The Santas Who Stole Me (Stolen #1)

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

KEEPER

“This fucker is good.” I read through miles of paperwork from Lee while Zeke tries to come up with a plan. Problem is he moves around a lot, either on classified jobs or from paranoia. He transfers his money around making it almost impossible to trace. We have been at this for a few days, but with Georgie as a distraction, we’ve all been slacking off on the Chad problem.

“I found a record from the local PD.” Zee’s voice rings out in the otherwise silent room, more grim than normal.

I keep my head down, combing through documents until his next words register.

“It’s a report from Georgia. The officer notes she has depression, and they dismissed any concern about Chad. She told us, but reading this? Fuck all these people, this asshole states she explained the bruises were self-harm and retracted her statement.”

Georgia asked for help, but no one did anything, and she was forced to run.

“Name of the officer?” I ask.

“Lenny Schmitt. He lives alone, been on the force too long, seems he got lazy with it. Lee added a short background. There are pictures.”

Zee slides them over, but I can’t stomach it and shut the file. Seeing my girl hurt is something I can’t fucking stand. “He dies too.”

“He dies too,” Zee agrees.

“You go through the file on Georgie yet?”

His cold stare meets mine, and he shakes his head. “I want to know her without invading her privacy from a file. You know how I can be when I know too much.”

Zee thinks he’s a psychopath. Despite everything we have told him over the years the words from his parents never left him. He isn’t. He cares about me and Calum, and he’s as loyal as they come. We consider him family. He is my brother, the same as Calum, even if we don’t share any DNA. We all have a common lust for blood and violence; if that doesn’t make us family nothing else would. Calum wants to kill to be the best at it, and I love the thrill of getting away with it. I’ve never known Zee’s true motives, only that he has the same thirst for it as the rest of us. What more could brothers need than a true bond like ours?

“It’s bad, Zee. She doesn’t have anyone. He must have picked her out, a poor orphan girl to save. At least that’s the story he presented when he explained her reports of his abuse. He shoved everything under the rug, gaslighting her. Making her seem unstable,” I tell him, my voice laced with anger.

“This isn’t how we do jobs. We need information on him from the client. We always vet them.” Zee doesn’t elaborate, but I get what he is saying, we need more background from Georgie.

“We are going to need her insight. Fuck, Zee, you saw her face in that shower, I don’t want to repeat that, even if we feed her bullshit that we need her help, and that’s why she should stay.”

“She’s strong enough to have made it this far on her own. Now, she isn’t.” He counters my argument, always so logical.

“What are you doing with her tomorrow?”

“Fuck off, Keep, you already had your time. We said we were rotating.”

We decided to rotate days with her, but we haven’t been as strict on time lately. I scowl when he glances at his watch. I’m sure to count down his hours until he gets to her. Damn, I wish I was back in bed with Georgie under me. That morning with her has played on a loop in my head. I can’t wait to get her tiny hands scratching down my back. She’s been sleeping in my bed, but that’s all, just sleeping. When she wakes up at night screaming, I’ve been the one to calm and comfort her. I haven’t wanted to push her, and even though she is in my arms at night, I can’t help but see she’s getting closer to Calum and Zeke.

“We’re going to talk with her soon about Chad. She is going to need to give us more than Lee did. He hasn’t been seen anywhere since the rooftop. Not on any cams, no jobs according to the bureau records, the office, nowhere. Where the fuck did he go?” Zee questions and continues, “That’s why she’s going to have to give us some more information. Guess she was right, and we do actually need her help to find this prick.”

I grumble in agreement. Zee is right, as always. We don’t go off half-cocked with murder unless we know every last detail about the target down to the number of shits they take a day.

Eventually, Zeke left for his time with Georgie, and I shoved my jealousy down, hoping he didn’t recognize it. I spend the next few hours going over every case we have that Chad has worked on. The best way to get away with murder is pinning it on someone else, after all. The cases gave me a few leads on who we could set up to take the fall. I’m dreading talking with her about everything in her past. An unfamiliar ring goes off, and I turn my head to the guitar case. Pulling the zipper open I rummage through things that fall out to find a flip phone and see Marge flash across the screen.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Who the fuck is this? Where is Georgie?” the person on the other line yells. Before I can get a word in response she keeps going. “I will find you. If you hurt her, you’re dead. I don’t give a shit about who you work for, fucker. Give her the phone, you have no idea who you are dealing with. I will cut out your eyes and shove your balls in the sockets.”

Ugh, I shudder at the thought and her voice, which drips with that bloody promise. Georgie did mention she was working somewhere, and I’m sure she made friends. This must be one. I don’t know if her line is secure, and I can’t risk anyone catching onto us so I hang up. Before I turn the phone off, I scroll to the messages Marge has left. Seventeen. Mostly consisting of where are you and do you need help. Then I see another number. It’s not saved under a contact name, and I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t stop. I open the message feed and see a number I recognized in the files.

Unknown: It won’t happen again

Unknown: I’ll be better for you.

Unknown: I miss you, please come back to me. I love you.

Georgie: Ok

There’s an outgoing call right after, then nothing. Checking the date before I turn off the phone, I throw it across the room. It bounces off the wall but doesn’t break as it hits the ground. It was from last week, before the Santa Half-Marathon.