Poor Melissa looks scared as she takes in what I’m cradling in my arms, but I don’t have time for explanations. Those sirens are coming closer.
“The SUV across the street, Melissa.”
She doesn’t argue and follows me to the other side of the road.
Luckily, Janey left the vehicle unlocked so I urge the girl to climb in the back. I join her after tossing my guns in the cargo space. By then Janey is running toward us, the much smaller woman dragging Lee across the street.
“Airbnb,” I say when she gets behind the wheel.
She nods and starts the engine.
I look behind me when she peels away from the curb, and just as she turns a corner to get to the highway, I catch sight of flashing lights pulling into the street behind us.
That was too close.
I keep an eye out the rear window while pulling my phone from my pocket, dialing Raj, who answers after only one ring.
“Heads-up. There was an incident at the reporter’s house. We’re coming in hot with Remington and the girl. Doesn’t look like we have a tail, but you never know. We’re getting on to the 4 South. I need you to wait for us at the bottom of the airport exit and check for tails. We’ll use backroads to backtrack to the Airbnb.”
“On my way.” I can hear she’s already on the move. “Want me to get on the horn with Jacob?”
“No. I’d better call him myself.” I wince, not looking forward to the prospect. “Keep your fingers crossed he took out full insurance on my rental.”
“Ouch,” Raj says softly.
Ouch, indeed.
“Yeah. Oh, and Ra-Onyx?”
I only barely catch myself using her real name and immediately am concerned someone heard me call out for Janey earlier. Dammit. I know better.
“Yeah?”
“Keep an eye out for an unmarked police vehicle.”
I hear her muffled curse before she comes back with, “Will do.”
By the time Janey pulls the SUV into the garage of the rental house, I’ve already warned Jacob about the shooting. He’d been about to call Janey, having heard a call about a disturbance come in over the scanner.
Figures. Any time I try to get a visual image of our boss, I envision someone in some kind of command center in a bunker, surrounded by telephones, computers, and an array of electronics, monitoring the world. The man seems to have eyes and ears everywhere, yet manages to stay invisible himself.
The garage door rumbles closed behind us, and I rush to get out and make sure we get Lee and the girl safely inside.
Raj comes in the front door, and I hand the impromptu guests over to her care while I head back to the garage to collect my weapons. I pass by the open door of the powder room, showing Janey in front of the mirror, lifting one side of her hair to examine a nasty-looking gash on the side of her head.
That’s no cut from flying glass.
“Glass, huh?”
Her eyes snap to mine in the reflection of the mirror.
“It’s just a graze.”
I shake my head.
“Raj is in the kitchen. Get her to put some clotting powder on there. You’re bleeding all over the place.”
It’s a fairly shallow groove, but head wounds are notorious for bleeding, and there’s no way this one can be closed up any other way. She’ll have a nice scar, good thing it’ll be covered by her hair.
“Oh.” I remember as she squeezes by me. “I still don’t know where those deposits came from.”
She swivels around, a grin on her bloodied face making her look almost maniacal.
“GlanTox.”
“Never heard of it,” I tell her, wondering why she’s wearing such a smug expression.
“It’s a new, up-and-coming biotech company, and one of Melnyk’s biggest campaign sponsors.”
None of what she says means anything, but it clearly means something to her.
“GlanTox is a subsidiary of Glan Industries.”
Glan.
The penny drops.
GlanTox, Glan Industries, and I’m willing to bet Glan Development is yet another branch.
Glan Development, the company that chartered the yacht in the Caribbean.
The company putting on the personal development seminar Krebs, Germain, and Melnyk all took part in.
That cannot be a coincidence.
TWENTY-FOUR
Mitch
“Jacob, you’re on speaker.”
Matt places his cell phone in the middle of the table.
“It’s just Joe, Mitch, and myself here.”
“Good. We’ve had a bit of a situation at the Remington house.”
I surge to my feet and grab the edge of the table. The energy in the room immediately pitches higher, and renewed fear claws at my throat.
I meet Matt’s eyes over the table.
“What kind of situation?” he asks, holding my gaze.
“Drive-by shooting. Pearl and Opal were in the driveway when the car drove up. Bastard destroyed the house, but Remington and the girl are unharmed.”
What the fuck does that mean? Is Opal hurt?
I want to ask but my fucking chest hurts so bad I can barely get my breath.
“The women? Are they okay?” Matt asks for me.
“They’re fine. They returned fire and the guy took off, but we moved…”
I’m no longer listening as I lean forward over the table, willing my heart to stop hammering and trying to force air into my lungs.
A heavy hand lands on my shoulder, pushing down, as Joe’s voice sounds right by my ear.
“Sit down before you fall down, and breathe, motherfucker.”
I unlock my knees and make a hard landing on the chair. The white dots dancing in front of my eyes dissipate as the tight band around my chest slowly releases.
I just catch Jacob saying, “…says it looked like an older model police cruiser.”
“We have video of my daughter being taken in an unmarked Crown Vic,” I tell him, my voice hoarse.
“Security feed?”
“From a gas station across the street,” Matt fills in.
Branch is quiet for a moment.
Then he says, “I’m guessing you didn’t get much?”
“Other than the make, and the fact it’s still rigged up with lights, no. I have a buddy at the lab trying to clean up a still shot we have of the license plate.”
“Chances are, it’s a stolen plate anyway.”
“Probably, but we’re about to go over departmental vehicle auction records.”
“Ah, smart. Let me know if something pops up.”
“Will do. And if you have something…” Matt returns.
“Actually, I might have something interesting. Nothing substantiated, mind you,” Jacob is quick to disclaim. Probably code for: not obtained by legal means. “And I’m not sure it’s helpful at this point, but we have reason to believe Congressman Melnyk is a bigger player in this sex ring than we thought.”
He doesn’t elaborate much before he ends the call, only to say that they discovered information suggesting Melnyk may be recruiting like-minded perverts with fat pocketbooks.
Interesting, but it doesn’t really help me get any closer to finding my daughter, who is in the hands of someone who apparently thinks nothing of shooting up a peaceful family neighborhood in his attempt to tie off loose ends.