Chapter 50
“If my day goes any slower, I might be aging backwards,” Jane muttered as she sat with Jenn Wednesday afternoon. For the past four days, she’d been waiting for Rook to take the baited message she’d sent him.
Or rather, Diego had sent him. The challenge had been straight to the point. Nothing fancy. Jane had mentioned a few things. One, she wanted to get to the bottom of what August Kaminski had planned.
Two, she needed to have a face-to-face conversation so she and Rook could determine who would come out victorious.
Lastly, she’d complimented Rook on his play on words. Cooper and Bednarek.
But perhaps she’d been too boring. Too direct.
The waiting was killing her.
“Hey, Earth to Jane, what do you want to eat?”
Jane gave the server her order, sticking to salad and water since she had no appetite lately.
“You losing weight?” Jenn asked. “You look thinner.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I keep forgetting to eat breakfast.”
“That’s not good. A girl needs her protein.”
“True.” Jane sighed.
“Oh my God. One more sigh out of you and I’m taking you to medical. Buck up, Jane. You’ll get a hit on your guy. Guys. Whoever. Be patient.”
“Easy for you to say. You just closed a big case.”
Jenn’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “You got that right. I am thrilled that we found that last safehouse. Screw that guy. I hope his buddies find mean boyfriends in jail who do to them everything they did to those poor girls.”
They clinked water glasses. “I second that,” Jane said.
Jenn looked around and leaned in. “So who do you think Lionel is going to saddle you with? And what do you make of Nelson Rupert’s driver? Hot? Not hot?”
“Ew. Try criminal.” Unlike most of the fictional bad boys on TV that people found attractive, felon types never attracted Jane. “I prefer my heroes to be on the right side of the law.” She refused to think of Matthew. Not thinking about him grew both easier and harder day by day.
“Stickler.”
“Really? How’s Dash doing? He’s pretty far from a bad guy. And I like him.”
“You would.” Jenn grinned. “He’s amazing, actually. Handsome, intelligent, and he thinks I’m awesome. Obviously, he’s a great judge of character.” Pause. “Just like Sam.”
Jane groaned, which had Jenn laughing. “Enough. Your cousin and I are good friends. Say it with me. Friends.”
“Yeah, sure. He thinks you’re pretty.”
“Pretty boring.” Jane chuckled. “Your cousin is into adventure and travel. I just want to do my job and go home to my clean, almost-sterile, I think you called it, apartment each night. No partying. No dancing on tables. Just work and home.”
“All work and no play… You know the saying.”
“Yeah, but I’m happy.”
Jenn studied her. “But are you? Really?”
Before Jane could tell her, nicely, to knock it off, her phone rang. “Saved by the bell.”
“I’m not done with you, Ms. Avoidance.”
Jane deliberately said into her phone, “Agent Cannon.”
“Jane? We have a hit.”
Jane pulled her phone away to note the phone number. Then she put it back to her ear. “Diego? I thought you handed this off to Teri and Mark to track because you were slammed.”
“They couldn’t handle it. Besides, I’m in this now.” He sounded way too enthused.
“Okay. So what’s the message for me?”
“Your boy, Rook, says, ‘You want the truth? Meet me here.’ The here is coordinates that I already mapped out to a warehouse. And guess what? We’ve been there before.
When the Code Blue Killer left a circle of bodies in Tacoma.
” In the Mazzuca crime family ring they’d loosely tied—but could never prove—to August Kaminski.
“Seriously?” Jane tossed some bills down on the table and said to Jenn, “I have to go. Sorry.”
Jenn waved her on. “Good luck. Let me know if you need help.”
But Jane was already on the way. “Have you called anyone else?”
“I’m already putting the word through to Detective Ryan. Hold on.” After a pause, Diego said, “He’s got officers and is en route. Should I let him know you’re meeting him there?”
“Yes. But do you have the time to be handling this?”
“Oh, I’m back in Seattle. Didn’t I tell you?”
“What?” She rushed into her car, put a flasher light on the roof, and took off.
“Yeah. We can get back to that later. Detective Ryan seems like a nice guy.”
“He is.”
“Oh, and I’ll let your boss know. Plus, ASAC Haversham, since you said he should be read into everything we know.”
“We?”
She made a quick turn and readjusted her sense of direction. “Can you let Ray know I’ll be there in half an hour? Maybe sooner.” She’d missed having a computer genius on standby.
“Roger that. Be careful, Jane.”
“Always am.” She disconnected to focus on the road.
While Diego contacted everyone, Jane thought furiously. What did Rook have planned? Because no way he’d be there waiting for her, knowing she’d be bringing the cavalry.
She called Diego back.
“Yeah?”
“Make sure everyone is cautious. No rushing into the warehouse in case he has it wired with explosives.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah, that would suck. Okay, I’ll spread the word. I love it when the gang’s all back together!”
He hung up before she could question him further.
He called again.
“Diego, I—”
“It’s me, Jane.”
She frowned. Her youngest CI sounded scared. “Christian? Are you all right? What’s wrong?”
Then a new voice came on the line, one that made her angry and scared for the boy.
“Agent Jane Cannon. I’ve missed you.”
“Victor Bednarek. I’ve missed you too.”
He laughed, the raspy sound threatening and evil, reminding her all too clearly of the way he’d butchered three entire families.
“You’re going in the wrong direction, Agent Cannon.”
Christian shrieked, then went quiet.
“If you hurt him, you’ll pay.” She let the fear coalesce into focus, determined to fix this here and now.
“I can’t wait. Come and get me. I’ll be in the Greenbelt, near my little friend’s house in the jungle. Come alone or you’ll find him in pieces. First, I’ll start with his ears. Then his eyes, his nose, his lips…”
“I’m coming, Victor. And when I get there, I’m going to show you what pain really means.”
He tittered. “Oh, Agent Cannon. I can’t wait. Hurry up, but make sure you drive safely. We’ll be waiting. And watching…”
Jane stepped harder on the accelerator, aware of a car following her, with no time to do anything other than handle what came next.
Christian’s life was on the line.