Noah blew out a breath. He was closer to feeling like she did than he cared to admit. “It’s part of special ops, babe. We wait and wait and wait—and then we go, adrenaline flooding our bodies, and we get the job done. This time will be the same. You’ll see.”
“I appreciate that you’re so positive.” She frowned. “It’s been four hours since Owen Fisher was here, and I haven’t left the house. He’s going to wonder, isn’t he?”
“Probably. But he gave you until tomorrow, so he’s not likely to do anything yet.”
She nibbled her lower lip, and he found himself wanting to kiss her to reassure her. And himself.
“You’re right. I guess we wait.”
He put an arm around her and hugged her to his side. “We wait.”
Jenna considered herself a patient person, but this time the waiting was torture. After the initial success of learning what kind of vehicle Owen Fisher was in and finding the type of GPS tracker he’d used on her and Aunt Maggie, there was no progress. Hacker had narrowed down the flights and potential rentals, but he was still going through them.
By the time Bliss called, it was nearly midnight. Hacker put her on speaker again.
“We’re in the safe,” she said. “But there’s no device in it. There’s nothing except a sealed envelope.”
“Open it,” Jenna said. “Please.”
Paper rattled and then Bliss whistled. “If you’re reading this, you might be looking for my fortune. You won’t find it. If I’m gone, it’s gone. 3000 Bitcoin. You do the math. If you know me well, then you know what my most prized possession is. Maybe that will help. Maybe not. If I’m dead, which is a real possibility, then I’m laughing right now because they won’t get the money back. I did what I had to do, and I took what I had to take. That’s all the explanation you get. ~ Sam”
“Goddammit, Sam,” Jenna growled, her heart throbbing. “Why would you do that?”
“I’m sorry, Jenna,” Bliss said. “But at least we know what we’re looking for. Sky, better get busy faking an e-wallet for Jenna. How much is that, anyway?”
“Today?” Sky asked. “About ninety million dollars.”
“Good God,” someone muttered.
“That’s a fuck-ton of money. No wonder they want it back,” Noah said. He reached for Jenna’s hand and squeezed. “Sorry.”
“Bliss,” Jenna said before the other woman hung up. “Can you look at the painting, specifically the frame?”
“Sure can. What am I looking for?”
“A USB device, or something like that.” Excitement began to bubble inside her. “Sam once said to me that the painting was his most prized possession. I don’t know if it means anything or not, but what if he hid something in the frame?”
“Okay. This will take a little time. It’s a big painting.”
They waited while Bliss spoke to someone in the background. The minutes ticked by excruciatingly. Jenna couldn’t help but think that the clock was running down and she was no closer to having the money than before. Ninety million dollars. No wonder the Flanagans had noticed. If Sam had taken a couple hundred thousand, they might not have realized it. She would never know his reasons or how he got the money in the first place. It was useless wondering.
But she was still angry about it. She had every right to be since he’d dragged her into it without her knowledge. Just being there with him, being his assistant, had been enough.
“Bingo,” Bliss said. “There’s a USB stick wedged into a hollowed-out notch on the back of the frame. Nothing else, though. No more paper anywhere.”
“Good work, babe,” Sky said. “Please get your cute ass out of there and come home.”
“On my way, darlin’. I should just make the red-eye.”
The call ended and everyone seemed to let out a collective sigh. Haylee and Scarlett had arrived earlier, then left again after a couple of hours because they had to work tomorrow. Brooke was still there, and all the guys, including Jake “Harley” Ryan and his fiancée, Eva Gray, who was a gorgeous, heavily tattooed woman with a kind smile. Jenna didn’t think she’d been at her best for meeting new people today and she’d apologized for it, but Eva told her not to worry and they’d have plenty of time to get to know each other later. Then she’d hugged Jenna and said, “Welcome to the family.”
It’d been comforting at the time, though nothing comforted her for long. There was too much at stake.
“Now what?” Jenna asked tiredly. “I have to get the money to him by noon, and time is running out. I don’t even know where it’s supposed to happen, or what I have to do.”
Fisher said he’d be in touch, but how was he going to do that? She had no idea.
Hacker rubbed a temple. “I don’t know what we’re dealing with until we get that e-wallet, but you should all know that it’s impossible to fake Bitcoin. It’s a blockchain transaction, and it’s incredibly secure. We could possibly mock up something to show a flush account, but the moment you try to transfer it, nothing’s going to happen.”
“Can you crack the password to the e-wallet?” Saint asked.
Hacker shook his head. “No. You only get a few tries, then you’re locked out forever. It’s happened to legit owners before. They lose the credentials and the money is gone. Nobody gets it.”
“Then we’re going to need another plan,” Noah said. “We have to find that son of a bitch, and we have to get the drop on him.”
“I’m working on it. I’ve got it narrowed down to three white Tahoes. One’s at a residential address in Clinton, another’s at a hotel in Laurel, and the third is at an apartment complex in Edgewater. My money’s on Edgewater since it’s the closest. None of the Tahoes were rented by an Owen Fisher, but I don’t suppose we expected that.”
“Nope,” Saint said. “Maybe we need to take a ride and see if we can’t pick up a signal from Maggie’s transmitter. What’s the name on that Tahoe?”
“Patrick Morgan.”
Jenna felt a tickle of recognition. “I’ve seen that name on some of the contracts that Sam had me type. Patrick Morgan is a contractor for the Flanagans. Oh sweet Jesus, a contractor. That’s not even subtle, is it?”
“Not really,” Hacker said. “Okay, so that’s probably our guy. He’s at the Palms in Edgewater—though all I can do is track the Tahoe. I won’t know which apartment unless Maggie’s device is still transmitting when we get close.”
“I want to go,” Gem said.
“Me too,” said Muffin and Zany at once.
Jenna teared up. They were the ones who’d gone to get Aunt Maggie only yesterday, so the fact they wanted to be there to save her aunt and Alice now was touching.
“I’m going, too,” Jenna said. “I can’t stay here and wait any longer.”
Noah’s expression was filled with empathy. “You can’t go, Jen.” She started to say something in protest, but he went on before she could. “He knows where you are. If he’s monitoring the transmitter and sees you approaching, it’s over.”