Page 28 of Forbidden Whispers

“What?”

“I think it’s that man again!”

Noah expanded the image with his fingers to examine it and his brows shot up.

Now they could easily see that it was the same man from the restaurant photo. And the man’s expression was identical to the one in the previous picture they’d seen. He looked angry. And his gaze was clearly directed at Valentina.

Noah angled the phone screen toward Dante. “Was this the guy that punched me?”

Dante squinted at it. “No, man. That’s not him. But I did get some shots of the two guys. We didn’t post them, of course, but I’ve still got them on my phone.” He took the device back and, after a few more taps, handed it to Noah again. “These were the guys.”

Maggie and Noah studied the images. The first shot showed Noah standing beside Valentina. They faced a man wearing black pants and a black button-front shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The ropy muscles of one forearm bulged as he gripped Valentina’s wrist. His hair was distinctive, a textured buzz cut on top that blended into a fade with the shape of a dagger artfully shaved into the side of his hair. Part of an elaborate tattoo was visible on one side of his neck. If it weren’t for the hate in his eyes, and the ugly sneer curling one corner of his thin lips, he might have been considered good looking.

He was a couple of inches shorter than Noah, but Maggie sensed a tangible underlying power there, like a panther about to strike. The man beside Dagger-head was even shorter, but he was built like a brick of solid muscle.

In the next image, Noah was between Valentina and Dagger-head. Valentina’s wrist had been released, but her face looked furious. Her mouth was open as she shouted something at Dagger-head, her finger stabbing toward him aggressively.

In the third image, they could barely see Noah on the floor with Valentina squatting over him. The crowd was a mass of hands and bodies pulling at the two men.

“Wow,” Maggie breathed, then murmured near Noah’s ear, “I wonder if those were the same two guys from this morning?”

Noah gave a nod, then said to her, “I don’t see that angry guy from the restaurant in any of the crowd shots, do you?”

Maggie slowly scanned all three photographs again. “Nope. But I feel like he’s got to be involved somehow.”

Noah agreed and handed the phone back to Dante. “So, you guys are saying after all this, the two guys got away, and Valentina and I went to the hospital?”

Dante and Eduardo both nodded.

“Okay then.” He swiveled on the stool toward Maggie. “I guess we know where our next stop needs to be.”

Maggie would have loved one more dance in Noah’s arms. But she knew the more time that passed, the harder it might be to find Valentina. And possibly the more danger the woman might be in. So, even though the dancing didn’t end until midnight, it was just after eleven o’clock when the two of them descended the gangplank.

They walked through the deserted parking lot, Maggie trailing a bit behind Noah as she re-scrolled through the images Dante had texted to Noah’s phone just before they left.

“It’s a little scary how much that punch affected me,” Noah commented. “To think I not only don’t recall it, but any of the stuff I did before I even got hit.”

“It is scary,” Maggie said, glancing up. “And I admit, I’m glad that our next stop is the hospital. You really should get checked out.”

“Apparently, I already did,” Noah said with a smirk.

“I’m talking about for your amnesia!” Maggie said, giving him a playful shove.

He pretended to trip and then turned it into a dance move, making Maggie laugh as he grabbed her free hand and gave her a twirl in the parking lot.

They were at the passenger side of the Porsche and Noah pulled out the key fob. But suddenly, a voice hissed out of the darkness behind them. “Don’t move.”

Maggie glanced at Noah and saw a glint of metal being shoved against his spine. Noah turned quickly toward Maggie, and she heard him suck in his breath as the owner of the weapon jabbed it harder into him. “I said, don’t move!”

Maggie felt her hands grow cold as she recognized the voice. It belonged to one of the men from that morning.

The voice spoke again. “Check him.”

A stocky man shrouded in dark clothing stepped forward to run his hands down each of Noah’s pant legs and around his waistband.

“He’s clean,” the second man grunted. Maggie recognized his voice as well. He was clearly the other morning intruder.

“Now her purse.”