Chapter Twenty One

Abe is mad. No, actually, he is furious. I'm pretty sure if he was a cartoon character stream would be coming out his ears. He slaps his large hands on his office's desk, causing it to shake. I flinch. This is why I didn't want to tell him. He's angry.

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" His voice booms through the once silent room. "We have traitors living among us."

"We don't know that for sure." Lily pipes. "We could be wrong."

"I'm not taking anymore chances." He says, before looking at our protectors. "You two, take the insiders to the cells and tell Xen to watch them, closely. Tell him, I'll be down there soon."

The guys nods their head before exiting the office. Abe looks down as he pace back and forth.

"I trusted them. I give them everything. " He mutters. "And this is how they repay me. By working with Ramadi. I should have known when Ramadi went off the grid something was going to happen." He stops pacing. "I have to find him. He's getting too close to you girls." He looks at us. "I thought bringing you here, you would be safe, but I was wrong. Ramadi is still watching us."

"We don't know if they are working for Ramadi. We could have made a mistake." I say.

He shakes his head. "No. The only person who wants your necklaces the most, who needs it the most, is Ramadi. You didn't made a mistake. This is all on me."

I don't know much about Ramadi but I do know he does everything for a purpose. Everything and everyone in his game, is important. He's a dangerous, ruthless person. If they were insiders, Ramadi would've been here by now. The only problem he would face is getting passed the gates and all the guardians.

"It's not your fault." Lily tells our father. "You didn't know."

"But I should have. You girls don't know how precious your life is. If Ramadi gets you, he wins. I cannot let that happen. Not again."

We know he's talking about our mother. He still blames himself for her death. But he has to know, that wasn't his fault and that we're not going down without a fight.

"Ramadi isn't getting anywhere near us." I say. "Because that would require him to get close to our protectors and I don't think he wants that unless he has a death wish."

"You're right. I just don't want you girls to get hurt." He says.

The door opens and Hayes and Reid walk in.

"Xen is keeping them occupied but they swear up and down they're not working for him." Hayes informs us.

Abe nods his head. "Don't let them out your sight and keep your ears open." He tells Reid and Hayes.

He walks out his office. He's going to talk to Monica and Nathan. I hope for them, they aren't lying.

"What happens to them, if they are working for Ramadi?" Lily asks.

"They either rot in their cell or get beheaded." Reid says as if it was a normal thing.

"Abe might let a lot of things go by him but he hates traitors. Especially, if they're plotting his daughters downfall. Messing with his daughter or his people is like playing with a great white shark. Stupid and dangerous and it'll cost you your life. Abe will take you out in a heartbeat." Hayes says and Reid nods his head, agreeing.

"And now that his lost Allison, he shows no more mercy." Reid adds. "He will kill you without thinking twice about it."

"Then why hasn't he killed Ramadi?" I question.

"Two reasons." Hayes hold one finger. "One. No one knows where Ramadi is. He doesn't leave a trail behind him. If you want to get to him, you have to be working for him and even then, some of them, don't even know where he is." He holds up another finger.
"Two. He's dangerous. He isn't like taking out a traitor or something like that. We don't know his weaknesses. We don't know what he's planning until he tells us. But none of that matters."

I frown. "Why not?"

"There are things better off unsaid." Hayes says. "But trust me when I say, Ramadi is not getting anywhere near you two."

Abe's P. O. V.

"Why would you think I should trust you?" He asks Monica.

Early this morning, Hayden wanted to talk to him. It seemed urgent. But nothing could have surprised him even more when he heard that there may be insiders lurking in his headquarters, around his daughters. Monica and Nathan definitely weren't on his list of being a traitor. He known them for years. They were like his family. They helped him get through the hard and tough times. So of course he was shocked to hear it was them.

"Why wouldn't you?" She shoots back. "We have known each other for almost twenty years. Why would I want to tarnish that?"

"I don't know, Monica. You tell me. But,I know my daughters wouldn't lie to me."

She slams her chained hands on the mental table. "I'm not working for Ramadi! I never was and I never will. Why won't you believe me?"

"You want the necklaces. Why do you want them?"

She presses her line together in a tight line. "I already told you why we need them." He laughs at her fake, unbelievable excuse of her cover up. "Why aren't you questioning Nathan?"

"Nathan isn't the brains in this group. He wouldn't have came up with this on his own. So enlighten me, Monica. What's Ramadi's plan?"

"I don't know. I swear on Allison's-"

Abe's hand is around her throat before she has the chance to finish her sentence.
He speaks in a low, threatening voice.

"Don't ever swear on my wife, again, understood?"

Monica nods her head before Abe lets her go and she gasps for air.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. If you lie to me, I'll make sure you never see daylight ever again." Abe looks her dead in her eyes as he asks. "Why do you need the necklaces?"

Millie's P. O. V.

"Is everything okay?" Kyle asks, as I head out of the office.

I nod. "Yeah. Why wouldn't it be? "

"Um, because you were in there for over an hour and two people were cuffed."

"Don't worry about it. Everything's fine." I tell him.

I don't know how he will react if I tell him what's be going on. He'll probably start freaking out. Especially if he know Ramadi knows where we might be located. We fled Arsyn to be safe and under the radar. If Ramadi has the slightest clue to where we might be, it can stir trouble.

"Are you sure about that?" He asks not totally believing me.

"Yeah. I'm sure." I change the topic. "Are you hungry? Cause I'm hungry."

I'm expecting Kyle's respond but I get Reid's instead.

"I could eat."

I roll my eyes. "Of course you can."

We head to the dining room and somehow the tension from this morning starts to fade and we fall back into our normal routine all but him. I can feel him being more alert.

His eyes watching everything and everyone in his sight.