Read Bound: The Pentagon Group, Book 3 for Free Online Page A

off the grid for a while.”
    “Yeah, off the grid with my wife,” I countered. I couldn’t get the feeling out of my gut Brady had something to do with her kidnapping. I knew Brady well enough to know he wouldn’t let Perla go just because she was married to me.
    “We’re still searching.”
    “What about the other phone? You guys realized her personal phone was left behind. She should still have her work phone. We all have GPS on our phones. Why haven’t you locked onto her signal?”
    “The GPS may have been jammed. The last pinpoint was at the construction site. If memory serves, Perla claimed her phone didn’t work when she was in the runaway taxi cab. If the same kidnapper took her, they may have operated in the same manner. They may have detected and disabled her cell,” he reasoned. I grunted in frustration.
    “What about the new team you assembled?”
    “They’ve been briefed. I kept Ken on because he feels responsible for her, having been off shift when she was taken. He wants to make sure he has a hand at finding her,” Marty concluded.
    “Keep me posted. But if anything happens to her, I hold you, the entire team, and Brady responsible,” I concluded and hung up.
     
    *****
     
    A knock on my door stopped me from wrecking my apartment. I looked through the peep hole, for a split second hoping it was her coming back to me—all of it a nightmare from which I’d awaken. It was Kevin Zipperer. I wasn’t in the mood for company, but Zipper always took the lead in our friendship. He was the one to approach me at boarding school and befriend me when I’d rather have been left alone to my studies. Zipper wouldn’t take no for an answer, almost commanding me to go to a game or the rec center for a pick-up game of basketball, so it wasn’t uncommon for him to come to my apartment to check on me. He was truly the best friend any emotionally detached man could have.
    Barely opening the front door, I peered out, “Yeah?”
    Zipper pushed the door open and slinked inside.
    “Stop acting like a baby. We’re going to get her back.”
    “Really? Did you suddenly get an epiphany of who took her and where she could be?”
    “Because this isn’t the time, I’m going to ignore your little outburst. We’re all doing what we can. All of us are doing our part to figure out where she is.”
    “Everyone? Even Brady?”
    “Matt, Brady is street smart and business savvy, but this isn’t him.”
    I wanted to believe it. I didn’t want to think this would be the way our friendship and business ended. He couldn’t be so desperate to be with my wife that he would kidnap her.
    “What if he did? Is it so implausible he would take her away and hide her from me, God knows where, just to keep her?”
    “Yes, it’s far-fetched,” His eyes widened in disbelief, rejecting my opinion. “We have a billion dollar corporation to run. He’s the President. We have active businesses throughout the country, businesses to be purchased, projects in construction . . . we employ thousands of employees around the country and hoping to do the same in other Nations. Why would he risk it all for her?”
    “Because she’s worth it,” I frowned, my heart beat strongly with conviction of my belief. Brady and I knew Perla’s worth the loss. “And as you know, we’ve been on a ‘one-up’ match over the years. I marry a blonde socialite, he finds a blonde model. Now, I marry the woman he claims to love, and I find out he’s been in love with her since they were both children. Less than forty-eight hours later she ends up missing and conveniently, so does he.” My voice lowered gruffly.
    “Brady should have been honest with you, with us, letting us know what he wanted from her and why. And I’m sure he’s off somewhere licking his wounds because he knows he can’t have her. We’ll find her,” Zipper said. “Let’s get some dinner while we wait for news.” He offered.
    “No,” I rejected, disinterested in spending