TAKING OVER TROFIM (Dominion of Brothers series Book 4) (34 page)

One by one the Laszkovi family arrived at the hospital. Tears and hugs were not enough to show the grief and pain they all felt as Pyotr tried to hold them together and bring them up to date on Trofim’s condition, and hopes worsened as Sasha spilled the details of the horror story he’d found their brother in to them. One thing was certain, they were all asking the same question, where was Shay?

Pyotr sat on the edge of his seat, he bent over, elbows resting on his knees, and he stared at the double doors that led to the back rooms of the ER. His thoughts absent, but his stare was transfixed, waiting for them to open, and bring him news. He was aware of his brothers, Sasha was in the arms of the twins, Jovan stood behind the three patting their heads in tandem as he watched other people in the room, waiting as they did.

Darko was pacing along the far wall, and not even his partner, who stood leaning against the wall watching over Darko’s anger, could calm him, just hopefully Maxum could keep Darko under control if he decided to get physical with his expressions.

Pyotr was aware of them all, but refused to take his focus off the door.

Stanislav had gone in search of a snack room to get coffee for everyone. And Pyotr’s own young partner, Cliff, sat delinquently behind him. The rest of the brothers had been called and were working out plans to get here soon. Pavle, however, was on the other side of those doors.

Come on, Trofim— talk to me,
Pyotr thought. Not to himself, but to whatever force that existed that made him aware of all his brothers and his two baby sisters. That same force that connected him to Trofim, so the words he projected were for him.
Just give me something to start with. One word, one face— what do you need?

Just then the door pushed open and Pavle stepped out. His face stricken with grief. The expression so potent, Pyotr dropped his eyes to the floor, dredging up years of walls from every known hardship and fear they’d endured and he used them to stack up against the news he dreaded Pavle was about to deliver.

“Pyotr.” Pavle sucked in a deep breath, having lost his medical professionalism for a fleeting moment.

Pyotr did the same and he pushed up to his feet, readying himself to catch Pavle. His own pain would have to be endured later. “Did he say anything?” Pyotr did all he could to choke back the sobs.

“Trenton.
”
Pavle whispered back.

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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Bright light broke through the darkness jarring Shay awake. He shielded his eyes with his hand, then dropped it when the shadow of his father stepped into the light from upstairs. And then the two men who did his father’s dirty work stepped up behind Ben Wilks.

Shay inhaled a hard breath, gritted his teeth, and pushed up to his feet still using the wall behind him to keep him steady. He stuck his jaw out to show his continuing defiance to his father, “Nothing you do to me is going to change who I am.”

“We will soon see about that.” His father growled down at him and then started his way down.

Shay jumped back, catching himself on the desk, then swooped down to grab the stool. He swung with it the second his fingers wrapped closed around a leg and caught his father directly in the shoulder, sending the old man off his balance.

“You mother fucking, faggot!” Ben spat out at Shay, and waved his goons in. The two large men instantly had Shay by both arms while his father delivered a right hook, which nearly took Shay’s head off his shoulders. He tried to kick out, but soon took a punch in the gut taking the wind out of him. Shay struggled, but he was no match for three men, although he managed to score some points when his heel caught his father in the balls.

Ben bent over, letting out a howl and cupped his now bruised genitals. Ben nodded his goons towards the barn door against the wall. Then cold cocked Shay across the jaw. This time nearly knocking him unconscious.

Shay’s feet dragged across the floor as the two men took him to the door, lifted him then locked his wrists into the shackles. There was zero pause when instantly Shay felt the strike of a belt across his back.

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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

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As soon as Trenton got the call from Pyotr, he was gearing up to head out. Pyotr had told him all that had happened, the details taking the wind from Trenton. Trofim had come to him for help, but they had not seen this coming. He had advised both men of precautions but sometimes people follow their routines without ever being aware how they’ve exposed themselves to danger. He couldn’t do anything for Trofim now. What mattered was finding Shay and hopefully alive.

He called next door to catch Diesel and Marcus before they headed out for the day. “Change of plans.”

“
What is it?”
Diesel’s asked.

“We have a missing persons and I need you to work with me today.”

“
You got it. I’ll call Bill to let him know the shop is his for today.”

“Also, let Marcus know I need him to keep Katianna with him.”

“
Hey, I thought you said you were going to start letting her stay home occasionally.”

“I said I was going to try but with the news I just got, it won’t be today that I try.”

“
That bad?”

“I’ll tell you when we get on the road.”

“
Very well, see you in a bit.”

An hour later they were armed and ready. Trenton and Diesel loaded into the Conquest Knight and headed over to Harper’s place to meet up with him, calling him up on the speaker phone while Trenton to bring him and Diesel up to speed with what had happened last night and the missing where-a-bouts of Shay Wilks.

“I still think we need to have two vehicles with us.” Diesel reiterated after Harper hopped into the back of the armored SUV.

“I agree.” Harper chimed in, as he switched from talking with them from his phone to in person as he climbed in back. “We don’t know what we’re up against but a rescue usually leads to a chase and we need to be able to split up. Especially if we need to keep a low profile with the law. I can stay and take care of the police and any legal presence, while you two slip off out the back door.”

Trenton took a look at the both of them, Harper was talking code, and luckily Diesel wasn’t catching them in the act.

“Alright, we’ll run by the office and Diesel you can get your truck out.”

Diesel agreed and they headed into town. “Does this have anything to do with the car you asked me to get impounded? What are you involved in?”

Trenton pulled out on the interstate heading for the city and told them all that he knew from Pyotr’s call.

“Is Pyotr wanting us to circumvent the police investigation on this attack?” Diesel asked.

“No.”

“Then how is it he called you?”

“Apparently the only thing Trofim said was my name and Pyotr called, taking it as a lead.”

Diesel locked his gaze on Trenton, “What haven’t you shared with me?”

Trenton’s gaze went to the rearview mirror meeting with Harper then he glanced at Diesel before returning to the traffic ahead of him, “Trofim came in a few weeks ago asking for help. Shay Wilks’ father is in the middle of a conspiracy of some kind and he’s using his son as a pawn. A game that Trofim threatened and apparently, it’s worth killing for.”

“So we don’t know if Shay is even alive?” Diesel armed himself for more bad news.

“I think we have a good chance Shay is still alive. His father has gone through great lengths to keep his son under his command. For what purpose, I haven’t been able to find out yet. But whatever it is, he needs Shay to stay alive for it right now.”

Harper continued for him, going over his findings about the judge and the trumped up charges against Shay to blackmail him to stay complacent; omitting the part about Trenton being on a hit list with the very same people.

Trenton watched Harper through the rearview mirror, noting the worry lines of his forehead.
If Diesel even looked around once to glance at him, Diesel would see Harper was holding something back. And that was a complication they didn’t need right now.

“Deez, pull up the computers and get the GPS up.” Trenton pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it over to him, giving Diesel a task to avoid the connection, then shot a warning glance back at Harper.

“Most likely it’s Ben Wilks behind this attack, but until we have some evidence, we’ve got nothing to go on other than what Trofim and Shay have told us, and what we found down at the judge’s chambers dealing with the charges against Shay to keep him hostage.”

“So where do you want to start?

“Pyotr says they can’t find Shay. He’s been missing since yesterday morning when he left the hospital at 5am. He was heading up to Albany to meet his father and sever his relationship with him. He made two calls yesterday evening. One shortly after 5:00pm to say he was on his way back. And again about an hour and a half later to say he was held up and would be going straight to the hospital. He never made it in for his shift.”

“And don’t tell me, all attempts to call him back go straight to voice mail?”

“Precisely.”

“So we’re heading for Albany?”

“Maybe, but not just yet. Let’s drive by Trofim’s apartment, then the boathouse. See if it’s being watched. Then let’s go over to Pomonok.

“What’s over there?”

“Cheap apartments for broke future doctors.”

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Shay’s body burned from the lashes his father belted out on him. He could feel the running fluids from a few of them now sticking to his shirt, but he wasn’t sure if he was actually bleeding or it was just cold sweats from the feverish pain. The whipping had drained every ounce of strength from him so that he couldn’t even get his feet under him, and fell to the floor when he was released from the bonds.

The cold floor gave no relief, only reminding him of the bruises that existed under the sting of the lashings. The two brutes grabbed him under this arms and hauled him off the floor giving no care to the added pain the contact created.

His father’s goons lugged him up the stairs and out the door. Sunlight burned down on him and Shay wondered how long he’d actually been down there. A day or maybe two.
Trofim
, he wept inside,
I’m so sorry
.

He struggled to lift his head despite the pain it caused. He was hoping they were just going to throw him in his car, but his car was not where he left it. Then again his left eye was nearly swollen shut and his right wasn’t doing too good either. The alarm of his car missing woke him up and he snapped his head up looking every way he could manage. But his eyes hadn’t lied. His car was gone. “Where the fuck’s my car? What the fuck did you jackasses do with my car?”

The two men ignored him. They reached the white Escalade that was parked at the curb and one of the goons let go of Shay and opened the door while the other shoved him in hard enough that Shay’s head hit the door on the other side. Shay jumped upright only to have his father leaning in, pointing his meaty finger in Shay’s face. “And remember, you’ll be calling Sarah to tell her the wedding is back on when you get back to your apartment. And I expect you to start fucking that pussy or next time you won’t live through it.” Ben stepped back, the door closed and his goons drove Shay away.

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Trenton and Diesel arrived at the small complex where Shay’s apartment was.

They didn’t get far before seeing the first warning sign that anything was wrong. Their last two stops had given up nothing. Harper had convinced Trenton to drop him off at the precinct so he could go in and talk with the detectives on the case. While Diesel followed Trenton out to the off-campus dorms near Queens University.

Parked right out front was the Deville Shay had recently bought, vandalized to the point of being totaled. And to top it off, white spray paint ran down the side spelling out the word:
FAGGOT
.

Trenton rolled down his window and used his phone to take a few pictures of the damaged car. The windshield had been punched out so that the only thing that remained of it was the thousands of shards that now littered the front seat and floorboard. Even the frame had been crushed down. The car’s convertible top ripped from its hinges and left hanging. The body looked like it had suffered the impact of both a sledge hammer and a chainsaw. Even the tires were gone and the hubs bore flattened edges, suggesting it had been dragged down a road. It was no small message and Trenton feared more than ever what condition they would find Shay in. If they found him at all.

Diesel’s white Ford pickup pulled in behind him and parked, then he got out, and came around the other side to join Trenton in the Knight.

“For a father who doesn’t want his son outed, you’d think this was the last thing he might do?” Diesel commented after and jumped back into the passenger side of Trenton’s Knight.

“One would think.”

“You want to take a look?”

Trenton strummed his fingers over his lips for a long moment, watching as a few people gawked at the car as they walked by. He turned his focus outside the standard grid, looking for any others who might be parked, and perhaps watching as he was. None of them a white SUV.

“Let’s see if he’s home.”

They both got out and followed along the sidewalk that led to the dorm, “You feel anything?”

“Not yet.” Diesel answered while Trenton’s eyes wandered still. They headed in and went upstairs, found Shay’s door and knocked but there was no answer.