Obsession (13 page)

We’re dragged back along the corridor and thrown into the little room. They locked us in there again with nothing. No food or water. Nothing.

I wipe my face as best I can with my top, trying my hardest to get rid of all traces of him, Cami is rocking in the corner. Once we were alone she lets it all out, they hit her a few times when she was screaming for Jake to stop what he was doing.

“I’m sorry Cami, this is all my fault. I’m so, so sorry!” I didn’t hear a reply, she just continued to rock, her tears falling freely.

I understand now what Damien meant when he said, we need to eradicate the evil that’s trying to destroy us. How can our love be wrong? Not once has he ever made me feel like I do now, he cares for me, even in the beginning he let me eat, drink and bathe. He gave me a bed to sleep on, not once did he hit me. He may be the head of the family, a ruthless killer, but that’s not all he is.

I just need to figure out a way to keep Cami and myself safe until he gets here, because I have no doubt he is coming.  

Damien will come, he always does when I need him.

Damien

“Where the fuck are they, damn it find them!” They left at nine this morning, it’s now seven and they have not been heard from all day. If anything has happened to her I will lay waste to the world. I swear to any God that is listening, I will kill anyone that has harmed her. She is mine, and I protect what is mine.

I storm into my office, Anton is waiting for me. Good, I know what I need him to do, I just hope he can do it quickly.

“Can you trace a number for me? I need to know what has happened to the girls. They’re with Jake.” I say to him hoping that he will get on with it. I have never cared before how it’s done, but now I can’t help but want to know. I can’t seem to get this feeling of dread out of my stomach.

“Of course give me the number and I will get on with it, do we have a name and address to go with it? It will make it much easier.”  I walk around to my desk and open the draws pulling out the information I hold on Jake Masters. It’s not much but it’s the basics he doesn’t really have any background details.

“This is great I will get onto it now, give me an hour.” I nod letting him know that’s fine but on the inside it’s tearing me up I want answers now not later.

The ringing phone pulls my attention, quickly answering it in the hopes it might be Jake or Faith, but it’s Malc.

“What!” I bark at him, my patience is wearing thin and I want answers now.

“They’ve not been back to the apartment,” he’s as pissed off and worried as I am, he’s just better at handling it than I am, well what the fuck has happened to them then?

“Fine hurry up back if there is no sign of them.” I hang up wanting to keep the line clear for when Anton calls and I know he will call, within the hour he never leaves me waiting.

I'm sitting at my desk thinking about my girl, I'm really losing my shit about what could have happened to her. The phone rings it's Anton.
At last
.

“Anton.” I say my voice is full of apprehension.

“I have the information you need, I am just letting you know that I will be with you soon.” The edge in his voice has my anxiety reaching new level. What could be so bad that he couldn’t tell me over the phone.

“Why can’t you tell me over the phone Anton?” I question him. “Just trust me on this Damien, you do not want to hear this over the phone.” He doesn’t give me chance to reply before the line goes dead. What choice do I have but to wait. 

The knock at the office door makes me jump a little, I see my mum looking red eyed and puffy, she’s been crying. I can tell just by looking at her that she is worried about Faith and Cami but I’m guessing that all of this has brought back painful memories of Bella.

She walks in and I open my arms for her. I understand she needs to be held right now and who am to deny her what she needs. I think I need this as much as she does. I need someone to understand the pain I’m feeling. I’m not sure what has happened to them, but from what Anton said, it can’t be good.

I wrap my mother in my arms and listen to her as she cries against my chest, we’ve not done this since Bella’s funeral. After a few minutes she pulls out of my arms and reaches up to wipe the tear that has fallen down my cheek. She straightens up and asks the staff to put on a dinner even though it’s so late. She knows as well as I do that until I have some answers, I won't rest, but I don’t think my stomach will keep anything down.

I head to the gym while I am waiting. I don’t even bother to get changed, I just take my shirt off and start at the punch bag. If I don’t hit something, I will end up killing someone. Right now I want to feel the pain against my knuckles and the sweat running down my back. I let off steam for a good half hour, blow after blow I rain down but nothing seems to help ease the anxiety that I feel right now.

Back in the office after I quickly rub off the sweat and put my shirt back on, I sit myself back down at my desk, Malc is now sat in front of me, his toe is tapping on the floor and it’s driving me mad.

He is worried about Cami, I can see it written all over his face He wants to break something just like I do.

“I can’t get rid of this feeling that something is wrong,” he says to me, and it’s a tone I am not used to hearing from Malc, it’s desperate. What can I say to him? I can’t even reassure myself. Today is shaping up to be one of the worst days I have ever had
.

I have felt loss and pain, but nothing compares to the thought of losing Faith.

“We’ll do everything we can to find them friend.” There is nothing else I can say, so why bother trying to give the situation false hope.

 “I know but that does not make the worry any better.” With every word he speaks I feel his pain.

“I know my friend, I am the same. I don’t even know what has happened to
moya lyubov
.” The Russian flows off my tongue with ease at the moment, I know right then that the words are true.

“I’ve been waiting for you to realise that brother. I just wish it wasn’t the worry that made you realise. I have not heard you speak our mother tongue for a long time my friend.”

“It’s only since Faith has been around, it fits, and it feels right.”

“Well it’s great to hear you speaking it again.”

My mobile phone rings in my pocket and I quickly pull it out to answer.

“Yes” I bark down the phone.

“Hello Damien, something tells me you are couple of guests short this evening.” Bile rises in my throat when I realise who it is on the phone and my worst fears are confirmed. Darren Young is on the other end of this line and it’s then that I realise he has my girl. 

“What do you want Darren? If you have laid one finger on them your dead,” I see Malc visibly pale in front of me before his anger rises to the surface.

“That’s not any way to speak to the man who controls what happens next, do you understand Damien? If you want to see these girls back alive and in one piece you are going to do exactly what I say.”

“How do I know that she is still alive Darren? I am not going to play ball without knowing if she is still alive.”  

“You want proof of life, is that it Damien?” I hear him shout to someone to go and get Faith, and my hearts sores at the thought of speaking to my girl. Fuck, he really has her and with that my heart sinks all over again. I will kill this motherfucker if it’s the last thing I do.

“Speak you worthless bitch,” I growl at how he speaks to her.

“Hello” I hear her voice, it sounds so hopeless. I let out a breath and try to find my voice so I can reply to my girl.

“Baby are you ok?” I need to hear her voice.

“Damien, oh god please Damien get us out of here! My dad and” but before she finishes what she was going to say, I hear Darren’s voice telling them to get her back into the room. I can hear Faith screaming, as she’s pulled away from the phone. I swear to god when I find her I am going to fucking kill them all.

“So you have your proof of life, now I will tell you what is going to happen, you’re going to nod and smile and do as you’re told, if you ever want to see her again.” I do my best to keep a lid on my temper but I can feel it starting to rise.

“Tell me what you want then Darren.” I spit out

“Well for starters, I want £100,000 and my debt wiped. You’re going to personally deliver it to me, and then when you do you can take the girls unharmed and we can go our separate ways.”

“When and where do you want this to happen?” I grab a pen and paper off the desk and prepare to write down what he tells me. The fact that he has managed to get hold of her is pissing me off. Yet again Jake has fucked up, why the fuck would I let him watch her I should have learnt my lesson the first time. I have no-one to blame but myself.

“You will meet me tomorrow at 12 pm at your warehouse and I want you on your own. If I see anyone else I will kill them both do you understand?” I clench my fists tight by my side

“Fine!” before I can say anything else the line goes dead. I can’t believe that fucker chose my warehouse, why the fuck would he think that it’s ok to hold them at my fucking warehouse. I am going to put a bullet in the fucker.

“What are we going to do?” Malc says to me his voice is still thick with emotion.

“We’re going to do whatever he says for now, we don’t have a clue how many people he has working with him.” I say to him, hearing groans as his reply so I continue.  “We haven't got a clue how they managed to get the girls or if he has Jake as well.” This whole thing is a mess but what else can I do. I just hope my words are enough to placate him, as once Malc gets hold of something he’s all guns blazing, and that’s not what’s needed right now. We have to play it safe. This is more than just money, it’s my girl on the line, and I need her more than anything in this whole damn world.

“I hope you know what you’re doing Damien, because it’s not just you with something to lose this time.”

It’s then that I realise my friend's feelings are just as much at stake as my own. 

We sit for a while going over the plans of the warehouse looking at the surrounding area to see where the best point for Malc and Anton to stay out of sight. Anton may be old but he is far from past it, he guards my mother, he has done more than I will ever do in the time that he has been with my family.

There is a knock at my office door and I shout for them to come in, not wanting to peel my eyes away from the research I am doing on my own fucking property.

“Damien you might want to listen to what I have to say,” Anton says I can tell by his tone this is serious. I look up from the blue prints from the warehouse to see him with a murderous look on his face.

“What is it Anton? What was so important that you could not tell me over the phone?” He walks over and sits down at the desk and I wait for him to begin telling me what’s going on.

“How well do you know Jake Masters?” as soon as he says it, I know that my initial feeling about him was right.

“All I know is that he met Malc in a café, and Malc brought him back here to work with us, he’s been with us a few months, the background check we did on him didn’t turn up anything suspicious.”

“Well I tried to traced his phone and came up with nothing as it was switched off, so I changed tactic and checked out his known address, there was nothing of note at first, it just looked like a rundown apartment with second hand basic furniture inside. When I went into his bedroom, that’s when things got interesting.” This is why I keep Anton around as he has a skill that you can’t find in many people. He is ruthless, every task he takes on he is meticulous. He checks his information and then checks it again like he says “in life or death there is no room for error or bad judgment”.

“How did it get interesting? How does this relate to Faith?” I ask him.

“I want you to listen to me Damien, and hear me out until I have said every word.” I sit up straighter in my seat and prepare myself for whatever it is he has to say to me. I already know that I am not going to like whatever it is he has to say.

I nod giving him my word that I won’t interrupt him.

“I walked around his apartment and saw nothing much until I entered his bedroom, there on his nightstand was a picture just lying on the top. The picture was of Jake with Conner, so I made a call to try and get more info on him. Damien, Jake is Conner’s brother.”

“FUCK!” my loud curse stopped Anton and he just pinned me with a look that said shut up there is more, I nod for him to continue.

“As I was saying Damien that is not the only thing that I found. He had pictures. A LOT of pictures of Faith and you, some of just Faith, it seems that he has been watching her for months. This guy, let's just say he has a total hard on for Faith, some of those pictures… No-one but you and her should see that shit. From the looks of it, he has been, let's say, fantasizing about Faith.” 

The dirty motherfucker. When I get my hands on him I am going to kill him, just like I did his brother and I won’t even blink.  To think of him using pictures of Faith to get himself off makes me feel sick. She is fucking MINE!

“Do you have any idea what he is up to? Or where he is now?” I ask Anton, I can see Malc sat in the chair his hands are gripping the chair, his knuckles are white with the death hold he has. I know he will blame himself for this because he brought him into the family. He is not to blame, we did the checks and did not find anything to connect him to anyone dangerous to us.