The Highest Bidder

❊ Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ Fᴏʀᴛʏ﹣Oɴᴇ ❊

• Eᥒzo's POV •

A few days later, I was seated by my phone with two of my employees on either side of me. It was a Friday, which was when Vince was supposed to call. I had a psychiatrist on call as well as a doctor. She wouldn't go to a hospital. She wouldn't need to. I had everything that the doctor needed stocked up within my home.

But as the hours passed, the more impatient I became. I spent all of my time in my office, declining food and trying not to think about what Eva was going through. I received another flash drive a few days after Vince called, but I didn't dare look at it. I didn't want to see how she looked again. Each time I saw her in those godforsaken videos, she got skinnier and skinnier and her punishments were worse than I could have ever imagined.

Ron had watched each video as they came in, including the one I hadn't seen. And by the look on his face after he was done, I was glad that I didn't.

Dinner time rolled around with no call. Each second that passed seemed like an eternity and I couldn't help but begin to list all the ways that I could kill Maverick. But that wasn't allowed. My employer made it clear that they didn't want Maverick's death on my hands because then it would have been strictly out of rage. They said they would try to do all they could about the human auctions, but Maverick was to be left untouched unless necessary.

Ron fidgeted in his seat across from me. Thomas and him had been in my office since the beginning of the day, only taking breaks to go to the bathroom and eat.

Eleven o'clock in the evening came and I closed my eyes. I sent Vince the records of Eva's child where it said plainly that his DNA matched. If I had been thinking rationally, I would have bartered on it. I would have told him that I would give him the information when I had Eva.

At eleven-thirty, the phone finally rang.

"What the hell, Vince," I hissed, putting the call on speakerphone.

He sighed. "It isn't going as planned, Enzo. I would have called you sooner but I've been tending to her all day."

"Tending," I asked.

"She's been having really bad seizures because Maverick hasn't been feeding her." He spoke as if he were speaking to a temperamental child. "She's severely malnourished."

Ron and Thomas both looked at each other and I knew their blood ran just as cold as mine did. In the last video I saw of her, she was able to stand on her own two feet. I doubted that was the case anymore.

"I've been doing all I can, but it seems she can't remember anything." He seemed almost as stressed as I was. "She's rarely awake. And when she is, she's having a seizure or crying for you. I've been sneaking in vitamins since we got off the phone last time to try and keep her stable."

I covered my face with my hands. "So why are you not giving me the address?"

"Because Maverick didn't go to the party and he's currently here being an ass."

I wanted to offer him money to kill him for me, but I didn't dare. If anyone was going to kill him, it would be me. I didn't care about my job. I didn't care if I lost it for something like this. Eva needed to be brought home and taken care of properly. She needed to be at my house with me so that I could watch over her like I was too stupid to do before.

"Give me the address, Vince." I motioned for Thomas to go call the doctor and the psychiatrist. Eva would be coming home. There were no ifs about it.

"If you're sure you want to go against Maverick and his guards, track my phone," he said. "It should work now. But I don't recommend it. I'll unlock the door, but that's about as much as I can do without looking like I betrayed him."

Ron stood and moved to track the call. Unlike the last time we tried to track it, it showed exactly where he was. The little red dot on the map showed that they were only about an hour's drive away.

I'd make it in thirty minutes.

He wrote down the address and ran out of the room, not needing to be told to gather up the strongest guards that I had, as well as some of the employees that I hired for this job specifically. The government didn't want casualties if it could be helped, but I knew casualties would happen.

But I would save Maverick for last.

"We'll be there," I said just as I hung up the phone.

Vince was in the middle of saying something as the phone slammed down on the receiver. To be honest, I didn't care what else he had to say. He didn't even need to unlock the door. We'd get in nonetheless.

Within fifteen minutes, twenty-five people were standing at the front doors to my home. They were all armed to the teeth with weapons, ready for any fight as they were trained. There were a few guards, but most of them were my employees from the government. I had two snipers standing side by side, each holding their sniper rifles in their right hands as they let their left rest on their pistols.

Thomas handed me a rifle and I took it. I had a submachine gun slung over my shoulder and a pistol in the waistband of my pants. Ammo for each gun filled the pockets in my pants and in the pocket on my shirt sleeve. A long knife was sheathed at my hip, ready to be used. Aching to be used.

My eyes met with Sophia's from across the room. She didn't look surprised or even horrified to see so many guns in one place. But of course she didn't. She knew where we were going and it didn't matter how we got Eva, as long as we got her.

She walked over to me and stopped only a few inches away from me. Her big blue eyes searched mine for only a second before she smiled slightly. "Bring her back safely."

"She's not in good shape," I stated numbly. I became a completely different person when I was on the job and I was in the middle of the transition between the two personalities. "But I'll bring her back alive."

She nodded slightly. "I knew you'd end up going to get her sooner or later. But I'm still pissed beyond relief at you for allowing it to happen."

"As you should be."

Almost there. Almost completely numb.

And just like that, I felt my face harden and my body move on its own. I turned away from her to face the group. I didn't have to say anything. They knew the look. They all turned and filed out of the front hall, barely making a sound.

I turned to look at Sophia one last time before leaving her there with Thomas at her side. I would have liked him to go with us, but someone had to stay behind when we got back. Someone needed to get the place ready and Sophia couldn't do that alone.

I slid into the driver's seat in my black Hummer. Six other people were squeezed into the vehicle. Thankfully, the two snipers were there so that they could get situated before the rest assembled.

When everyone was in their vehicles, I called it in to my boss so that we wouldn't get pulled over. When I got the good-to-go, I peeled down the long pathway and through the already-open gates.

I'll be there soon, Eva.