Page 52 of The Voicemail

“She needs to trust me,” I groan. “If giving her a little space accomplishes that, then it was worth it.”

He plops down into the chair in front of me. “Should we examine that statement a little closer?”

I roll my eyes at him. “Absolutely not.”

He nods and folds one leg over the other. “Have you swept her office yet?”

He nods. “Did it in the middle of the night. We didn’t find any bugs, but there was residue in a lampshade, like maybe there had been one.”

I perk up, grateful to have something to focus on that isn’t Elena’s departure.

“How long ago do you think it was removed?” I ask curiously.

“Hard to say. Recently. Maybe the night of the party. Maybe that’s why he was there.”

“To remove it?”

“Or replace it. We can’t know unless we find an actual device.”

“There are just too many damn maybes,” I growl. “I want answers. I want a clear-cut reason why Bianchi is after her, and why Tomaso won’t leave her alone.”

He looks down into his lap and smirks. “At the risk of having something else thrown at me, I’d assume the reason he won’t leave her alone is the same reason you won’t.”

“Watch it,” I say.

“Fine,” he answers carefully. “What do you want to do about Claire Bell? Do you feel a responsibility to her too, or is Elena the only one?”

“I’ve got some men in blue working on her case. They owe me a favor.”

He nods. “Good. We’re stretched thin as it is.”

“You have eyes on Bellamy?” I ask.

“Since yesterday,” he confirms. “If he’s hiding anything or knows about Claire’s disappearance, we’ll know about it. We also tapped his phones.”

“Great,” I say, though I couldn’t care less about Julian or Claire.

Just then, my phone buzzes on my desk. I look down to see Nico’s name on the screen. My heart plummets, somehow already sensing something is wrong.

“We have a situation,” he says without waiting for me to say hello. “You need to get down here ASAP.”

I look up at Luca, who’s already moving, his phone in hand.

The next half hour is hell. We sit side by side in my SUV, catching the story in pieces. The second Maya pulled up to her building, Tomaso was there. He tried to grab Elena, but she fought back.

Only a moment later, my men pulled up and dragged him off her, but he was fast. He got away again.

That slimy little piece of shit.

“I’m going to fucking kill him when I find him,” I seethe.

“I’ll help you bury the body,” Luca grumbles. “How did he know they’d be going to Maya’s? How does he always fucking know?”

Luca’s frustration is more about the security breach than anything. He prides himself on running a tight ship, and the repeated violations are driving him crazy. Even so, his frustration pales next to mine. I’m ready to burn down the city if it gets me Tomaso Greco.

“How did he find her address? He was already waiting for them there; he didn’t follow them. Fuck!”

“Be sure to ask him while you’re bashing his head in,” he says.