Page 9 of Forever Found

Asher nodded and rose to his feet with a huge exhale. He pulled at his shirt to straighten it, then turned towards where all of the bitching and shrill screams were coming from.

“Let’s find out what this poisonous bitch knows,” he told me. I followed behind him to the room I had tied Zara up in.

When we walked in Zara was tied to the dining chair I had dragged into the room. She was dressed in the workout gear she had answered her apartment door wearing, but she looked completely feral now. Her hair was wild around her face, and the look on that face was filled with rage, and some fear.

“Let me go, right now you bastards! This is kidnapping! You can’t do this! I’ll call the police and have the both of you arrested!” she screamed the second she saw us walk in, maintaining her brave front, but I saw the fear in her eyes and the way her hands trembled. She was scared. Good.

“I think we’ll be the ones calling the police, Zara,” Asher told her as he moved so he stood directly opposite her. He folded his arms across his chest and stood looking a little menacing.

“Good. Call them now and tell them how this over grown piece of shit manhandled me from my home into his car, then dragged me up here and tied me to a fucking chair!” she hissed as she nodded toward me.

“It’s over, Zara. You can drop the bullshit act. Addy remembered my father calling you while she was held captive. We know you were involved in everything he was up to,” Asher told her plainly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, all anger gone and a mask of mock innocence across her face.

“Yes you do, and if you don’t want to tell Asher, then you’ll be dealing with me. Either way, you will tell us everything you know,” I said coldly as I moved closer and closer until I was just inches from her, looming over her and terrifying her, if the way she paled was anything to go by.

“Asher, you can’t do this. You can’t allow him to…”

“I suggest you start speaking then. One of the monsters my father worked with now has both of my siblings. Believe me when I tell you there is nothing I will not do, and no line I will not cross to get them back, starting with you,” Asher told her with a snarl.

“I don’t know anything. I just…I helped Mr. Lyle with some logistics. I knew he was up to something illegal, but I never knew what exactly it was. I swear Asher. I barely know anything!” she cried as it all came tumbling from her. I didn’t miss the way she kept a wary eye on where I still loomed over her.

“Logistics?” Asher repeated.

“Yeah. He…he asked me to do things…like handle contracts for properties in Nevada. There were some off books payments he asked me to make and I…I did some research for him sometimes. That’s all. I swear. I had no idea what he was mixed up in until it hit the news last week.”

“What did he have you research?” I growled.

“People. He sent me names and asked me to dig into them. He had this guy who worked for him…Grady…that was his name. He’d get me background checks on people and he f-found information Mr. Lyle requested. I dealt with him a few times.”

“I want all of the names you looked into, and I want a way to contact this Grady,” Asher demanded, and Zara instantly nodded eagerly.

“Who else was working with Lyle? Did he run all of this alone?” I barked, making her jolt in fear.

“I…I don’t know. He said someone was messing with him, and he…he asked me to look into a few people last year, but he never mentioned a partner. That’s all I know. He barely told me anything and I didn’t really care as long as he paid me the extra cash he promised. I swear that’s it.”

Asher’s cell ringing paused whatever else he was about to ask as he hurried to pull it from the pocket of his trousers.

“Harris,” he told me when I looked to him. “Get the names from her and anything else she knows.”

I nodded and watched him exit the room, praying Harris and his team had found us something more solid to work with. Whoever held Addy and Eli had already had them for over twenty four hours. I couldn’t even allow myself to think what could have happened to them in that time. We had to find them before it was too late.

***

“Anything from Harris?” I asked the second I stepped into the living room where Asher was pacing as he looked at something on his cell.

“Maybe. Aleks was able to track the van through AMPR cameras. It was headed for the private airfield I use. A flight left from there around the same time, a private jet headed for Vegas,” Asher explained. “They’re trying to access security feeds at the airport right now, but I’ve arranged my jet to take me to Vegas tonight. If that’s where Eli and Addy are, I want to be close.”

“I got the names from Zara. I’m pretty sure she really has told us everything she knows. She’s too terrified of me to hold anything back.”

“Fine. I’ll call my guy at the FBI, and have them come to pick her up. I’m sure they’ll be interested to know what she has to say too. Any names stand out?” he asked.

“Not to me.” I handed him my cell phone on which I had made a list of the names Zara had given me. They were all men, but I didn’t recognize any of them.

“Motherfucker!” Asher hissed after a moment of staring at the list.

“What?”