“No. Somebody else did. I figured I should call you.”
She’s cleverer than I thought. “You did well.”
“I have their plate.”
“No need.” It’s likely fake. “Just tell me what happened.”
She does, her words rushing out so fast that each syllable tumbles over one another in a hurry. I pull out the pertinent facts and quietly add Eric Jones to my non-urgent to-do list.
When she continues to babble, I cut her off. “Let me talk to my contacts and see what I can do.” Then I hang up before she can add more unnecessary information in the name of “helping.”
As I stand, Lizochka comes out of her office. “I just got a text from Rhonda. Is Angelika okay?”
She must’ve ended her conference call early. No matter how important the foundation’s mission is to her, she isn’t the type who can ignore what happens to her people.
“Let’s go into your office,” I say.
Once we’re in her office, she whirls around. “Our intern gets kidnapped in broad daylight, only three blocks away?”
I nod. Unlike Rhonda, Lizochka doesn’t panic. But then, she has a core of steel underneath that pretty exterior.
“I need to talk to Paul,” she says.
Paul is the chief of police. “That should help. I’ll track her my way.”
“Please tell me you put a tracker on her.”
I smile a little. I didn’t just hack Angelika’s phone, but put a tracking code in the OS. And right now, it’s traveling down the 110 toward Long Beach. My guess is they’re heading to one of the empty warehouses near the port. That’s the most logical and easiest option someone like Roy would choose for kidnapping a defenseless young woman.
He should’ve hired a better-quality crew. Third-rate thugs don’t pay attention to important details like tossing the kidnapped person’s phone. Rhonda said three people were involved. Bet they’re smug and overconfident. How can three gangbangers lose one unarmed woman?
“You can find her, right?” Lizochka says.
“Yes.”
“And bring her back safely?”
I put my hands on her shoulders. “I promise. She’ll be fine.”
I didn’t come up with a backup plan just to botch it. And after I dispose of Roy today, she won’t leave me.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Angelika
The men park in a deserted lot with weeds growing between cracks. I look around…but there’s nobody. Just empty service roads with no traffic. The air has a hint of the sea, but I doubt we’re near a crowded beach.
Are they going to kill me and throw my body into the water?
I clench my teeth so they don’t chatter. I don’t want to die. Not like this. But I don’t want to beg for my life, either. Roy would enjoy that, but it wouldn’t save me. He said he’d come kill me when I was at my happiest.
The irony makes me want to laugh. When I was truly at my happiest, he didn’t show. Now that I’m in a cold war with Tolyan, Roy’s here.
As Rings hauls me out of the car, I consider resisting. I could kick him…and then what? Run? He and his buddies could be carrying guns. I’d only end up getting shot, which means if the universe decides to give me a real opening, I might be too hurt to take advantage. So for now, I’m going to play along and look for a way to escape.
The three drag me inside a huge, dilapidated building. There is only one room in the left corner with a door still intact. Two folding chairs. One is empty. Obviously for me.
The other…