He said nothing, just breathed hard. She remembered that, too.
‘Am I clear, Ephraim?’ she asked again.
‘Yeah. You come alone. No cops. And bring the key with you.’
But . . . I don’t have it anymore. He doesn’t know that. ‘What’s it worth to you?’
He snarled again. ‘Let me put it to you this way. When I get my hands on you, if I find that you haven’t brought that key, I’ll show your friend Farrah what I do to women who cross me.’
Mercy’s stomach rolled. Oh God, oh God, oh God.
He laughed at her silence. ‘I see you remember what that means. Oh, and if I see any cops, your friends die and my mother’s just gonna have to deal. Am I clear?’
She swallowed hard. ‘Crystal clear,’ she whispered.
‘Then wait for my instructions.’
The call ended and Mercy’s knees gave out. She sank to the floor, her back against the closet door. ‘Oh my God,’ she whispered, rocking herself. ‘Oh my God.’
Sacramento, California
Wednesday, 19 April, 12.15 P.M.
Rafe blew out a breath, then, balancing on one foot, lowered himself to the floor beside her. Stretching his bad leg in front of him, he turned the volume on his phone back up and pulled Mercy close to him. She was shaking like a leaf, goddammit. ‘You get all that, Dad?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ Karl said. ‘Mercy . . . thank you. We’re not letting you trade yourself, just so you know, but thank you for being willing. And for making sure Damien was still alive, too.’
‘Yes, lubimaya,’ Irina said, no longer crying, but her voice was still thick and unsteady. ‘Thank you. But what did Farrah mean about her allergy medication?’
‘She’s allergic to trees,’ Mercy said weakly. ‘It was her way of telling us that she’s outside.’
‘He might still have that camper,’ Rafe said. ‘If so, he’s mobile, which sucks. But if he’s actually using Farrah’s phone – versus spoofing her number – we can track it.’
‘How long will that take, Raphael?’ Irina asked, hope in her voice for the first time.
Mercy shook her had. ‘No cops for now, please? He means what he says and I don’t trust that Molina won’t ride in with a platoon of black SUVs. Let me try something else first.’
Rafe didn’t want to upset her, but he was bringing in the police. At least those in SacPD who he trusted.
‘Please,’ she begged, and Rafe sighed.
‘What are you going to try?’ he asked, without making any promises.
‘Finding Farrah’s phone.’
Rafe felt a spurt of hope. ‘You have a Find My Friends app or something?’
She shook her head and his hope fizzled. ‘I don’t. The very thought of anyone tracking me makes my skin itch. Farrah and I just text each other. Was Gideon able to start a trace when I was talking to Ephraim?’
‘Not sure. He hasn’t gotten back to me yet. He’s working on it now. I’m going to call my lieutenant. He can add our tech resources.’
‘Gideon has brought in the FBI?’ Irina asked, fear in her voice. ‘I trust Gideon, but I don’t know who he’s working with, nor do I know your lieutenant. Burton might kill them, Raphael. Can’t we just use Find My Phone?’
‘Farrah has an Android phone, plus you need to enable those location apps, Irina. It’s not something you can use without turning it on in your settings first. Just give me two minutes. I need to call Mama Romero back. She might be able to see Farrah’s phone.’ Mercy dialed Mrs Romero, blurting out, ‘She’s alive,’ as soon as Farrah’s mother answered. ‘I talked to her.’
‘She’s alive?’ Mrs Romero asked through her tears. ‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure. I heard her voice. But she’s being held hostage. And you’re on speaker,’ Mercy added. ‘I’m with Rafe and his parents. Their son Damien is with Farrah and André. Farrah’s the smartest woman I know and André and Damien are good cops. They’ll figure out how to hold on until I can get to them.’
‘We,’ Rafe muttered.
Mrs Romero whispered a thankful prayer. ‘But . . . this is the man who killed our Quill, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ Mercy said. ‘And we don’t know what he’s going to ask me to do, but he has her phone. He called me from it.’
‘Us to do,’ Rafe said. ‘Us. Not you. Dammit, Mercy.’
Mercy huffed impatiently. ‘Fine. Us, not me. Now let me talk. Mama, do you still have that tracking app on your phone? The one you made us download when we went on that cruise last year?’
Rafe’s eyes widened. ‘Really?’
Mercy nodded. ‘There were over twenty of us who went and we had a mix of iPhones, Androids, and even a few Google phones. Mama Romero didn’t want to lose anyone, so she found an app that would work with everyone’s phone.’
‘I do!’ Mrs Romero’s voice was trembling. ‘I’m looking now. Don’t you have it?’
Mercy winced. ‘No, I took it off because I’m too paranoid. But can you see if Farrah still has it?’
Mrs Romero exhaled on a soft cry. ‘She’s here. I can see her phone. It’s blinking. She’s somewhere called . . . Dunsmuir?’
‘That’s up near Mt. Shasta,’ Rafe said, excitedly, then sighed. ‘That’s a lot of area to search. Mrs Romero, can you make a screenshot? Maybe zoom out so that we can get a better—’
Mrs Romero gasped, interrupting him. ‘Oh no. It’s gone. The blinking dot is gone. I started to take a screenshot for you, but the dot is gone!’
‘It’s okay, Mama.’ Mercy was trying to soothe, but her voice was thin and thready. ‘He’s probably just turned her phone off. But we know about where he is. I’m leaving right now.’
‘No, ma’am.’ Rafe put his hand on Mercy’s thigh when she started to stand up. ‘We need a plan. I’m not letting Mercy trade herself, and she will have backup.’
‘What can I do?’ Mrs Romero whispered.
‘Stay where you are,’ Rafe said, ‘and answer if you get a call from Farrah’s phone. Let André’s family know that he’s alive and ask them if they can track his phone as well. But do not go to the press. I don’t know who we’ll notify here, and I don’t know if you should notify your area police or not, but I don’t think they can do anything that we can’t do here. The more people who know, the more likely it is to leak out. We don’t want that.’