by T. R. Ragan
“Don’t worry, I gave my skateboard to Tommy. He’s better at it anyway.”
Tommy shrugged.
“Are you and Dad entertaining tonight?” Kitally asked. “You look great, by the way.”
“Thanks. We’re just waiting for another couple before we head out for dinner and a show in San Francisco. Come say hello to everyone.”
Kitally told Tommy and Hayley to stay where they were. She would be right back. Then she followed her mother into the living room.
There were four couples and right away Kitally recognized one of the ladies as the woman she’d seen with her dad—his mistress.
Her dad visibly stiffened, but the woman either had no idea Kitally knew about her and her dad or she just didn’t care.
Her dad frowned. “I had no idea your injuries were so bad.”
“It’s pretty bad, I know,” Kitally agreed. “My face looks as if a couple of guys followed me home and beat the crap out of me, doesn’t it?”
“That’s enough,” her father warned.
“Are you going to introduce us to your friends?” her dad’s mistress asked.
“No.”
The woman smiled as if Kitally were merely playing with her. “What do you kids do for fun these days?”
Kitally wanted to tell her to fuck off and that it was none of her business. The fact that she referred to her as a kid was enough to make her want to drop-kick the woman and then put an elbow to her face. It made her crazy to think her father was entertaining this woman right under her mother’s nose. She knew she should just let it go, ignore the woman and walk off, but she didn’t have it in her. “We’re going to use Dad’s computer room and see if we can hack into a governmental GPS tracking system, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy.”
Nervous laughter erupted.
Her father gave her mother a stern look, as if to say, I told you not to introduce her to our guests.
“Don’t worry, Dad, we won’t be staying long.”
He let out a ponderous sigh. He knew if he pushed her, she would tell her mother right then and there that he was having an affair.
Kitally was about to walk off, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t leave without asking her dad’s mistress a question. Kitally looked at the woman and said, “Where did you find that amazing dress? It’s beautiful.”
The woman put a slender hand to her chest to make sure Kitally was referring to her.
“Yes, you. Where did you get that dress?”
“I’ve had this old thing for years.”
“Funny,” Kitally said. “My father bought me the exact same dress.” That was the truth. Her father had bought the dress for her before she’d gone to detention. When she came home, the dress was gone. “I wonder if you and Dad found the gown at the same store, because I was told it was a one of a kind.”
Silence.
“Well, it’s probably not the exact dress,” Kitally fibbed. “The crystal beads on your dress don’t pick up the light quite the same as mine. OK, well, it’s been nice meeting all of you.”
“Make yourselves at home,” her mother said, oblivious as ever of everything going on around her.
“Will do,” Kitally said as she walked off. Next time she saw her father alone, she would get an earful, but she didn’t care. If her mother knew he was bringing his mistress to the house, flaunting her right under her nose, she would divorce him and take half his millions.
Kitally often thought about telling her mom, but she just couldn’t do it. Her mother loved her father, flaws and all. Kitally wasn’t going to be the one to tell her the truth and ruin her life.
When they walked into the computer room, Hayley didn’t have to be a techno geek to be astounded by the room. It looked like mission control. There were ten screens and five laptops, all lined up in a perfect row.
Tommy was speechless.
Kitally smiled. “Pretty cool, huh? Dad is into all sorts of stuff, but he was once given a grant to build a high-performance computer system designed for scientific research and computing. This is a smaller model of what he built for a secret project he worked on years ago. This room has made it easy for me to hack into every broadband and telecommunications company in the country.”
“Precision air-conditioning?” Tommy asked.
“Of course. And it can all be remotely controlled. Temperature, particle filtration, humidity, you name it.”
“Cool. We could do anything in here. Intercept, decipher, analyze.”
“Exactly,” Kitally said. “It’s more than a data center. I’ve been able to cryptanalyze and break ridiculously complex encryption systems.”
“I’m surprised your dad allows you to come in here.”
“We have a deal. I don’t touch NSA, foreign military, and diplomatic secrets, legal documents, et cetera.”
“Can we stop talking and get to work now?” Hayley wanted to know.
Hours later, Kitally looked around, bored out of her mind. Hayley had borrowed her car and told her she would be back soon. Giddy with all the equipment, Tommy had taken the reins. He didn’t need any help. Kitally’s parents and their guests had left for dinner and a show. She and Tommy were alone in the house. With nothing better to do, she checked out her GPS tracking application. Her parents were in San Francisco and Lizzy was on the highway headed east toward Reno.
Why was Lizzy headed toward Reno?
She waited another fifteen minutes before she walked back to where Tommy was sitting. “How’s it going?”
“I’ve located the first two towers. Brian is in Placerville.”
“That’s only ten or fifteen miles from where we are right now.”
“Exactly,” Tommy said. “Is Hayley around?”
“No. I’m not sure where she went, but she said she would only be an hour at most.”
“Let me know if you hear from her. How much longer before your parents return?”
“My guess is we have at least another two hours. I’ll leave you alone for now. Let me know when you’ve found the last tower.”
Tommy didn’t answer. He was already back to work.
Since he didn’t need her help, Kitally returned to the other side of the room and took a seat. The first thing she did was turn on her GPS application again to check Lizzy’s location.
Hmm. Odd. She glanced at the clock on the wall, trying to figure out how long it had been since she’d given Lizzy the address she asked for.
Where is Lizzy going?
The GPS screen showed her moving in the opposite direction of where Kitally had told her to go. That didn’t make sense. When Lizzy had called, she’d sounded excited, as if she were onto something big.
Kitally looked around the room, tapped her fingers, came to her feet, sat back down, and then finally broke down and dialed Lizzy’s number.
No answer.
She called Hayley next, relieved when she answered. “Brian is in Placerville,” she blurted.
“No kidding?”
“Tommy should have an address in another hour or so.”
“Thanks. I gotta go.”
They hung up before Kitally could ask her what to do about Lizzy.
Kitally tried Lizzy’s number. No answer. She blew out a frustrated breath as she came to her feet, then walked back to where Tommy was sitting and hovered over his shoulder. He had three different screens on, all showing satellite imagery: maps, terrain, lots of trees and wooded area.
“Lizzy called a while ago to ask for an address. I think she knows the identity of Madeline Blair’s stalker.”
“Who is Madeline Blair?”
Kitally snorted. “Oh, forget it.” She returned to her seat, where she resumed watching the little red dot on the GPS map. Lizzy was definitely headed east, away from Sacramento, which didn’t make any sense.
>
Worry gnawed at her.
What if something happened to Lizzy after she hung up the phone?
Why wasn’t she answering her phone? More importantly, why was she headed in the wrong direction?
She looked from the back of Tommy’s head to the dot on her cell phone.
It would be a while before they could set into motion their plans to find Brian. She looked at the clock and watched the second hand go round and round.
She’d had enough. There was no way she could sit there and do nothing, knowing Lizzy could be in danger.
Without saying goodbye to Tommy, she grabbed her bag and headed out, figuring she would have to take one of her dad’s cars since Hayley was driving hers.
CHAPTER 60
Wolf was not happy to see Hayley at his doorstep again. “You’ve got another fucking question to ask me?”
“No, I have information I think you might be interested in.”
“I’ve done some research since we met, Hayley Hansen,” Wolf said, “and I know you’re pals with that Jessica chick, and my main man tells me she’s an FBI wannabe. I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“What I have to tell you involves Brian Rosie. We need to talk in private.”
After telling a couple of his watchdogs to stay put, Wolf ushered Hayley into a different room than the last time she was here. He shut the door and took a seat in a plush leather chair behind a mahogany desk. “I got Kiki back,” he said, “and you got the name you asked for. That was it for you and me, far as I was concerned. This better be good.”
“I know who’s cutting into your turf,” Hayley said. “Not only are they selling drugs on every street corner, they’ve been selling everything at a cheaper price than your foot soldiers.”
“You thinking about getting into the drug business?”
“No.”
“Then stay out of my business.”
“Brian Rosie is very much my business. I’ve come here to tell you that before midnight tonight, I will know exactly where Brian is hanging out.”
“Last I heard, he was in the Bahamas soaking up the sun.”
“I just got word that he’s hiding out somewhere in Placerville.”
Wolf raised a brow.
“That’s right. I came here to ask for your help, but the truth is, whether I have enough manpower or not, I’m going to find him and kill him. And it’s going to happen tonight.”
Wolf gave her a long, hard stare. “What you probably don’t realize is that I have to think about the economic aspects. If I go after this guy and lose a couple of my boys in action, then I’m going to have a slowdown while I find replacements, not to mention the increased heat any kind of firefight brings down. I need to analyze the risk trade-offs.”
Hayley didn’t know a lot about the drug business, but she’d done some research and she knew just enough to hopefully make him think she knew more than she did. “Brian is hiring street-level boys,” she said. “He’s paying them less than minimum wage, but they don’t care because they need jobs. He’s already got three guys out there for every one of yours. At this rate, it won’t be long until he’s gotten more than a foothold on your turf.”
He slammed a fist on his desk.
She didn’t flinch.
“No shit,” he said. “I know what’s happening on my streets. What you don’t seem to understand is that gang wars are costly. Not only in lives but in lost profits.”
“I get it,” Hayley said. “Violence keeps customers away and the last thing I want on my streets is more violence.”
“These are your streets now?”
“You know what I mean,” Hayley said. “Brian Rosie could move right in on your territory.”
“What the fuck did that guy do to you?”
“What didn’t he do would be an easier question to answer.” Hayley exhaled, wondering how she was going to convince this guy to take a stand on such short notice. “I know Brian and his men are stationed somewhere in Placerville. Any moment now, I should have an exact location for you. If you give me a number where I can text you with the location, you’ll know Brian’s whereabouts in under two hours.”
“How many men does he have guarding him?”
Hayley had no fucking idea, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “Close to a dozen.”
“And you’re going to go after him?”
“That’s right.”
Wolf got a good laugh before he said, “You’re just looking to get yourself killed, aren’t you?”
“I’m not afraid to die.”
“It’s more than that. You, girl, are afraid to live. It’s written all over your face.”
After a long bout of silence, she said, “There’s one more factor you haven’t yet taken into account.”
He tilted his head as if he were enjoying himself now. “What’s that?”
“If you send your men within thirty minutes of my texting you his location, your men will be on the offensive, prepared to fight. While Brian Rosie will have no idea what hit him.”
For the first time since she’d entered his office, Wolf looked as if he might be considering his options.
“Brian has been expanding his organization, working with suppliers in other regions,” she added, keeping the pressure on.
“Is that so?”
She nodded. “He’s got twice as many people as you collecting dues and recruiting new men. It won’t be long before he runs you out of town. If I’ve done my homework right, nearly one-third of your guys are imprisoned as we speak.”
“That’s enough. You’ve had your say.”
She lifted her hands in surrender. “Thanks for your time.” She prayed she’d been convincing enough because the truth was, as much as she hated to admit it, she needed the scumbag.
She heard him chuckling as she made her way to the front door and let herself out.
CHAPTER 61
Lizzy’s head felt as if it were filled with bricks.
Pain shot through her right side. As the fog cleared from her brain, she realized she was being carried over a man’s shoulders, hanging down his back with her arms dangling toward the ground and knocking into his legs with each step. She hung limp. Played dead. She could see the ground: dirt, mud, leaves. She wondered if her attacker realized she’d pulled the syringe out of her arm before it was emptied into her system.
The man grunted as he leaned forward and dropped her. She rolled into a deep pit. He planned to bury her alive.
She could hear him walking away. This was her chance. Tearing at the soft earth, she pulled herself upward, using what strength she had left to crawl out of the pit and make a run for it. She didn’t know which way to go, but she weaved through the trees.
Leaves crunched behind her, and then she could hear his labored breathing.
She ran on through dense underbrush until she fell, then scrambled on hands and feet. Branches clawed through her skin and threatened to gouge her eyes out. She reached under her arm, hoping for a miracle, but of course her gun was gone.
Back on her feet, she twisted her way through thicket after thicket before breaking through into a clearing surrounded by mossy trees.
She stopped to listen.
Crickets and frogs chirping and croaking in the distance, and her own breathing.
She couldn’t stay in one place. She needed to keep moving. The medication he’d shot into her system made her feel as if she was hallucinating.
Nausea swept over her as she took off running again.
It would be dark soon.
She could only pray she was moving toward the highway and not farther into the woods.
CHAPTER 62
Hayley knocked on the door to Kitally’s parents’ house. When nobody came, she opened the door and peeked inside. Everybody was gone. She called out Kitally’s na
me as she made her way up the spiral staircase with iron railings. Everywhere she looked there was custom cabinetry and chandeliers dripping with sparkling crystals. She could easily get lost in a place like this, but somehow she managed to find the computer room. Tommy was right where she’d left him.
No sooner had she walked into the computer room than he jumped out of his chair and said, “Got it!”
“No kidding?”
“No kidding!” Tommy picked her up and twirled her about the room. Then he kissed her on the mouth before she could decide whether or not she wanted to be kissed. It was over almost as quickly as it began.
Pretending what just happened hadn’t happened at all, she went to the computers and stared at all the images. There were dozens of still shots of a house in the woods surrounded by chain-link fencing. “Is this his location?”
Tommy sat back down. “This is it. Quite the setup. He’s been hiding out in the woods for two years. This guy isn’t fooling around.” Tommy pointed to one of the screens. “You can see part of the wire fencing and a gate right here. And over here you can see more chain-link fencing topped with razor wire. At the time this picture was taken, he had four people securing the property.” He pointed to a couple of the tiny, blurry figures on the screen. “This is a satellite shot from who knows when. It could have been taken two months ago or two days ago. I was able to get six cell phone signals in this one area, so we can easily assume that Brian has up to six men protecting the grounds at any given time.”
Hayley scribbled the address on a piece of paper, then pulled her cell from her pocket and sent a text.
“What was that about?” Tommy asked.
“You were right about our needing manpower. I’m trying to round up some help. Let’s get going.”
Tommy looked around. “What about Kitally?”
“I don’t know where she’s at, but she left us a note saying she was taking one of her dad’s cars. I tried calling, but my call went directly to her message box. She must be out of range.”
“She did say something about Lizzy and a woman named Madeline.”
