Chapter 96
Multiple POVs
Dominic's POV
Neither Kota nor I could relax on the flight to Cuba. Victor had lost contact with Nate's cell phone tracker, so we were walking in blind. I had to assume that both of my men were at best captured and injured, at worst - dead.
The entire compound seemed to have gone dark. We were on silent coms to avoid detection and moved around the perimeter checking for Morales's men as we went, but no one was there. It was as if the entire place had been abandoned. I started getting a sinking feeling in my gut.
"Where the fuck is everyone," Kota hissed as we made our way inside the mansion.
As if on cue, the voice of Anton Morales came over an unknown speaker. "Mr. Giovanni and Mr. Lee, welcome to my former home. Sorry, we were unable to stay and greet you personally, but we had an urgent appointment to make. Your Mr. Griffin was polite enough to accompany us as well. I'm sure Dr. Murdoch will attend to his minor wound during his treatments."
"Come out and face us, you traitor!" I roared.
Morales laughed, "Oh my dear boy, we aren't even there. As we speak I'm on a plane heading to meet the good doctor. Oh, and you might want to check on Mr. Toma. I have it on good authority that he's been shot." There was a shuffling sound, then he spoke again. "I'm sure we will meet again soon. Diego will be happy to show off his new pet."
My men came in and signaled that the compound was indeed empty. "Kota, he's not here," I said. Kota fell to his knees, his shoulders sagging. "Come on, man. We need to find out if what Morales said is true. I'm calling Victor and Corey." He didn't speak or move. I nodded to one of my men to keep an eye on him while I called Corey.
"Dominic?" Corey's voice sounded strained when he answered.
"Yeah, what's going on? Morales is gone - he took Nate, man. He said Murdoch was meeting him and Axel was shot. Please, tell me it's not true," I begged.
The line was quiet, then I heard Luke's voice. "It's true. We're waiting for word from Victor about Axel, but Murdoch did get away. He talked to Marissa - said something and now she won't speak to any of us. She's practically catatonic - won't eat or drink."
"Shit," I swore. "Do we have any way to track Morales or Nate?"
"I'm not sure," Corey said. "I need to talk to Victor and see what we can do. For now, come home. We need both of you here."
"I'll do my best. Kota is struggling too," I replied and ended the call. Turning to Kota, I saw his eyes already on me.
"I can't lose him, Dom," he said quietly. "I promised her I'd bring him home."
"We will. We just need to regroup and plan our next steps," I told him, holding out my hand to pull him up. "My men have checked every inch of the house and grounds. They're not here, Kota. Let's get back to Italy and see what the others have come up with."
Victor's POV
I rushed to the hospital with Arthur. His men had shown up with Axel only a few moments before we arrived. "Where is he?" I demanded.
"Mr. Morgan, he's in recovery now. We were able to remove the bullet with minimal blood loss. The first shot hit his vest, it was the second one that struck his shoulder that was tricky. He's going to need lots of physical therapy to regain full use of his arm," the attending physician explained. He's alive, I kept telling myself - that's what matters.
I grabbed the woman's hand and shook it gratefully, "Thank you, doctor." She smiled and walked away.
"Good news, I hope?" Arthur asked as he finally caught up to me.
I nodded, still staring down the hall. "He's going to make it. He'll need time to heal and therapy for the shoulder, but he's not in any danger thankfully. Have we heard anything more from Corey or the others?" When I turned and met his gaze, I was afraid to hear his answer.
Arthur sighed, "Morales ran and they took Nate with them. Seems they plan to rendezvous with Murdoch and use the procedure on your husband next." I felt my blood starting to boil as he spoke. He put a hand on my shoulder, "Murdoch said something to Marissa and it shook her badly, or maybe it was seeing Axel get shot - fuck it could be the whole damn situation, but whatever caused it, she isn't doing well. We need to get you and Axel back to her as soon as possible. She needs you both."
I could sense the urgency in his voice. Of course, he was right. We all needed to be together, that's when we were at our best. We needed to reassure ourselves that everyone was okay and find a way to reach Marissa in whatever rabbit hole she had fallen into and also how to save Nate. I sure as hell wasn't giving up on my hard-headed husband any time soon.
I quickly headed down the hall to find the doctor again and see how soon we could arrange to leave. I'd pay whatever we needed to get medical transport back to Italy. We just needed to get back to each other.
Sean's POV
Owen and I had arrived less than twenty-four hours ago and I was already fighting off a slip. I was so overwhelmed by Nate's abduction, Axel getting shot, and Marissa slipping into some type of dissociative state. I'd had to insert an IV drip just to keep her and the baby hydrated. She didn't speak, didn't eat, and barely moved. One by one we tried to reach her, but she didn't respond. Corey said when Murdoch spoke she had changed instantly.
"Dominic and Kota arrived and are on their way here," Owen said, coming up behind me. "Maybe they'll snap her out of it." I gave a slight hum, but didn't respond further, still keeping my eyes on her as she stared out the window. It was as if she was waiting for Murdoch to appear. Letting out a sigh, I headed down the hall to check the room for Axel's arrival. We found Brandon straightening the sheets.
"How are you holding up?" I asked him.
He gave a slight grimace, "As best I can. I know Victor said he's going to be fine, but I'm still worried. Between Nate missing and Marissa, well, I just feel helpless."
I snorted, "Yeah, tell me about it. I'm a damn doctor and I can't even help her."
He gave me a remorseful look, "Hey, Sean, I wasn't trying to say anything."
I waved him off, "I know. I'm just frustrated too. Sorry for snapping." Brandon gave my shoulder a squeeze then headed back to the main house to wait for Victor and Axel's arrival.
"Hey Sean, can you come in here?" I heard Gabe shout down the hall. I headed toward Marissa's room and found both he and Owen watching her as she sat on the bed, wrapping and unwrapping a piece of ribbon around her hand. "She keeps mumbling about being thirsty, but when I offer her a drink she stares right through me," he explained.
I frowned, then snapped my fingers, "Wait, wasn't that something like he said on the video?" We'd made a point not to mention Murdoch's name after that first day. Corey said she had screamed and screamed when they said it until she literally passed out. "I'll be right back, I need to find Corey and watch that again. I think you just stumbled onto something, you beautiful man!" I grinned and kissed him quickly, then rushed down the hall to find Corey.
He was sitting in his usual spot - right in front of the monitors, keeping an eye on all of us around the globe. I swear he was more of a control freak than Owen ever dreamed of being. "Hey Corey, can I ask you to bring up the footage of Murdoch again? Marissa keeps mumbling about being thirsty and I think there might be a connection we're missing." His eyes lit up as he quickly brought up the recording. We both put on headphones and played the message repeatedly.
"I'll be damned," he said, gritting his teeth, "How the fuck did I miss that?"
Placing the headphones on the desk, I tried to console him, "You can't blame yourself. I mean in light of what all was happening at that moment, there was no way to know that it was some kind of trigger." He let out a sigh and shrugged in defeat. "Now we just have to figure out what exactly it does," I said.
"Should we ask Silas?" he asked.
I shook my head, "No. We don't know if Murdoch gave him one as well. For all we know, we could send him into a state similar to hers, and that wouldn't do anyone any good." Just as I started to say something else, Kota and Dominic walked in. "Hey," I said softly, wrapping Kota in a hug. "We'll get him back." He only nodded and returned the hug.
"I need to see Kitten," he whispered.
"Sure thing, but just be prepared, Kota. It isn't good," I warned him. "We just learned some new information. Seems Murdoch triggered her with a phrase just before the camera cut. He said, 'I know you're feeling thirsty aren't you'. We think it's what spiraled her - like a switch in behavior or memories. She keeps mumbling it under her breath."
"What does it mean?" Dominic asked.
Corey and I gave them a confused look, "We have no idea."
"Well, let's find out," Dominic suggested. Part of me didn't want to risk it, but the other part knew we didn't really have a choice. We had to do something to find Nate, and our best chance may be by bringing Marissa out of this fugue.
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