by R A Wallace
“As far as we know, she’s planning to transfer the code to one or more cars today just before they go on the auction block. We’re guessing she has some way to notify the potential bidders, so they know which car to bid on.” Greyson looked at the monitors in the room.
Sierra looked at Michael. “We might be able to help.”
“I don’t want you getting involved with anything dangerous,” Callie said immediately.
Sierra shook her head. “The kind of help I’m thinking of wouldn’t be. We could visit some places online that we know and put out the word that the code is faulty.”
“It might put the potential buyers off,” Michael said.
Greyson nodded. “It’s worth a try.”
“Darlings! I didn’t know you were coming.” Margaret came toward them with her arms outstretched. Sierra stepped into her hug first. Michael bent down and hugged her next.
Callie wondered when her office mates had gotten so close to her mother. Just as they were with Greyson. She narrowed her eyes at Greyson again.
“I’ll get the rest of our team over here,” he said to her.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to step out and make a call. Get Sierra and Michael started on getting the word out about the code.” Callie pulled her phone out as she headed for the exit door.
Chapter Twenty-Four
By the time Callie returned to Greyson, Sierra and Michael were gone. She looked around the room and raised her eyebrows in question. Greyson discreetly nodded toward one of the monitors. After studying the screen for a moment, she spotted Julio in the background. She assumed the rest of the team had also moved into place or were in the process of doing so.
Margaret was across the room speaking with a group of people. As Callie was debating leaving her mother, the door on the other side of the room opened and a security guard entered. They positioned themselves at one side of the room and remained there, looking vigilant.
Greyson leaned closer to Callie.
“I told you she’s safe.” His gaze held hers until she nodded. He held up a device.
Callie didn’t recognize it. “What is that?”
“I got it from the television crew,” he said. “It controls which video feed goes out on the air.”
“What do you mean? Wait, you’re saying you have control over what everyone sees on television?”
He nodded. “The auction is a live feed with no delay. Depending on what happens, we may need to switch away from wherever we are if things go wrong.”
Callie glanced at the monitors in the room. “We need to stop Tessa from getting that code into the wrong hands.”
“It might get ugly,” he agreed. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” she asked as she followed him.
“We have to start looking somewhere.” He was headed toward the large hangar where the main auction was being held.
When they reached the hangar, the number of people inside made it difficult to navigate around them. The auctioneers kept up a steady stream of almost unintelligible chatter over the system. It was interspersed with longer descriptions of the next car to help build the excitement. There were speakers everywhere to amplify the voices of the auctioneers. Having a conversation was nearly impossible with the noise. Greyson reached back and grabbed her hand. He used his body to push through the crowd as he led the way.
Callie kept up behind him but since she didn’t have to watch where she was going, she monitored the people that they passed. Someone next to her shifted, giving her a clear view across the way for just a moment. She dug in her heels, causing Greyson to practically snap back toward her.
“What happened?” He looked around her to see what had caused her to stop.
She lifted her hand to her chest and pointed with one finger away from them. With his height, Greyson didn’t have any trouble spotting Tessa above Callie and everyone else. He remained where he was, watching Tessa over the crowd.
Callie leaned in so he could hear her talk. “What is she doing?”
Greyson kept his eyes on Tessa but tilted his head down a little to avoid shouting too much.
“I think she has something in her hands,” he said. He didn’t sound certain.
The crowd of people shifted again, smashing them even closer together. Callie stared at Greyson’s chest as she considered what he said.
She tilted her head up. “Do you think the dog is still in the carrier?”
“What?” His voice was filled with exasperation.
Callie knew the question wasn’t as stupid as it sounded. She tried again.
“I only saw her for a fraction of a second, but it looked like she still had the dog carrier strapped over her shoulder.”
Greyson frowned, still not understanding her point. He nodded his agreement impatiently.
“What if she is using it to carry electronic equipment or something. You know, to transfer the code?” It made sense to her.
Greyson finally got it. “That’s why she’s been carrying the dog around. To get everyone used to seeing her with it.”
“She might be trying to transfer it now,” Callie said. “Or, maybe she has and she’s notifying the buyers which car they should bid on.”
“We need to stop her from whatever she’s doing,” Greyson said.
He grabbed her hand again and began pushing through the crowd. It was slow going. At times, the people Greyson tried to push past pushed back. Just as they were finally getting closer to where Tessa was, she looked up and saw the commotion around them as people jostled each other in response to Greyson and Callie moving through them.
Tessa’s face grew red with anger. Her eyes shot darts of hatred at them before she whirled around and was quickly swallowed up by the crowd. Someone pushed at Greyson, nearly causing him to lose his balance. He lost sight of Tessa. He pulled on Callie’s arm and bulldozed his way through the crowd to an exit door on the side.
They stepped out of the building. Greyson pulled a two-way radio from his pocket.
“Does anyone have eyes on the target?”
Voices erupted over the radio in response, but all of them were negative.
“I think she has to stay within range of the cars,” Callie guessed. “Right? I just don’t know what that range is.”
Greyson shook his head. “I’m betting she’s not going to leave now either way. Let’s just check the other hangars. If we don’t find her, someone else will. We have people positioned everywhere.”
Callie nodded her agreement as she began to walk away from the building.
“Where are you going?” he asked. “The ATV is that way.”
“It would be easier to just walk from here. Our ATV is on the other side of the building and the crowd is too big to drive fast today anyway.”
He knew she was right. He quickly caught up with her, then passed her. Callie picked up speed to keep up with him. They went behind buildings whenever possible to cut the distance. They wove around others walking up and down the aisles when necessary. Callie was grateful that she had worn shoes that allowed her to walk briskly at times and sprint at others.
As they reached the second hangar, they stopped outside of the building to catch their breath. Callie bent over with her hands on her knees, gasping for air.
“I need to get in better shape,” she joked. It was forecasted to be an unseasonably hot day. Although only morning, the temperature had begun to rise. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back under her dress shirt.
Greyson radioed their location before entering the hangar. It was as filled to capacity as the first one. Once again, he grabbed Callie’s hand and pulled her along with him until they had navigated into the crowd enough to look around. After several moments, he glanced down at her. She shook her head. He began pushing through the crowd some more.
Callie heard an undistinguishable noise coming from Greyson’s hand. He held the two-way radio up and tried to listen to it over the noise in the hangar. The speakers in
there also transmitted the voices of the auctioneers from the other hangars. Greyson shook his head then pulled Callie through the crowd and out a side door.
“Say again?” Greyson called through the radio.
“She’s headed for the third hangar.”
Greyson looked down at Callie. “You with me?”
She envisioned the layout of the airport in her head and pointed.
“Let’s go that way. There’s a shortcut between those buildings,” she said.
She took off without waiting for him to respond. He soon passed her, but she kept up as well as possible behind him and had just reached him again as they came to the third hangar.
Greyson radioed their location just before they entered the hangar. They spotted Tessa immediately. She was in front of them, with her back toward her. She appeared to have some electronic device in her hand. In between doing something with the device, she would frantically search the crowd.
Greyson held up his hand motioning to Callie to wait. She could see Julio come into the hangar from the large door at the far end. From the corner of her eye, she knew that others were entering the pedestrian door from the right side. She was sure that more would continue to arrive. She looked at Greyson, waiting for him to give the signal.
He continued to hold up his hand. She glanced over at the large monitor above the auctioneers to see what was going on with the broadcast. The hangar they were in was currently moving another car into place. The live feed was currently focusing on the sale in the main hangar.
Callie could tell from the picture-in-picture that the sale in the second hangar would be next in line. That gave them some time to get Tessa out of the third hangar before the live camera feed switched to them. She turned her head around to check behind her. She saw Kate and Nigel enter the main entrance door. Another pedestrian door was behind Callie and Greyson. That meant that the four entrances were covered.
She turned her focus back to Greyson. He looked at her with a question in his eyes. She nodded her head. It was time to move. Just as he made the signal, there was a shout from the other side of the room. It was one of the buyer reps. Callie hadn’t noticed him there until he shouted.
Tessa whirled around, frantically looking for an avenue of escape. She saw Greyson and Callie between her and the closest exit. Her mouth formed into a snarl as she pulled a gun from the dog carrier. The crowd of people around them panicked and began screaming and pushing to get away.
Tessa swung the barrel of the gun between Callie and Greyson. Greyson moved closer to Callie. Tessa began moving around them as she headed for the door. She was careful to face them, the barrel of the gun pointed at them both, as she quickly walked backwards. Before she reached the door, it flew open and several uniformed police officers began running in.
Tessa must have sensed the motion behind her. She turned to see the police entering, then looked back at Callie and Greyson, her face filled with panic. She dropped the dog carrier from her shoulder and rushed the two of them. Greyson grabbed her hand with the gun in it as she tried to run past them and twisted it behind her.
The police reached them a fraction of a second later and immediately took charge of Tessa. Callie took several deep breaths.
“Are you okay?” Juanita asked.
Callie nodded at her friend. “Thanks for coming.”
“This is getting to be habit,” Juanita said. She wasn’t smiling.
Callie turned to Greyson. He pointed at Juanita.
“Yeah, I know. It pays to have friends in the police department,” he said to Callie.
Callie was about to respond when she glanced up at the monitors in the hangar. She raised her eyebrows at him. Greyson held up the device he’d shown her earlier and smiled. She and Greyson were on live television.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Margaret wiggled her bare toes and leaned back into the chaise lounge. She held a fruity cocktail in one hand.
“Oh, this feels wonderful.” She turned her head to the right and smiled at Callie.
Callie glanced at her through her sunglasses without turning her head. Her own fruity cocktail was close by, the condensation from the glass dripping onto the small table next to her.
“It’s moments like this that help to center you after all that work you’ve been doing for Elliot,” Paula said from another chaise.
Elaine climbed the steps out of the pool and walked over to join them. After pulling on her wrap, she sat down and stretched out her own legs.
“I love being retired,” Trudy said as she walked out of the clubhouse to join the others. She was carrying a tray of snacks.
Sally was right behind her. She held up the pitcher she had just mixed. “Does anyone need a refill?”
Callie held her hand over her glass so Sally wouldn’t top it off. There was no way she could keep up with the older women.
“I’m driving,” she reminded them.
“I’m not.” Elaine held out her glass.
After refilling glasses, Sally sat down with her own drink.
“Tell us how things are going with Aubrey. Did her new boyfriend check out?” Sally asked before jumping up to pass out plates for the snacks.
“He did,” Elaine said with a frown. “Unfortunately, he was lying.”
Paula turned her head toward Elaine. “Come again?”
“You tell them, Callie,” Elaine said.
“If you’ll remember, he told Aubrey that he was an intake worker at the hospital.” Callie heard the others murmur their agreement. “That wasn’t exactly accurate.”
There were disgruntled comments of support for poor Aubrey.
“He made it up?” Vanessa asked.
“He did, but only because he didn’t want people to know what he really does for a living,” Callie agreed as she slid her sunglasses down to look at them. “He’s a doctor.”
She slid her sunglasses back up as the exclamations that followed varied from happiness for Aubrey and dismay at his subterfuge.
“That’s a good thing, right?” Paula asked.
“Aubrey didn’t think so,” Elaine said. “She’s still mad at him for lying to her.”
A loud debate erupted over whether she should forgive him or not. Callie stayed out of it. Her mind wandered to her own man of mystery. She wondered what he was doing now. Then again, maybe she didn’t want to know.
“Is Aubrey going to forgive him?” Margaret asked.
“A mother can hope,” Elaine said. “Now that I’ve gotten to know him a little better, I think I might like him.” She flashed a grin and held up her glass as the others toasted her.
“Okay, Callie. It’s your turn. What happened at the car show?” Vanessa asked.
The other ladies settled back in their chaise lounges ready to be entertained.
Callie explained the initial mystery, the reason Indigo Investigations had been hired as security consultants.
“You’re saying you didn’t know anything about the job until you got there?” Paula asked.
“He told her the night of the party,” Margaret said with a mischievous grin. “You should have seen them dancing together. They make such a beautiful couple.”
Callie ignored the cheers from the other women and continued.
“It was known that something would be smuggled, but no one knew what the something was.”
“It was nice having all the dogs around,” Margaret said.
“Drugs,” Trudy said knowingly.
“That’s what was thought at first,” Callie said. “As you know from the media coverage, it ended up being code.”
“I still don’t get why they didn’t just put the code out on the Internet,” Paula said. “Wouldn’t that have been easier?”
Multiple conversations broke out as they all debated it. Callie waited it out, happy where she was. It was warm and she was with people she loved. She reached for her drink without opening her eyes.
“Sheree was the one who set it up initially,” Margaret said
when the others had stopped talking. “She seemed like the type to enjoy drama.”
“There was definitely drama,” Callie agreed. In more ways than one.
“But Sheree had to rely on someone else to write the code.” Margaret lifted her glass for another sip.
“I still don’t understand how all that code worked,” Trudy said, her forehead wrinkled as she tried to make sense of it.
Margaret waved her hand in dismissal. “Don’t even try. In the end, the code didn’t work anyway. Just be glad we have people like Sierra and Michael on our side.”
That prompted a toast to the two young programmers. Sally immediately jumped up afterwards and topped off glasses.
“I still don’t get the dog food,” Vanessa confessed. “How was that bad?”
Trudy became animated and straightened in her chair. “I’m no expert, but now that I have a grandpuppy I can tell you that there’s all kinds of things in dog food.”
Callie smiled, her eyes closed behind her sunglasses, as she listened to the conversations that broke out. The others were asking Trudy how her grandpuppy was doing. From all accounts, it was the smartest dog on the planet.
“Tessa knew that Sheree was very strict with her diet,” Margaret said when discussions of the puppy were done. “Sheree rarely ate anything she didn’t bring herself. That was one reason why I knew it wasn’t the catering company that killed her.”
“Since she couldn’t sneak something in the regular food, Tessa swapped out something Sheree handled all the time,” Callie added. “There was no way to tell by looking at it that the dog food was any different from what Sheree normally used. Sheree even carried it with the dog at all times. She would feed it a piece at a time as a treat.”
“And she pretended to eat it,” Margaret said as she reached for something from the snack tray. “Everyone who ever spent time with her knew that.”
“In the end, Callie and Greyson saved the day,” Paula said with another toast.
“We watched it all on television,” Sally said. “It looked so exciting.”
The animated voices of the other women joined Sally’s. Callie thought of Greyson’s switch to the live video feed just as all the action began. Once again, they were media darlings. The video had gone viral.
