The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways #12) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,62
They passed the cop cruisers as they were rushing down an otherwise dark, two-lane highway. Antony slowed momentarily, and the cops flew right past, obviously intent on getting to the bar.
When the fading blue lights barely flickered around them, she released a long breath. “So, you put a tracker on him, huh?”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time. Couldn’t very well stay out there and be found questioning him when the cops arrived.”
“How do we track him, exactly?”
He pushed his phone toward her. When she looked down, she saw a map on the glowing screen and a little red dot that was moving. “I guess we track him like that,” she said. “I didn’t even see you tag the guy.”
“That’s because the device was designed not to be noticed. I stuck it under his collar when I grabbed his shoulder. We rattled Cal, and I knew he’d go running straight to his boss.”
About that… “What makes you so sure he was lying?” She’d thought Cal seemed terrified and desperate. Terrified enough to be truthful.
“Maybe I just don’t trust guys who try to knock me out with chairs before introductions are made.”
“There is that.” She thought there was more, though. “But if his girlfriend warned him you were coming—”
“She didn’t.”
Very confident, but… “How do you know?”
“Because I took the liberty of monitoring her phone. I was to be alerted every time she sent a text or made a call. She hasn’t contacted him.”
“Monitoring her phone,” Ella repeated. “How are you doing that? Some kind of deal with the phone company?”
“Not exactly.”
Her gaze was on the phone she held. “The red dot is still moving. You’ll turn north in about two miles.” She wet her lower lip. “You’re monitoring her phone illegally, aren’t you? Using some spy tech?”
“I’m using my tech. But, yes, Uncle Sam uses it, too.”
“Cal didn’t recognize you because of any warning.” The red dot was still moving.
“He recognized me because he was hired to kidnap me.”
Her hold tightened on the phone. “Cal doesn’t strike me as being someone who is involved in the spy world.”
“No, he sure as shit does not. There were no links to that world when I searched his life.”
“This is about Shark Gaming. About you. Your company.” About money. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had come after the company. Her job had been to stop threats like this. But I left him.
“Looks that way.”
“When this red dot stops moving, you think we’re going to find Cal and the man who hired him.”
“Yes.” Clipped.
“We need more backup.” Not just Jacob who was tailing behind them. “I’m texting Niesha and Eric. When he stops moving, I’ll give them the coordinates for our red dot, and we will go in with guns blazing.”
***
Sweat covered Cal’s body when he burst into the factory. He’d already been scheduled to meet with his boss that night, so he knew the guy should be there. “Something’s happening!” Cal yelled as he whirled around and searched for the other man. “We got trouble!”
He heard the grind of a machine somewhere to the left, and his whole body jolted. When he turned around, he saw the machine pumping as an old conveyor belt rolled forward. The machine was pumping, and the conveyor was grinding loudly. The factory was creepy as hell to him, and he didn’t even know why the old machine was running. His boss was using the place for something, but he had no damn idea what it was. Didn’t care, either. He just wanted payment and a way out of town.
“What kind of trouble?” A low question from behind the pumping machine.
Relief flooded through him. The boss was there. “Antony Kyle found me tonight! Tracked me to a bar. He was asking me all kinds of questions about Axel.” Poor dead Axel. “Look, I know you offered me double on this deal if I’d grab that tech guy, but you left out some important shit when you hired me!” Very important shit.
The boss stayed in the shadows. “What kind of shit might that be?”
“Uh, like the fact that the guy isn’t some defenseless suit?” He rubbed his aching neck. “Thought that SOB was gonna kill me! And you shoulda seen the way he cut through my buddies at the bar! He was out of control!”
“Antony Kyle. He was out of control? We are talking about the same man?”
Cal kept rubbing his tender neck. He had freaking bruises all over. “Busted his glasses,” he mumbled. “Think that’s what