348 Too late?
"What do you mean?" He forced a smile but Desmond didn't buy it.
"My daughter is not here. This is why you won't let me see her before I give in to your deal." He called him out for his lie.
"Luke?" The man called out, and his burly companion stepped forward.
"You don't understand, Desmond. You are not leaving this house alive if you don't give us what we want. If you are cooperative, we can consider letting your daughter leave. She's a whimpering mess, anyway." The man called Luke threatened, then he glanced at his fingers as he counted.
"But maybe, she can grow up into an adorable doll and sell for a nice price. Let's give her ten years."
He saw red. He clenched his fists and before he could stop himself, he punched Luke in the neck, sending him hitting against the wall with a thud, and then sliding onto the floor in a pile.
For a man as burly as him, he had expected a little more fight. However, Luke was all muscle and zero strength. If all his mates were as weak as him, he could probably take them down without using much effort.
But again, it could be a trap, sending the weakest of the bunch to provoke him and then retaliate if he got confident enough to attack them.
"Let's make a deal." He suggested. "Show me my daughter, and I will do whatever you want."
The man from earlier snickered, not giving a fuck about his battered counterpart.
"Listen here, Desmond. This may come as a surprise but you don't call the shots here."
That was all he needed. He wanted them to reject his terms, which was probably part of their strategy to stall him. He shrugged on his way out. "Well, there is nothing to discuss then."
"She's in the basement." One of the men said. He paid no heed to his words, hurrying out the door and toward the bushes behind which Lucy was hiding.
"What's going on? Where's Rosaly?" Lucy asked as he dragged her away.
"Not here. We have to leave." He shoved her into his car and got in amid Lucy's protests. Just as he drove off, he caught sight of the men scrambling out of the house, two of them lugging Luke in between them. Seconds later, they both had to cover their ears as an explosion boomed through the air.
Lucy peeked at the house that was now nothing but debris and gasped. "They knew it was going to explode. That's why they left."
"They knew the exact second before it would happen. That's why they kept stalling me. They wanted to make sure I was in the building when it blasted." His forehead creased. Where the hell did they keep Rosaly?
Lucy was thinking about the same thing. "What if she was in the house?"
"She wasn't." He was certain. If he suspected even for a fraction of a second that she was in the house, he would not have left. Besides, they wouldn't act so sketchy if they had such leverage over him at their disposal.
All they had to do was hold a gun against her head to make sure he didn't move—though he was glad they didn't have to do that. It was already bad enough that she had been kidnapped. She would not be able to handle such trauma.
Lucy dug her phone out of her pocket and frantically dialed a number. It went to voicemail, frustrating the hell out of her.
19:20
"I'm going to kill someone, I swear." She groaned.
He went through all the safehouses he knew from Evan but paused at a realization. The Wests always believed in hiding in plain sight. They believed it was the hardest place to be found. If they took Rosaly to a safe house, finding her would be easy. There was only one place they could have taken her that wouldn't rouse any hint of suspicion.
___
They rushed to The West and were welcomed by Oliver West, Evan's uncle and the asshole who had temporarily taken over after Gabriel's death.
"Veronica was right. You wouldn't fall for such a trap." He opened his arms to hug Desmond, who dodged.
"If you have done anything to my daughter…"
"We haven't done anything, yet." He grinned, just as Veronica appeared and looped her arm around his. The fucking bitch had played them even though they had an agreement.
"Veronica, dear, why don't you show Desmond where to find his daughter? Or what's left of her."
_____
Meanwhile, Zaria was out of breath when they finally arrived at the location Evan was certain they would keep Rosaly. She looked around in disbelief. The building had exploded into smithereens, the air thick with the smell of debris and blood.
"Are we too late?" She whispered. "Des? Rosaly?"
Evan hugged her shoulders, not saying a word. If he was right about this being the place where Rosaly had been brought, then no one could survive the kind of explosion that blew the building up beyond recognition.
He stopped her from making another step into what used to be the safe house. "You cannot go in there. You could get hurt."
She shoved his hands away. "But my daughter and husband…"
"They will be okay. Des is too stubborn to die easily." He attempted to console her, but that only made her realize they could be injured. Tears pooled in her eyes. He was helpless. "Don't cry…I'll go in and check. Promise me you will stay here, okay? I'll never be able to explain myself if you got hurt."
She nodded but he was certain she would follow him anyway. Why did she have to be so stubborn?
He pulled out the big guns. Holding her shoulders, he made sure she was paying attention before he said, "if you follow me, many things could happen. You could trip and be injured and then your baby…"
"My baby?" She placed a hand over her stomach. "Nothing will happen to my baby."
"Good. Then don't follow me." He instructed. This time, her nod was genuine.
"Be careful, okay?" she called, and he smiled. He had been worried she closed herself off completely.
The longer she waited for Evan, the more terrified she was that he might not make it out of the debris. What if the ground had caved in as he had guessed, and he fell in?
She was considering checking on him when he returned. She let out a sigh of relief. He was on his own, which was probably the best news.
He opened his palm and showed her a nano blade. "It's Desmond's. He must have dropped it."
She picked it up and inspected it. "He was here. But where is he now?"
"Anywhere but here. Which is a good sign. I checked everywhere."
She was only partially relieved. "Where the hell is he then? And if Rosaly wasn't brought here, where is she?"
She dialed his number and when it went to voicemail, she bit the inside of her cheek. "I'm starting to wish we brought Zeus."
___
Meanwhile, Desmond and Lucy followed Veronica into the elevator. He was furious but he had to hold it in for now. Why were they stalling?
The elevator dinged its arrival on the sixth floor and they got off, Lucy inspecting the place like a hawk. Veronica led them to a conference room and took her seat, making it sound like they were here for a business deal.
"How was your honeymoon, Des?" Veronica taunted. "Did she ditch you already? I expect her to be glued to her side, being newlyweds and all."
Lucy huffed. She wanted nothing but to blow The West up. Alas, Rosaly was here somewhere and they didn't even know which floor she was on, let alone which room. Besides, Veronica chose that moment to call a man and a woman in to pat them down.
"Are you kidding me?" Lucy was displeased when her hairclip was taken away. It was not even sharp or anything she could use as a weapon. It was an ordinary clip.
Once they were done, Oliver finally walked into the conference room. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. We couldn't start the meeting before our guest of honor. Luckily, she is here now."
Desmond narrowed his eyes and glanced toward the door just in time to see Evan walk in…with Zaria in tow.
"What the hell?" He exploded.
"She insisted." Evan defended himself.
"Baby, you know you shouldn't have come here." He tried his best to sound calm but he sounded anxious and angry.
"I couldn't let you face the danger alone." She explained.
Oliver smiled. "How cute. The two of you will die for one another. You truly are, as they say, a match made in heaven. Veronica, bring in the other guest."
"I am not your dog." Veronica huffed but left the room anyway, returning minutes later with Rosaly. Contrary to their expectation, their daughter was not bound with duct tape covering her mouth. She was holding Veronica's hand, holding an ice cream cone in the other hand.
When she saw her parents, her eyes lit up. "Daddy! Zaria!" She ran over to them and threw herself into their arms, rambling at lightning speed.
"Aunty Vee is so cool! We went swimming, then we went to the theme park and…"
Desmond glared at Veronica. Aunty Vee?
Of course. She was Evan's sister and she could prove it. She didn't need to kidnap Rosaly. The girl willingly went away with her with the right amount of convincing.
He didn't have time to stew about Rosaly going off with a woman she just met. Oliver sat opposite him across the table.
"Now that we have established that Rosaly is safe and sound, you can take her with you. However," he pointed his chin at Zaria. "She stays."
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