Page 91 of Wrecked By You
“I’ll have the company jet take you back to LA, and I’ll ensure there’s a car waiting to drive you home.”
“Oh, there’s no need—”
“There’s every need.”
I sent Ginny off to pack. As I hung up from making the last of the arrangements, Nolen appeared.
“I have an address,” I blurted before he was fully in the room. “She’s in Oklahoma.” Grabbing my phone, I showed him the image of the compound. “Her husband is a drug dealer, and a bigwig, from what my guy has uncovered. Getting Ella out won’t be easy, and right now, I’m coming up empty as to how we even begin.”
Nolen peered at the screen, his top teeth grazing his bottom lip. “Drug dealer. Fuck. That’s some bad shit.”
“Gee, thanks for your impressive insight.”
Nolen chuckled. “There’s the Johannes I know. Sarcastic fucker.”
“I’m not in the mood, Nolen.” I glowered at him. “You said you’d fucking help. So help.”
“Easy.” He squeezed my shoulder, like he had earlier. “I have a friend in the DEA. Let me call him and see if he knows this piece of crap, and what the agency might be able to do to help.”
“Good.”
I flung back the covers and tested my legs. They held, albeit a bit wobbly. The pain around my midsection though… Christ. If these were bruised ribs, according to the doc, then I was fucking glad they weren’t broken.
“In the meantime, I’ll head to your security office and help scour the CCTV. There has to be evidence of the three of them being taken from the hotel.”
I felt sick at the thought of Ella. How scared she must be. If she came out of this with a single scratch, I would make it my business to see that fucker pay. I’d set fire to his compound and watch him burn. Fuck the law.
Nolen left to call his contact at the DEA. Avoiding mirrors—if Nolen thought my face was messed up, I didn’t need to see it—I grabbed a sweater and pants from the closet, but as I pulled the sweater over my head, I paused.
What the hell?
The entire time I’d spoken with Nolen, the police, and Ginny, the vile result of my attack in London had been on display. I traced my fingertips over my scar. I had no recollection of undressing after I’d passed out by the phone, which meant Nolen must have undressed me before putting me in bed. But far more shocking was that I hadn’t realized my neck was exposed. Ineverallowed anyone to see my scar.
Could be worry over Ella’s whereabouts, but maybe it was more than that. Perhaps Ella had changed me in more ways than I’d first thought. She hadn’t just opened my eyes to the possibility of falling in love again, but she’d also hurled a wrecking ball at the layers of protection I’d spent six years building up, and I’d been so entranced by her that I hadn’t noticed them splintering.
Even more surprising, none of my visitors had stared. If they had, I’d have noticed, and their rubbernecking would have alerted me to the issue much earlier than now.
God, Ella.
I closed my eyes, allowing myself a few moments to absorb this enormous change in my life. Whether it was sustainable or if it was merely a result of the clogging fear for Ella’s safety wasn’t clear to me. Only time would tell if I reverted back to my old ways of hiding or forged forward into a new and scary world.
Something told me it would be the latter. All I needed was Ella by my side.
I put Ginny in a limo to the airport, and as soon as I’d seen her off, I headed for security. They were expecting me, and once the head of the team showed me how to operate the various cameras, I sat down and got to work. Nolen’s staff was more than capable of managing without me, but I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit on my hands and wait. I needed to feel useful or risked going crazy.
I lost track of time as I scoured the feed from hundreds of cameras scattered throughout the hotel, but so far I hadn’t caught a glimpse of Ella or Ginny or Chloe. They were here somewhere, though. No one could avoid every single camera, even if they were looking out for them. And the lack of sightings led me to think that was exactly what Fernandez and his guards had done. But everyone made mistakes, and I had to believe that somewhere in this footage was the evidence I sought to prove he had taken her.
“Johannes.” Nolen entered with a guy so tall that he dwarfed me, and I topped out at six-four. “This is Brax. The DEA agent I mentioned.”
“Hey.” I reached for his outstretched hand. “Has Nolen updated you?”
“Yeah.” He shook his head. “Mateo fucking Fernandez. Man’s a nefarious asshole who thinks he’s above the law. I’ve been trying to nail that fucker for years but haven’t found one thing that’ll stick enough for a judge to grant a search warrant. So he just keeps peddling his drugs and ruining lives, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”
My heart sank. I fired a glance at Nolen, my message clear.Thought this guy was supposed to help.
“So Ella’s screwed? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No. I’m saying we need evidence that he’s taken Mrs. Fernandez against her will. I have to have something concrete to take to the judge, no matter how small. I’ll fight like hell for a warrant, but you’ve got to give me something to go on.”