “For your troubles.” I nodded at the man as I slung Vik over my shoulder and carried him out to the car. I zip-tied his hands together and tossed him in the backseat. I couldn’t take a chance that he’d wake up and want to fight while I was driving. This was all becoming too much. I headed back to my office to see any new leads. My receptionist looked at me funny when I walked past with Vik tossed over my shoulder, but I shook my head, and she didn’t ask. I dropped him on the couch, cut the zip tie off his wrists, and sat at my computer. While he was knocked out, I reviewed leads that my team had been running down.
It was strange for me to be the one in control while Vik went psycho. I was not too fond of it, but it was necessary. I had learned a lot about power since Vik, and I had our falling out. Sadly, things were more manageable when we lost Kat. At least we had a body to bury. We knew that she was dead.
With Delilah, we had searched non-stop for three days before I gave in to exhaustion today. Vik was ready to go again as soon as he woke up.
“We need to be out there searching for her.” He was insistent. I sensed his desperation, probably because I felt it too. We needed to find her. “She’s out there, alone and scared.”
“Look, just take a break. We’ll relax for a minute. Get something to eat, then come at it with fresh eyes.” We’d been at each other’s throats since this began. I needed a minute to refocus. I had lost track of how many fistfights we’d had over the past three days. My emotions were out of control, and I knew I wouldn’t be any help if I didn’t figure out how to reign it in. I couldn’t find the words to tell Vik that, though.
“I don’t want a break. I want Delilah. She needs us. How can you give up on her so easily? Are you that weak?” Vik stomped back and forth across the floor in my office while he yelled at me. He tossed out the insult as he marched toward me.
I took a deep breath and tried to cage the violence that was building inside of me. “I’m not giving up. I know that she needs us. We’re still looking. I have my best guys on it. If they find any clues, we’ll be the ones following up. Just take a minute to rest. You’re no good to her if you’ve worked yourself into a frenzy,” I tried reasoning with him. There was very little chance that this conversation wouldn’t end in Vik and I trying to kill each other again.
“It’s not enough. We need to find her now. There’s no time to relax or take a break.” I could tell from his tone that he was feeling helpless. I had to block his emotions, or we’d kill each other. He was so angry with me right now. “It’s like you don’t even care. Was she just some conquest to you?” His words struck a nerve, and my wall fell.
My fist struck his jaw, and he flew backward into the wall. Logically, I knew Vik wasn’t the enemy, but with my own emotions on edge and his thrown on top, I was going to rip his head off his shoulders. Vik pulled himself out of the wall I had slammed him into, leaving a hole. He rushed me and landed a punch. I felt my nose break again as blood poured from it.
Rage took over, and I grabbed him by the throat, lifting him from the ground. I knew that I would kill him if I didn’t stop myself. Would I be able to face Delilah if I did? That thought alone prevented me from completely crushing his windpipe. I lowered him to the floor, still holding him by his throat. Vik gasped for air and tried to get my prosthetic hand to release him.
“Are you finished?” I waited for his response before I let him go. He still couldn’t speak, but he nodded. I opened my fingers, and Vik fell to his knees.
He stood and punched the wall a moment later, leaving a fist-sized hole next to the last one from an hour ago. “I know. I can’t help it. I need to find her. We don’t know what Jones did with her.”
“And beating holes in my office is helping you find out?” I knew I shouldn’t bait him, but honestly, I was as pissed as he was. And him punching holes in my office wasn’t helping my mood. A part of me blamed him for not realizing that Jones was working against him, and another blamed him for not giving me the chance to question the traitor about what had happened. I understood the desire to rip the man’s heart out when we realized that he’d shot Delilah. I just wished I had been the one to do it.
Vik stopped and stared at me for a moment, obviously realizing how close I was coming to losing control again. “I’m sorry. You know I’ll pay for it. I’m not used to feeling so helpless.” His voice was soft and sad. I’d never heard him sound so lost.
The raw emotion in his voice broke me. I crossed the room and pulled him into my arms. It was an awkward hug that we both needed. Neither of us wanted to let go, trying to hold on to our girl by holding each other. A knock at the door had us jumping away from each other.
“Come in,” I called as Vik stepped away and straightened his suit. I could have sworn he wiped his eyes, but he turned to look out the window, so I couldn’t be sure.
One of the interns, whose name I couldn’t remember, walked in with a folder. He looked around the room at the damage and gulped. “I was asked to bring you this, Sir.” He handed the folder over and walked out of my office, not waiting for a reply.
“What is it?” Vik walked over to the desk, where I had just opened the folder. There were pages of transcribed interviews inside. Each page had notes detailing a sighting of Delilah. I knew better than to take it at face value, but Vik and I would have to check them all out just to be sure.
“Leads. We’ll have to check each one out to see if any of them lead to Delilah,” I replied, grabbing my keys from the desk as I closed the folder and walked toward the door. I didn’t have to ask Vik to follow; I knew he was as ready to get back out on the streets as I was.
Chapter 3
