Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,119

device. And with that, Mack and her team of happy hackers were able to dig through networks and service providers to work out his phone’s IMEI number. The idiot should have used a VPN. Unfortunately, he was tech-savvy enough to have turned his phone off, so we couldn’t locate him right now, but he’d pinged off cell towers near Sevierville earlier, and that was where we were headed. I was in the helicopter with Black, Ana, and Alaric, and the rest of the team was coming by road.

Had we mentioned this little snippet of information to the police? Not exactly. We’d already gone the semi-legal route with Ridley once and look where it got us. He’d escaped. This time, we’d play for keeps. The cops were using their manpower to stake out the most likely locations as they saw it—anywhere Ridley had lived or had family or known acquaintances. Who was watching the Devane properties? Reporters and sightseers, that was who. Yes, still. Apparently, crime tourism was a growing phenomenon, which meant Ridley would be a fool to go near any of those places.

Of course, we still had the problem of what to do about the ransom request. The note asked for twenty million dollars in Bitcoin to secure the girls’ release and said Ridley would be in touch. He’d wanted me, but when his plan went wrong, he’d adapted on the fly, and now he was using people I cared about as leverage.

Motherfucker.

Black didn’t want to send the money. Not only because it would break Blackwood’s policy and set a dangerous precedent, but because Ridley wouldn’t know honour if it bit him on the ass, and on past form, he’d kill the hostages out of spite. But Black had offered the cash anyway. The final decision was up to Alaric. Whether we sent the funds or not, we’d hunt Ridley to the ends of the fucking earth.

“But will we be too late?” Alaric asked in response to Black’s assurances.

We could be already. I squeezed Alaric’s hand, and for once, Black didn’t seem bothered by that.

“Let’s try to stay positive.”

Alaric looked haggard, hardly surprising since he’d had no sleep since Thursday and barely eaten either. He’d held up a lot better through the Emerald aftermath. I guess it only went to show what was important in Alaric’s world—people, not work or material possessions.

“If I knew they were alive, I’d pay anything.”

“What if we ask for proof of life?” Ana asked.

Standard procedure in a kidnapping case, but there was a slight hitch, as Alaric already knew.

“How? That motherfucker didn’t give us a way to contact him.”

Black hadn’t said much on the journey. He’d been too busy thinking, and I let him get on with it. Now more than ever, we needed his insights.

“There might be a way,” he said. “If Ridley uses the web form again, we can have Mack set it so any mention of cryptocurrency triggers a pop-up message. No proof of life, no money. If Beth and Rune are still alive, he’ll comply because he needs the funds to run. His finances are in bad shape.” Too much play, not enough work. “And if they’re dead, we’re no worse off.”

“Could you not be so blunt?” I muttered.

“Sorry.”

“Get Mack to do it,” Alaric said. “Tell Ridley we need to hear from both of them. Beth and Rune. If they’re still breathing, we take a chance and send the ransom.”

CHAPTER 47 - BETH

“HE’S COMING!” RUNE hissed.

For the first time in three days, we heard footsteps. Clomp, clomp, clomp on the wooden floor overhead.

“Quick, put the handcuffs back on.”

We’d discussed whether to leave our hands free or not, whether to try and escape by force if Ridley came back. But ultimately, we’d decided against it. Ridley had a gun, and in the confines of the cellar, we’d be sitting ducks. And if we left the cuffs off, he’d no doubt wonder how we’d undone them in the first place. Most likely, he’d search us, confiscate the key, and then put the cuffs back on, which would leave us in an even worse position.

I knew we’d made the right decision when Ridley called out from the other side of the door.

“Stand back, or I’ll kill you.”

We retreated to the corner and waited. Would he notice our rain collection device? Or the empty jars? Hopefully not—my sweater was navy blue, and the food was all at the other end of the cellar.

The door creaked open and Ridley’s silhouette appeared at the top of