Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

screaming . Did you miss me?
    No . Don’t think it . It’s not real anymore . She was dimly aware that she was rocking and forced herself to still.
    ‘Daphne?’
    She bowed her head, stared at her hands. ‘I lived there for a while. My whole family did. And something happened to us. We were never the same.’
    ‘Your cousin was abducted,’ he said, his voice oddly tight. ‘As were you.’
    She frowned, then remembered. Hector Rivera had asked the question when she’d zoned out upon entering her house the day before. Of course he’d told Joseph about it.
    ‘Yes, my cousin was abducted. Kelly.’ And so was I . But those words didn’t want to come. They never did.
    ‘They found Kelly’s body.’
    ‘Yes. She’d been missing for three weeks all together.’ She chanced a glance at his face. He looked like he’d swallowed something too large to get down.
    ‘You were taken too,’ he said.
    She exhaled. You can do this . You’re an adult now . He can’t hurt you . Nobody is going to hurt you . Say it . Yes . I was . Say . It .
    ‘ I was, but not the way Kelly was. I can’t talk about this right now. I’m . . .’ Having a panic attack. ‘I can’t quite breathe.’
    ‘All right,’ he said quietly. ‘We’ll be at the hospital in ten minutes.’
    Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday, December 4, 3.00 P.M.
    The banging on his bedroom door woke him up. It was Mutt and he was frantic. ‘Dammit, wake up, Mitch. Wake up!’
    Mitch squinted at the clock. Five hours’ sleep. That’s all he really needed. He got out of bed and checked his gun. It was loaded and ready to go in case his brother got confrontational. Mitch opened the door to find Mutt deathly pale.
    ‘We’ve got trouble. Antonov is about to be raided by the Feds. He’s clearing everything out of his warehouse.’
    ‘Why would the Feds raid him?’
    ‘They found a stash of rifles yesterday. What do you know about this?’
    Mitch made his eyes go wide. ‘Me? What would I know about anything? I just drive where you tell me and drop off what you tell me. I’ve got signatures from the buyer on every delivery.’
    ‘I know. I know. It’s just that Dad is scared. Antonov isn’t a man to screw with.’
    Neither am I . ‘Antonov has other distributors, so don’t panic. We didn’t do anything wrong, so they can’t be angry with us. Go home, have a glass of that wine you like so much. It’ll be fine.’
    When Mitch heard Mutt leave the house, he grinned. It wouldn’t be long now before his stepfather got exactly what was coming to him. I’m glad the bastard is scared . So was I my first day in prison and every day after that for three years .
    He’d always wondered if his mother had been too, right before she pulled the trigger. Or if she’d just been so devastated that she’d shot herself that way... He wasn’t sure which was worse – hopelessness or fear.
    Either way, she’d have her justice. The people who’d driven her to kill herself would be punished.
    Good old stepdad was well on his way and Daphne would be soon enough.
    Mitch went online and checked the police scanner feed for the Wheeling, West Virginia area. No mention of a BOLO on anyone matching Beckett’s description. That means either Ford is still unconscious or they found the old bastard while I was asleep .
    Checking the websites for the Wheeling local newsrooms he found Ford’s rescue was the big story. But so far no one had the Beckett connection, so Ford must still be out of it, unable to tell his mother the four magic words.
    Did you miss me?
    The kid had to be waking up soon. I didn’t give him enough ketamine last night to keep him unconscious this long . I hope he’s okay . I need him to say those magic words . Otherwise, everything would fall apart. Come on, Ford . Wake your ass up .
    Either way, things would start to pop because Beckett was tracking the kid and was certain to have seen the same stories Mitch had just read. It would only be a matter of time before Beckett arrived at the hospital to silence Ford – and that’s when the real action would start. That’s what he needed to be there for.
    He’d see to his hostages’ comfort, then unload everything he needed from the van into the Jeep he’d bought back in Florida, in the days before he was delivering guns for Mutt. On his way to the garage he realized how quiet the house was now that Mutt was gone. Cole isn’t home yet . He should have been.
    Mitch scowled. He had a few things to say