Nicked

by Michael Arches

  “Somewhere safe. You must be too, or those bastard cops would’ve arrested you by now. If you find another girl, I get to collect her.”

  Maude bit her lip. Rufus was already too mixed up with that damned drug crowd. He could get in serious trouble, but on the plus side she might have a chance to see him. “I’d love to spend some time with you.”

  “Find someone gorgeous to sell, and you will. By the way, whatever happened to the redheaded slut? I can’t get her out of my mind.”

  Maude could use Skye to lure her son closer. “I’ve got her. After we do our deal, you can come and visit.”

  He cackled. “Works for me. One last thing. Get rid of your phone. When you’re ready to deal, call this number from a burner. See ya.” He hung up.

  That was as close as he’d come to saying something sweet to her.

  She deserved better from her only kid.

  Chapter 23

  US District Courthouse, Cheyenne

  Elijah beamed at her and shook her hand. “Nobody could’ve done better. Now, the pressure should come off of you. Our next problem is keeping the judge and jury alive long enough to reach a verdict.”

  Athena told him about Santiago’s latest threat.

  He frowned. “I know some people in Washington who may be able to help. I’ll talk to them as soon as this case is over. In the meantime, stay vigilant.”

  That was all she could do. “Best of luck with the rest of the case. I look forward to hearing she’s been convicted.”

  Elijah grinned. Norma gave her a hug.

  Athena visited with her family and friends for a few minutes. They promised her they’d watch the entire trial.

  When the judge returned to the bench for more proceedings, Athena exited the courtroom with one of the bailiffs. Roger greeted her outside.

  “You did great,” he said. “I’ve seen too many trials to count, and you really were our star.”

  She also told him about Santiago’s parting threat and Elijah’s response.

  He sighed. “Back in DC, they think very highly of him. Hopefully he’ll be able to arrange long-term protection. In the meantime, let’s get you back to the hotel in one piece.”

  Roger and a team of six marshals escorted her back to the Cow Palace using one of the Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Heavily armed soldiers were still swarming the streets.

  Janet escorted Athena to her room where she greeted Hagrid and caught up with her messages. Now she could devote all of her time to finding cousin Skye.

  According to an encrypted email from Beau, the trail for Skye had gone cold. He was in Winter Park with three CBI agents. They’d brought specialized equipment that was supposed to locate Maude’s phone, but it had been turned off.

  Athena checked with Maude’s cellphone provider and groaned. One call, from Fort Collins. Maude’s only call of the day was a five-minute conversation with another cellphone that happened to be in North Denver. Soon as the call ended, Maude had powered off her phone.

  Although Athena wanted to help Beau, she couldn’t leave Cheyenne until Elijah was sure he wouldn’t need her for rebuttal testimony. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t know for sure until after the defense rested its case.

  She could still make herself useful to Beau, Lenny, and Skye. While Maude’s phone remained off, Athena would turn her attention to the number that had called Maude from North Denver. She asked Beau whether the FBI had any info about that number.

  He quickly replied. It’s one of sixty-seven no contract cellphones purchased from Amazon three weeks ago and delivered to a warehouse in El Paso, Texas. Twenty-nine units have been activated so far, and they’re spread out all over the western US. Each phone gets used for a few days, then goes dark. We believe they’re being handed out to mid-level cartel contacts.

  In short, Maude was screwing around with very dangerous playmates.

  Athena looked into what she’d heard about equipment that would precisely locate an individual cellphone. Although a network provider’s cell tower data was helpful to get a general idea of where her phone was located, Athena wanted a more precise location.

  Rumors on the Dark Web had told her the FBI and CIA had access to supersensitive tracking devices. Was that what the CBI agents were using without success? She asked Beau.

  Yeah, but it’s a cheap model. The state can’t afford top-quality equipment.

  She could. She fired up her Tor browser and went shopping on the Dark Web for illegal electronics. And she quickly realized that supersensitive equipment was super expensive. Thank God, she had deep pockets.

  After quite a bit of research, she chose a handheld unit that looked like a walkie-talkie, except that it had a collapsible two-foot-long antenna. The best price she found was fifty-six hundred bucks at a Mexican online electronics store, with four-day delivery.

  Crap. Hacking is getting more expensive by the day.

  She needed it now, so she tried to find one in Colorado or Wyoming. Only available store in the Rocky Mountain West, which was on East Colfax, the seediest part of Denver. It said on its website, Call for price.

  She did. The guy who answered sounded like he was stoned. “P-pissword?”

  She didn’t have no fucking password. “I’m sorry, I don’t have an account yet. I’d like to set one up.”

  The phone clicked as he hung up. She called back. The guy wouldn’t answer this time, and the call didn’t roll over to an answering machine.

  She wished she could drive to the store to chew the asshole out, but she was stuck a hundred miles north. But after stewing for a few minutes, she got an idea. Contact Tony.

  He was the retired cop who worked for her and Cici. In a text, she briefly described what she was looking for and her lack of progress.

  A few minutes later, he replied, Yeah, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms raided them a few months ago. The owner’s been a little paranoid since then. Pot will do that to you, but let me call him. I’ve been a customer for years.

  A few minutes later, Tony emailed her back. They supposedly got only one—$6,399. Listen, I know a place on the Lower East Side that could save you four hundred bucks, but they can’t get the thing here for two days.

  Time was of the essence. Buy the one in Denver ASAP. I’ll meet you as soon as I can, but maybe not till tomorrow morning. Find out how to use it, so you can train me. Hugs and kisses.

  -o-o-o-

  Ski cabin

  From her bedroom window, Skye watched Maude back the Silverado down the driveway. Kane was undoubtedly with her.

  Skye quickly retrieved her broken hacksaw blade from where she’d hidden it under the clawfoot dresser and started cutting her window’s bars.

  The Denver Metro area, which included Golden, was at least an hour away. She hoped to be gone before they returned. But it would take hours to saw through two bars.

  -o-o-o-

  Berthoud Pass

  Maude drove Kane over the eleven-thousand-foot high pass that separated them from the Eastern Plains. Luckily, the roads had been plowed overnight, and the traffic headed towards the Front Range cities was light.

  When they arrived in Golden, Maude parked the Silverado across the street from a fancy flower shop. It seemed as good a place as any to search for their next victim.

  The storm had vanished, leaving behind a typical spring day, both sunny and warm. People were already strolling the streets again. Maude and Kane hunkered down in the cab so they wouldn’t be recognized.

  Lots of folks wandered by, but the pretty girls either walked with someone else or brought along a big guard dog.

  Finally, Kane said, “Maybe we should take a little more risk. If a couple comes along, I can take out the guy with my blackjack.”

  She didn’t respond. This wasn’t working out. The women were too wary, probably because of all the news reports related to the earlier kidnappings. “We should wait a few weeks. You don’t have to pay me back the money you owe, so you’ll
have enough for now. It’s not like we can show our faces much in public to spend what we already have.”

  He shook his head. “This is the last job. Let’s see it through.”

  Maude turned the truck on again to warm up the cab. She didn’t have to listen. There wasn’t much he could do to stop her from driving back to Winter Park. It was tempting. “I’ve had enough.”

  He let out an exasperated sigh and checked his watch. “Give it another two hours. We’ll leave by seven. It’s not like we have anywhere else to go, and I brought plenty of snacks.”

  She was tired of arguing, and the money was so damn comforting after a lifetime of poverty. “Fine.”

  -o-o-o-

  Cow Palace Public House

  Someone knocked on Athena’s door. She checked the peephole—Roger. She let him in.

  “Just came from the courthouse,” he said. “The defense rested its bullshit case. Elijah won’t need more testimony from you. I’ll take you home.”

  Immense relief rushed through her. “Great! Except I need you to take me to Denver instead. I have to meet somebody who will take me to Beau, up in Winter Park. The FBI and CBI are still looking for Skye Dunbar.”

  Roger frowned. “I highly recommend you lay extremely low a few weeks. After Santiago is convicted, and I’m sure she will be, her daddy is gonna be pissed.”

  “I will lay low, I swear, as soon as we find Skye Dunbar. Look, she’s a cousin on my mom’s side. And everything I’ve heard about her is good. It’s just killing me inside that she was kidnapped in broad daylight while her brave dad was trying to save her.”

  “What do you think you can do that the fucking Bureau—”

  Athena put up her hand to stop him. “Sorry, Roger, but I’m a big girl now. If you don’t want to help me, I’ll find a ride from somebody else.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t you know? A nice girl goes home with the guy who brought her. Get your shit together.”

  She smirked. “Already did. I need a minute to email my peeps.”

  Roger flew down I 25 with lights flashing. Probably averaged a hundred miles an hour. While they rolled down the highway, Athena checked the cell tower data for the phone that had called Maude earlier. That target phone remained in the north Denver suburbs, but it had moved a few miles from its previous location.

  Athena couldn’t call Beau to arrange for an intercept because she didn’t know who was using the phone she was chasing. Eventually, the target phone stopped moving somewhere within an industrial area near I 25 and 58th Avenue. Athena and Roger were still thirty miles north, but she asked Tony to meet her in the same general area as the target phone. With his new, fancy locator, she hoped to pinpoint the target phone’s precise location.

  Tony agreed to meet her in a parking lot for a fast-food burger joint near the freeway exit at I 25 and 58th Avenue.

  -o-o-o-

  “Here we go,” Kane pointed at his side mirror. “Check out the tall bitch coming up from behind on my side.”

  Maude looked at a slim brunette with long hair that ran down her front. She seemed to float over the sidewalk alongside a short, stout guy. Both were wearing matching beige ski parkas and white knit hats. The girl’s hands moved rapidly while she talked.

  As she drew closer, Maude realized she wasn’t just pretty. She had a classic cover girl face with high cheekbones and a wide mouth full of dazzlingly white teeth. Maude’s tongue tingled. Perfect. “How do you want to do this?”

  Kane looked around. “Coast seems clear. As they pass, we quietly open our doors and slip out. I’ll sneak up behind him and whack him on the head. You cover her face with the rag soaked in ether.”

  She pulled a ziplocked plastic bag out of her coat’s pocket and opened the bag to extract the rag. “Got it.”

  The fumes filled the cab, but she and Kane could hold their breath for a few seconds. The couple strode by, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world.

  Maude and Kane eased out of the truck and snuck up behind the lovebirds.

  With a last glimpse around, Kane lowered the boom. The guy slumped to the sidewalk.

  The woman gasped. But before she could let out a scream, Maude slapped the rag over her mouth and nose.

  The girl struggled, but Maude and Kane dragged her to the back of the pickup. By the time they stuffed her inside, she was out cold. Maude’s excitement grew. The girl was even prettier up close. Had to be worth one helluva payday.

  Maude crawled in next to her and zip-tied her hands behind her back. As she was taping the girl’s mouth shut, she said, “Almost done. Check on the guy.”

  Kane disappeared.

  Maude finished binding the girl’s feet. Two loud shots rang out, only seconds apart. Maude jolted, and her head smacked the roof of the aluminum canopy.

  Panic froze her for a second. Her tongue and jaw went numb. Who fired?

  She scrambled out and snuck along the driver’s side of the truck until she could peek over the hood. Kane was splayed out on the frozen sidewalk, lying on his back. Blood bubbled from his chest.

  The guy he’d whacked was up on his knees. His body weaved back and forth, as he held a large pistol in one hand. His head rotated slowly from side to side.

  Maude pulled her revolver out of her hip holster. Her whole body tingled. He looked her way. She waited to see if he would look away long enough for her to shoot him. Somebody screamed in the distance. She couldn’t risk a shootout in the middle of town.

  Instead, she slowly eased into the cab, jumped behind the wheel, and took off. Kane’s door swung wildly a couple times before the breeze slammed it shut.

  Two more shots rang out—one banged off the truck’s canopy. She drove for a couple blocks, checking several times to see whether anyone was following.

  Didn’t look like it, so she turned into an empty alley and stopped long enough to close up the back. The girl remained motionless.

  Maude returned to the driver’s seat, her heart pounding in her ears.

  Have to get far away. That was too fucking close. Hopefully, Kane is dead. If not, he’ll give up our hiding place for a deal.

  Chapter 24

  Heidy’s Burgers, Denver

  Roger dropped Athena and Hagrid off with Tony at a fast food place just off of the I 25 and 58th Avenue exit. Her friend was waiting in an old, white Ford Explorer. He’d flattened the back seats so Hagrid would have plenty of room to stretch out. Which he promptly did.

  After she sat next to Tony, she said, “Great to see you. Show me the gizmo.”

  He gave her a fist bump and pulled the device from his jacket’s pocket. The thing was smaller than she’d expected. “That’s all I got for my lousy sixty-four hundred bucks?”

  “Actually, it turned out to be sixty-nine hundred bucks, after sales tax. Like I said, you should’ve gotten one from NYC.”

  She shook her head. “I need this baby right now. How does it work?”

  “It’s stupid-simple. Turn it on and extend the antenna.”

  She did.

  “Punch in the ten-digit phone number of the cellphone you’re trying to locate. Nothing will happen until you get within a mile to two of the target. When you do, the device will vibrate, and the screen will light up. That means it’s locked on, and the display shows you a series of horizontal bars. The more bars you get, the better.”

  It sounded awfully simple. “Okay, how do I know which direction to proceed? Does an arrow show up on the screen?”

  “You turn in a circle, watching the display until it shows the most bars. That tells you you’re pointed at the target phone. Walk in that direction and turn in a circle every so often. You should keep getting a stronger signal until you hit the maximum, ten bars. When that happens, you should be a few feet from the target.”

  Athena was ready to try it out. “I know the location of the cell tower closest to the phone I’m looking for, we might not get close enough to lock on. Some cell towers have
a range of five or ten miles.”

  Tony nodded. “That can be a problem, but the guy told me the best thing to do was to circle the tower about a half-mile away. If that doesn’t work, expand the circle another half-mile. You may have to do that several times, but as long as the phone remains turned on and stationary, he swears you will be able to find it. Customers swear by this thing, the store owner says. I’ve found him to be generally reliable.”

  Athena was more skeptical, but she didn’t say so. “Let’s try it out. First, I need to check with the cell service provider again to make sure the cellphone I’ve been tracking is still close.”

  She hacked into the provider’s network again. The target was still pinging the same tower, two miles east of them. “Looks good. Go right on 58th Avenue.”

  Tony first noticed the cell tower up ahead, and Athena and Hagrid hopped out of his SUV. She turned on the device and leaned against the dog. A moment later, the sensor vibrated in her hands. The display lit up. One bar.

  She slowly spun in a circle, and the single bar disappeared until the device was pointing north again. Tony was in his SUV, right behind her.

  “Got a connection. But only one bar.”

  She walked north on a quiet street with the sensor in one hand and leaned against Hagrid to keep her balancer. She picked up two bars. To the south, she got nothing at all. She kept heading north.

  As she was crossing an alley, she asked herself what she’d do if she actually found the phone. It was likely connected to the cartel. They’d love nothing more than to shoot her. She, Tony, and Hagrid needed backup.

  Athena called Beau and explained the situation.

  “Jesus Christ!” he said. “Don’t go any closer. I’ll get somebody from CBI over there as soon as possible.”

  He hung up. She checked the locator’s display. Three bars. A chill ran down her spine. She was no heroine. The strongest signal remained to the north.

  She and Hagrid got back in Tony’s SUV. Every so often she looked at her locator. Three bars…but then nothing.