Return to the King

Chapter 12

Antonio’s POV

“Alright guys, Fred is putting in the work to track down that bracelet. There’s a bunch of fire walls there because, well, I didn’t want no one tracking her but me, so I made Fred set up some high-tech thing that only he would be able to c***k open and get a code if someone were trying to hack into it.”

“Smart thinking but how did you forget that you put the tracker there?” Maurice asked while giving me the “you stupid face.”

“Uh, don’t judge me on this one. I truly forgot and I didn’t expect her to be wearing the bracelet, especially now that I know she knew there was a tracker on that bracelet.”

“True. Alright, what else do we have then?” Alex asked and he turned to his phone.

“I would say go to the club, but according to Fred, that would be a dead end in, in itself, because everyone turns a blind eye when it comes to that place.”

“No cameras and stuff, right?”

I pointed over to Maurice and Alex's phone started ringing. He picked it up and immediately placed it on the speaker and put it on the table. He motioned for us to come to him.

“Nia, what did you say?!”

“Hey, so that blood sample you guys sent, I ran it over and then gave it over to Fred and he got information on the name. Call Fred for more background, but the guy's name is Samuel Evans. What’s even more important is, you guys need to get over to the hospital in a neighboring town in Cathedral right now!”

“Why?”

“The guy is there! Samuel is there in the emergency room! Came in for a stabbing wound and he was getting treated. And remember you guys are the only ones with that crime scene information, so let’s go! Move it!”

Me and the guys ruffled and grabbed everything we needed. I called our car to immediately come around the front and we raced down the steps. I could hear us putting on our jackets and just rushing feet. I jumped over the last steps, Maurice vaulted over the railing and Alex followed behind Maurice as we all rushed into the car.

“Go to the Cathedral hospital now! Break lights! Speed! I don’t care!”

“Got it, boss.”

“Nia, how long has he been there?”

“I just found out about a little while ago from one of the girls who work in the emergency room. I told her to keep an eye out for me so I would have to ask her for that, but if I was correct then it had to be a couple of hours. Like 2 or three because with this kind of case the patient gets rushed in and we get to work asap.”

“Is there anyone else with him?” Alex asked quickly.

“I’m not entirely sure, but hold on, let me see if I can find the girl.”

Nia must have been running around because we listened, as the phone was just speaking air at the moment.

“Briya! I need to know about the patient that came in. The stabbing one, you got time? Great come with me because I don’t know who’s listening at the moment.”

We listened to the sounds of the girls moving again and then there was silence. We all looked up and waited with anticipation.

“Guys, you still there?” Nia said with a low tone.

“We are here, sis. What you got?”

“This is Briya and she’s the one who can give you more information that I can honestly.”

“Hey guys. Nice to meet you.”

“Like wise. What can you tell us?” Maurice asked while leaning towards the phone more.

“Okay, so the guy came in like two hours ago and he had a stabbing wound that looks like it’s a couple of days old. I’m surprised he survived this long because the area is a bit infected and he needs some serious treatment.”

“Did anyone bring him in?”

“No one brought him in, which is strange because then, like just a little while ago, two dudes came in looking for him. They looked dangerous and we all kind of knew in an instant. We told them they couldn’t see the guy yet because he had just undergone surgery so he is a bit out of it.”

“How long would it be till we talk to him?” Alex questioned.

“It really depends on him, but I give it a couple of hours. I’ll let you know the update on him though.”

“Alright. Thanks Briya. We really do owe you one.”

“Oh no, anything for Nia and her family. She’s been looking for me since I came. Good luck with everything.”

“Guys, how long can you get here?” Now asked as she came back to the phone.

“Not sure, but uh, the police will be chasing us at some point and, uh, I don’t want any more forces on us. We don’t know who to talk to fully and who not to trust.”

“What do you mean, Maurice?”

“It’s from what Alex said at some point. How does this keep happening and no one has caught someone or not even a suspect is in place? Like that makes no sense and the king seems not to be truly bothered by it.”

“Speaking of him. Fred said this king was an i***t. He’s been listening to him and this man has no clue of what’s going on with the fact that women are disappearing from his kingdom. However, there is a sergeant we need to get to because he is sketchy.”

“Sketchy how?” Alex asked.

“Fred thinks he is in on the missing cases that been happening and is just hiding it from the king and giving him bullshit excuses so the king won’t become fully suspicious about what’s going on.”

“So why not go to him?” Maurice questioned.

“Remember, if we do this the wrong way, all kingdoms could be at war. We need proof before anything.”

“Fred?”

“Already on it. Also, I want to get information on Detective Lori. It’s interesting Lori was pretty much not happy that we were at her crime scene and basically was asking the right questions.”

“Maybe check out those guards too.” Alex stated while looking up.

“Nah, they don’t seem like the type to be in on anything. Just lap dogs that follow orders. Too weak to be anything and hesitant about things.” Maurice said while making a face.

He did have a point, but still looking into these things would be worth the risk. We don’t know who we are dealing with at the moment and need to trend lightly.

We all sat back on our phones, the guys I’m guessing were checking in on their families and I was texting Fred trying to see if he hacked into the location and getting information on this detective. Turns out she has been on the force for some time but was never taken seriously as someone who could lead. She almost got fired because she took a case she was not supposed to have taken and caught the suspect. Was rewarded by the king but put on a short leash by the sergeant so she wouldn’t make any waves. Interesting about this one dude. I informed the guys about it and they even said that it was a bit suspicious on that one’s part. I was reading into the sergeant part but something caught my attention.

“Hey guys, so when this sergeant came in, missing women’s cases increased and the blind eye was turned there.”

“What you mean?”

“Alright. So, before this sergeant, his name is Foreman. Before he came, the crime rate of missing women’s reports was low. Even if something happened, someone was caught or a suspect was in place. However, now it has been getting higher. Every weekend there is something and no one is doing anything. We need to get to the detective and find out why this happening.”

“Maybe she would know since she had the run in with them.” Alex stated,

“Or could be putting up a front and be working with them to see what we know and report back like a dog.”

I looked over to Maurice and nodded in agreement. All aspects were being looked into.

It was long but the journey was worth it. We got stuck in traffic due to the time period of people traveling from and to a different town. We pulled up to the hospital and Nia was there to greet us. We each gave her a hug and she motioned for us to go inside and follow her. She led us to the fifth floor and gave us the run down of what was happening.

“Okay, so this Samuel fellow, just woke up. He is a bit groggy from the medication we gave him, but he is not incapable of speaking. However, those two guys came in looking for him again. I’m guessing someone gave them the information of where he was but they left after they were told. Watch yourselves.”

“Will he recover?” Maurice asked.

“We are not fully sure about that because of how deep that wound is and for how long it was not treated for, so we are monitoring him.”

“We’ll make this quick, sis. If you see anything let us know.”

“Will do. His room is 562. Good luck guys.”

The elevator doors opened and the guys and I walked out, while Nia stayed behind. We headed to the room she told us about and saw Samuels in the bed with his eyes open. He must have been watching television. We walked through the doors and Maurice immediately rushed over to the bed before Samuels had the chance to press the emergency button for a nurse to come.

Alex and I slowly walked over and noticed Samuels's hand was in Maurice’s grip. Samuels winced in pain and looked at all of us with a shocked look. I pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing my right leg over the left.

“Hello Samuels. My buddies and I have some questions for you.”

“I’m not talking to the likes of you or any of yooouuuu! OW! What the hell man?!” Samuels rolled over a bit trying to rip his hand from Maurice’s grip as Maurice started to cause extreme pain by squeezing it with force.

“Oh, are you not going to talk? You might want to or that hand you trying to pry away from my brother over there will be broken or decapitated from my other brother over here. His wife is a nurse, so I’m sure he knows how.”

“I actually do, bro!”

“Good for you!” I gave Alex a slap on the back, then turned my rage back on Samuels.

“So, what will it be?” I asked with a devilish grin.

“What you want?” Samuels asked, frustrated.

I pulled out Amelia’s picture and placed it on the bed and slid it towards him.

“Where is she?”

The guy looked at the picture and froze. I smirked and looked at the guys. Their anger was there but they noticed the look as well.

“I don’t know… HEEERR! Dude stop! Your going to break it!” Samuels screamed, trying to pry his hand away from Maurice again.

“Obviously you do or your facial expression wouldn’t have given it away. I’ll ask again but I’m not a tape recorder, so answer the question. Where is she?”

“I don’t know!”

“Maurice-“

“No- seriously! I don’t know!”

I looked over to Alex and he took a step forward, causing Samuels to jump.

“Look man.”

Samuels took a few glances at the door as if trying to check if the coast was clear. He turned back to us and sighed.

“We know she gave you that wound. Fighter, isn’t she?”

Samuels scrunched up his face and looked down at his wound, nodding his head.

“Hell yeah! I thought I was going to die! And then the people left me for dead and I had to drag myself here in a car!”

“So what happened?” Alex asked while raising one eyebrow.

“I can’t! They would kill me if you knew!”

“That’s the thing. We know. We know everything Samuels.” He looked over to Alex with a shocked expression and Alex just smirked.

“They’ll kill me though…”

“Not our problem right now. We will deal with that in a minute. Tell us where she is.”

He was hesitant but soon it looked like he was coming to his senses and he took a deep breath.

“Didn’t mean no harm. I promise! It’s just a job and, unfortunately, it’s not a great one.”

“Keep talking.” Maurice said as he started to apply pressure to the captured hand.

“Dude, dude! Alright, alright. Yeah, I remember her! Friday! It was Friday or Saturday! She and her friend came to the club and we were told by the security guard that she was of high value. We didn’t care for the friend, but specifically they wanted her. Only cause she said who she was to the security guard. I honestly don't know who she is, they didn’t tell me. We drugged her and her friend to not keep a witness and placed them in two separate vans. I don’t know what happened to the friend, but if my guess is correct, they met up at the site.”

“What site?”

“Where all the girls are taken too for processing and the next step. I don’t know after that, because I’m just the guy who takes the girls, I swear!”

“Where’s the high value then?”

“I’m guessing the second van caught her because when we went to check on her to see if she was still alive and breathing, she beat the hell out of my partner and I got stabbed! She took off running and escaped from us.”

We all looked at each other and then went back to Samuels.

“The site is in an enclosed location. They change it often to not cause suspicion. I can tell you the last location though, because I highly doubt they’re finished there!”

“Where is it then?!”

We turned around, listening to the knob on the door jiggling, as the door opened. Three men walked in, the leader wearing a black leather jacket, a black-neck shirt and blue jeans, while the other two wore a white shirt and blue jeans. The leader was looking at us with a smirk on his face and the other two were just confused.

“Dude! You didn’t tell us that extra company was coming. But uh, this company looks mean with the whole men in black thing.”

I turned to Samuels, who now had sweat dripping down his face. I’m guessing these are the guys he was fearing or the ones who were coming to finish the job, as my sister kept warning us about.

“Hey, hey Jack uh-“

“Did you just say my name in front of these assholes? What’s wrong with you? And you get away from him. Can’t you see the man is already in critical condition?”

“You are?” I asked as I stood from my chair. Alex and Maurice became on guard and slowly turned their attention away from Samuels.

“Just a concerned friend of the guy busted up in the bed.”

“Some friend since you left him to die. Apparently, he had to come here alone?”

“You were talking about me and the gang, huh, hunters? I wonder what else you said to these guys?” He said as he started walking closer to the bed along with his goons.

“Man, n-no! They just came to ask what happened to me and y-ya know I told them I came to the hospital due to a trip and fall in the kitchen and had to come by myself since you guys weren’t there when it happened.”

“Nah... I don’t think you did. I think you were flapping your gums-to these dusty men in black wannabe-looking cops.”

The two goons chuckled at the guys' comments while Maurice and Alex came to my side.

“And if we’re cops?” Maurice started.

“What are you and your two wannabe thugs going to do about it? You’re weaker than this stupid dude who got beat up by a female.”

“Hey! I-"

“Shut up!” Everyone screamed all at once.

“So, if you did have some kitchen accident, how would they know it was a female? Where would they get that?”

“Uh-“

“Alright, cut the bull. I’m over this who said what thing. Samuels this one of your associates?”

Samuels didn’t say anything but we all got the jiff of the situation.

“Alright then you three gonna answer some questions as well so that we can be on our way and get something to eat because I’m starving.”

Me and Alex took a step back from Maurice because we saw where this was coming.

“Pss, grab a chair. This is gonna be interesting.”

Alex chuckled and grabbed the other chair in the room and we both sat down watching Maurice speak with the leader and goons. I wish I had popcorn because the first punch was thrown and me and Alex were watching with excitement. Maurice blocked his punch and punched the guy in the face, making his lip bleed.

Maurice took a couple of punches to the stomach and even got knocked down. We didn’t even notice Samuels pushing the emergency button til Alex turned and looked at him. The other two tried to jump in the fight so that’s when me and Alex jumped up. I dodged the first swing and ducked under his arm, landing a blow to the stomach and upper cut him in the chin.

Alex kicked his opponent in the shin and watched as he kneeled to the ground and grabbed his hand and twisted three ways, which I thought was impossible to do. Him being married to my sis, she must be teaching him things in the medical field about the body and stuff.

We had finished with our fights and Nia came running into the room with a bat in her hand.

“Guys! If you finished beating them up, why did you hit the emergency button?!”

“We didn’t hit the button,” I stated.

“He did.” Maurice said, pointing at Samuels over his shoulder.

“But look at my beautiful wife coming and bringing in the weapon. A bat, nicely done.” Alex said, going over to Nia.

“Horrible, you three.” Nia put down her bat and sighed at all the men in the room.

I went into the hall and dialed the detective's number.

“Why are you calling me?” I hung up the phone after getting annoyed by her rudeness and went back into the room. Alex must have been interrogating Samuels because the bat was in his hand and he was twirling it with ease.

“Got anything?”

“Yeah, they know who she is, where she was taken and that one over there, according to the goons, was feeling up on her.”

“Oh really?” I said with anger and a growl. He looked up at me with a scared look and, without questioning, Alex handed me the bat, turned Nia away from me and nodded his head. I swung the bat with full force and knocked over the leader. I kept swinging the bat down on him and kept landing my hits until I was satisfied with how much blood was starting to compliment the floor.

“I’m done.”

My phone rung off and I saw three missed calls. How didn’t I hear my phone going off in the midst of me doing the beating I was doing? The world may never know. I picked it up with an annoyed look on my face.

“What?!”

“Excuse me? You called my phone and then you rudely hung up on me.”

“Because your rude. I have information for you and you answered your phone like that. Why would anyone wanna talk to you after that?” I listened to the sigh off the other end of the phone and the bit of silence that same with it.

“Okay, I apologize for being rude. Just this case of the missing girls is becoming increasingly difficult.”

“Well, we can help. Go to the hospital in the town Cathedral and find the care package we left for you. Maybe if you stop acting stubborn, and rude people would help.”

“What-“ I hung up the phone and looked at the guys and they chuckled.

“You hear this?”

“She needs help.”

“Nah, she needs vitamin D.”

We all laughed at Maurice’s comment and thanked Nia.

“Let’s get you something to eat before you get hangry at us too.”