Gael paced angrily in Angela's living room with a deep scowl on his face. He arrived less than an hour after Santiago called him that she was missing.
"What do you mean she's missing? Where the hell are you?" Gael snapped on the phone, already on his way back to the city.
"I'm at her apartment, Boss. I…I think someone took her."
He let out several curses that would shame everyone's mother if they heard him. "You better hope she's okay, or I swear to God…"
That was more than four hours ago. Angela had been missing for nearly five hours now, and they still don't know where she was. Santiago was sitting with his head between his hands. He must be bracing himself before Gael would detach his head from his body along with his limbs.
Gael had a feeling that Angela's ex, Leos, was behind all this, and the thought gutted him.
He was seething and couldn't stay still. He was burning tracks on the floor with the way he walked back and forth, feeling anxious since.
When he arrived at her apartment and saw its state, there were shards of glass at the entryway, and several things toppled over. Santiago was already inside because Angela had lent him her key fob for the day. The moment Gael saw Santiago, he strode quickly towards him and demanded an explanation.
But he stopped in his tracks when he noticed a bone-chilling sight in the kitchen: pools of blood and stains on the floor, bloodstains on the counters and some on the white cabinet, and a bloody knife a couple of feet away. Angela's purse was on the counter next to the knife rack lying on its side. But there was no Angela in sight.
His heart pounded in his chest, and he paled, his hands trembling at the thought of Angela bleeding out. He thought he was going to be sick. Gael wanted to believe that she was alright—that she was safe. But that was hard to do when he saw blood.
Rick had to force Gael's attention back to reality. While Gael wanted to take his anger out on Santiago for not doing his fucking job, that had to wait. First, they checked the CCTV footage in the security room—which pissed him off even more because they found the guard gagged and shoved in a closet; the records of the last few hours during Angela's disappearance on her floor were all wiped out.
Gael had been restless, not knowing where to look or how to find her when they had no leads whatsoever. For the first couple of hours, he'd asked Santiago to recall everything that happened from when they left the mansion until the last time he saw her, repeatedly. Santiago gave every detail that he could while the three of them mulled over the possibilities.
Gael concluded that whoever took her must have waited for the perfect timing—the one small window she was alone. They checked with the manager—the only other person aware of the situation as they decided not to call the cops—and they were told that there were no visitors on record around the time of the incident. Gael knew that would be a long shot, seeing as the perpetrators even managed to erase the footage.
Angela had been wearing her necklace every single day—even when they were at home, she always had it on her. Why hadn't she used it yet? Was she okay? Was she unconscious? Had the kidnapper perhaps figured out that her necklace had a tracker?
Contemplating to call her family several times, he'd been cursing at himself every time he decided not to. What was he supposed to tell them? Then he thought about his friend, Daniel Cho, but he doubted there was anything his friend could do.
If anything terrible happened to Angela, he wouldn't survive this at all. His heart thundered inside his chest.
Then, all of their phones produced a long beep simultaneously, and Gael knew what he'd find before scrambling to check his phone. He was slightly relieved to see a glowing green dot on his screen, showing Angela's tracker's current location.
Gael didn't waste time, and in the next second, he was already headed out the door with Rick and Santiago behind him. He didn't have to tell them what it was or where they were going because they also received the same notification like he did.
They got inside the elevator, and Gael had barely looked up from his screen, afraid that the glowing dot would disappear so suddenly. He memorized the location as best as he could in case it happened while hoping it wouldn't. Angela was safe, he told himself repeatedly. She had to be.
"Boss…" Rick muttered next to him. "What are you going to do? We're not—"
"I know." Gael's jaw tightened. He didn't have to hear it from anybody else. He already knew, and that knowledge made him even more nervous.
Rick was concerned. He opened and closed his mouth as though he was about to protest, but all he spat was, "Merda." Shit.
"Just do as planned," said Gael.
"They might kill you—"
"I don't fucking care! Getting her out of there is your priority, not me!"
Rick and Santiago exchanged glances before they nodded and mumbled, "Understood."
***
Angela had been slipping in and out of consciousness, the throbbing on her head refusing to go away. She must have had a concussion from the way she fell earlier—she swore she hit her head somewhere hard that she even bled.
She didn't know how long she stayed inside the room alone. Evan hadn't come to her since his men put her there. This was a power play for him, letting her know that he had control over her freedom by letting her walk around freely first before actually restraining and locking her up.
The room was eerie. Hospitals creeped her out; she never liked going to one. And it smelled like someone died here—she hoped not. They put her in the bed, where she sagged in relief that she could rest her head. But now, she was afraid that someone might have actually died on the same bed she was in. A shiver ran down her spine, and she sat up abruptly.
The door opened, then her attacker came inside alone. He was tall and lean unlike Evan's other friend who was shorter and buff. Judging by their long hair and build, they probably weren't Evan's colleagues—she doubted there were dirty marines like him. Well, except for those who were witnesses four years ago.
Angela's attacker smirked at her as he grabbed her by the arm—harshly, his fingers burrowing into her skin. She was certain it would leave a bruise.
They brought her back out into the open room where another figure was present. She couldn't see them clearly, but the closer she got, the more the figures slowly cleared up, and she whimpered against the duct tape.
"Angel…" Gael called and attempted to advance, only to be stopped by Evan while Evan's friend, the buff one, pointed a gun at Gael's head. Gael scanned her body and grimaced when he got a good look at the cut and bruise above her brow and her swollen cheek. "You motherfucker. How dare you hit her?" He was shaking in anger now, a few seconds close to snapping everyone's neck, but Buff pressed the nozzle against his head.
She whimpered again, wanting to rush over to him but couldn't. The stupid restraints dug at her skin. Why did Gael come alone? Where were his men? Why did he look…literally helpless?
"Sweetheart, look who's here. Your fucking lover." Evan's grin widened when confusion laced her eyes, his voice full of disdain. "Ah, of course, I know who he is. I'm not dumb. But apparently, he is… Because he just waltzed right in alone—without any weapons."
"Let her go," said Gael under gritted teeth.
"And what? Take you instead?" Evan laughed. "I don't need you, De Luca. But I need her, though. She owes me something…and you're going to help me get it." He signaled Buff to the side, and the latter lowered his gun and stepped back.
Angela's heart raced. She already knew what Evan planned to do. He would use Gael to get to her. She looked at Gael, pleading, hoping he could read her eyes. She knew Gael was strong enough to take them. She knew he was skilled. He could fight them.
"You wanna see a magic trick?" Evan quipped at Angela as he rounded behind Gael. He didn't wait for anyone's answer when he raised his leg, and his foot struck Gael's back.
Gael landed on his knees with a groan. Evan kicked and punched him a few more times until Gael spat out blood, panting. But still, he didn't counter.
Why wasn't he fighting back? She screamed against the tape, crying as she watched Evan hit Gael over and over. 'Get up! Fight back!!!'
Evan laughed maniacally. "See that? I can hit him all I want, but he can't hit me back. You know why, Sweetheart?" He smiled, and Angela wanted to claw his expression off his face. "Because the De Lucas are forbidden to lay a hand on me…or his entire family will suffer the consequences.." He nudged Gael with his boot. "Isn't that right, fucker?"
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