Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
“We got a match on prints from the house.” Officer Logan read off the computer screen. “Randy Spivey. Younger than Malloy. No real record, but he’s been traveling to Mexico regularly.”
“Probably running the same scam as Tawnya with finding unsuspecting mules. See if you can get a location on him. If he’s here and goes back to the house, he could alert Tawnya.” Clara didn’t need to finish her thought.
Linc had called Angela Hoffman and looped her in. So far, her contacts hadn’t turned up anything new on Tawnya or Heath Malloy. For the past hour, he, Kendra, Clara, and Clara’s partner had called hotels in Acapulco on the off chance they’d find a reservation in Tawnya’s name. They’d called over a hundred hotels. The futility grew heavier with each call.
The clone of Malloy’s phone vibrated a short while later. “Another text from Tawnya asking for an update,” Linc announced. “I need to walk around for a few minutes and think.” He’d been spinning up plan B while making the phone calls, but he needed to concentrate.
Under the cloudy sky, he hoofed it around the police station’s parking lot, working through scenarios. He’d been totally focused on getting to Mexico to save Bri personally. Now he knew that wasn’t going to happen. This time, it was he who was wrong. He hadn’t listened when Dev or Clara suggested the option he kept circling back to. Bri’s best option was to save herself.
He racked his brain, trying to think of a way he could communicate that to her and let her know she’d be okay.
Duh! He had made this too complicated. Bri needed to see they had Jalen. They could make a video and work something in. However, Malloy’s unconsciousness in a hospital bed presented a problem, as Tawnya would expect to talk with him, even see him.
But Clara said they’d interrogated him. What if . . . That could work. It was their best shot.
He jogged to the entrance and into the squad room. “You said Malloy was questioned recently. Did you record that?”
“We always do,” Clara answered.
“Do you still have the recording?”
“We should. Why?”
“Because I’ve got a software program that can clone his voice. We’ve used it in the field successfully. We can even use images to create a filter to make it look like him on the screen. We make Tawnya think Malloy has Jalen, so Bri will agree to smuggle the drugs.”
“That could work,” Clara agreed. “How long will it take to do the cloning? We don’t want her getting impatient.”
“Not long. If you can cut out everything but him speaking, that will save time, and the longer the clip we give it, the better it’ll match. I’ll need to listen to him to make sure I sound and speak like him, or we’ll blow this. But if Bri knows Jalen’s safe with me and that we know what’s going on, she’ll do what they want, and we get her back here.”
“If she thinks they have her son, she’ll do what they want. She might try to escape or fight,” Clara reasoned.
“Bri won’t fight for herself.” How he wished she would, but she never had. “She will, however, fight for Jalen. She’ll come here.”
“And Jalen’s what, four? You can’t rely on him not to say the wrong thing,” Clara pointed out.
“True.” He hadn’t figured that part out yet. But Bri had to know Linc had come. That he’d help save her.
“And Mrs. Feldman’s in the hospital. What if Tawnya asks about her?” Clara continued to shoot holes in his plan.
“They’re looking for me to get to Jalen, right?” Kendra said. “We make her think he got both of us, and I can convey the message.”
“If she asks about Mrs. Feldman, I say I’m keeping them separated because that would be smarter than putting them all together,” Linc solved that problem.
“But how will you let Bri know that you’re here without tipping off Tawnya?”
“This.” He pulled the black geometric stone on a leather cord from under his shirt. “If Bri sees it, she’ll know that I’m here.”
“Why’s that?” Clara asked.
“She got the set for us after Mom and her dad died. There’s a magnet in each. You put them together, and they form a heart. This is my half. Hers is silver.” He didn’t take his off.
“All right. We can alert TSA and Homeland Security. Have them ask officials in Mexico to let them through security, and then we track Tawnya with the suitcase full of drugs to whoever she’s working for and take them down. We explain Bri is only doing this under duress, and they could catch the real players, and Bri shouldn’t face any charges. I’ll go to bat for her,” Clara said.
“I need to get my computer. You get that interrogation footage, and contact HSI.” His heart pounded with renewed hope. This could work. It had to.
By the time Linc returned to the station, the tech had distilled a copy of the interrogation recording to just Malloy. Clara gave him an office to work in where he uploaded the file for the program to run on his computer. Then, the two watched the video of Malloy’s interrogation, making notes of specific word choices and speech patterns.
The cloned phone rang just as Linc got deep into character as Malloy. Rather than answer, he texted.
Can’t talk here
Where the hell have you been
Working on getting the kid
I’m close
Close enough to give the program a run-through. He recorded a sample and viewed it, then made some tweaks to the timing.
This could work, especially if he limited his screen time and audio to focus on showing Jalen and let Kendra plead with Bri. He loaded the filters onto his phone and called Kendra in.
He took off his necklace and fastened it around her neck. “I’m gonna want this back.”
“I figured you would.” She touched the stone with her fingertip. “You’re a remarkable man and brother, Linc Porter.”
“I don’t know about that.” He’d let Bri down, and he couldn’t afford to let her down again.
“Trust me, in my line of work, I see a lot of things. Bri has turned things around—in large part because of you. And you’re an amazing uncle to Jalen.”
“That part’s easy. Bri’s the one carrying the load with all she does for him.” Though Kendra saying that, and the way she stared into his eyes, instilled a sense of value and worth that ignited the longing he had worked to suppress. He would have kissed her right here if Clara hadn’t been standing a few feet away.
“Let’s give it a try live. I’ll call your cell and see if it looks and sounds convincing,” he said to Clara before addressing Kendra. “We’re just going to do one run-through because we don’t want you to sound rehearsed. You should sound nervous and scared. But it’s important to draw attention to the necklace. If you do that when you tell her it will be okay to do what they want, she should get the message.”
After a successful run-through with Clara calling Linc’s transformation to look and sound like Malloy as scarily realistic, it was time to do this for real. Linc messaged Walt to have him bring Jalen to meet them at the house where Malloy had held Regina.
They drove to just outside the city on a road where the homes were spaced far enough away from neighbors to provide privacy, though they’d surely noticed the earlier police presence. If Malloy had a partner who drove by then or now, this whole plan would tank.
A chill gripped Linc the moment he walked in, despite the home’s normal appearance. Kendra kept close to his side, as if she felt the darkness too.
“It’s likely Tawnya’s been here before,” Clara said as they passed through the foyer. “He kept Mrs. Feldman in the walk-in closet in the main bedroom. We need to use another room for Kendra and Jalen.”
“Nice. Stick an old woman in a dark closet,” Linc muttered.
“If Malloy survives, he’ll be spending decades in a cell. No way he’s skating, even if he cooperates.”
“Good,” Kendra said, eyeing Linc like she could guess what he’d like to do to Malloy if he walked free.
They checked out the other bedrooms.
“This one works. I’ll film you and Jalen on the futon there.” Thankfully, they wouldn’t be real hostages—which could have happened. That thought ripped through him. If he’d blown off Bri’s message or the chief hadn’t let him come, Jalen could have been taken. What would Bri’s chances of getting home have been then? She’d sacrifice herself, even her grandmother, for Jalen. Now, she needed to know it was safe to go along with the smuggling plan.
Walt arrived with Jalen a few minutes later.
“Missed you, J-man.” Linc lifted him into his arms. “I appreciate you and Tammy helping out.”
“Happy to. He’s good at following orders, so he’s welcome anytime.” Walt and Jalen exchanged a salute.
“I’ll let you know.” With Walt now in a non-deploying position, if this play didn’t work to get Bri home safely, or she ended up facing charges and jail time in Mexico, maybe the Shulers would consider fostering Jalen. They’d let Linc see him and stay involved in his life. He prayed it didn’t come down to it, but it would be a loving home where he’d have family and stability, which was more than Linc could give him.
“Beckham’s my new friend. We went to the park bof days. I hurt my knee.” Jalen pointed to the bandage.
“Sorry about that,” Walt said. “No stitches needed, so I didn’t call.”
“No worries. You’re tough like me, right?” Linc tickled Jalen’s tummy.
“Tough guys.” Jalen flexed his little bicep.
“See you again soon.” Walt gave Jalen a fist bump in farewell, both adding the finger waggle explosion.
“We’re going inside and see Ms. Kendra for a minute. I’m going to make a video of her, and I need you to sit with her but not say anything. Can you do that for me?”
“Why?”
“I need to send it to somebody.”
“To Mommy?”
“Yes.”
“I wanna tell her I miss her.” Jalen teared up, his tough guy facade crumbling in seconds.
“You can tell her that at the end.” He couldn’t risk Jalen mentioning Uncle Linc being here, so recording it would be the safest option versus live. He took Jalen inside before the hole in his chest expanded. Maybe he wasn’t meant to have his own family, but he would do whatever it took to protect Jalen and Bri.
After Jalen showed Kendra the bandage on his knee, Linc got them on the futon.
Once he positioned himself to film, Jalen smiled big and waved to the camera. That wasn’t going to work. “Pretend I’m a scary monster,” Linc said.
Instead of looking scared, Jalen pretended to shoot him with an imaginary gun. In other circumstances, it might have been cute. However, cute was the antithesis of what he was going for here. He didn’t want to have to tie up and blindfold his nephew.
“How about you pretend Uncle Linc told you that you can’t watch your show and you don’t get a snack,” Kendra suggested.
That worked.
“Keep that face on, J-man, and let Miss Kendra talk.”
Kendra wrapped her arms protectively around Jalen and projected the perfect terrified expression.
He pressed record and gave her the go signal.
“Bri, we know what they want you to do, and that you don’t want to.” Kendra’s voice shook convincingly, and she touched Linc’s half of the heart necklace. “If you do it, then we’ll be all right, and you will too. You need to do what they want.”
“I miss you, Mommy. Come home soon,” Jalen piped in with the perfect timing.
“Give me a minute,” he stepped out and replayed the video for Clara.
“You couldn’t ask for anything better. Let’s keep them here while you send that to Tawnya in case she wants more.”
In a perfect world, he could send the video without using the program to impersonate Malloy, but he didn’t bank on that happening as he typed out a message.
Mission accomplished.
He didn’t expect an immediate response, but one minute turned to two to three.
Inside the bedroom, Kendra played a game on her phone with Jalen while Linc continued to stare at Malloy’s phone in his hand. When it finally rang, he startled. Seeing it wasn’t a video like he’d feared, he activated the voice filter before answering. “That work?”
“It did. Just in time.”
“Good. I’m taking a lot of risk here.”
“She’s definitely a one-and-done. I’ll take her with me to the delivery. We won’t have to worry about her after that.”
Linc’s blood froze in his veins. Malloy would know what that meant. Linc could only guess—and he sure as hell didn’t like his guess. “And these three?”
“We need them for now. She wants them at the airport before turning over the suitcase.”
“I’m not bringing three people to the airport.”
“Just bring the kid. Do whatever you want with the other two. He’s the one that matters. We’ll move to our next location early. You and I can get set up, and Randy can come when he’s done with his next delivery. We’re almost there.” She ended the call.
“You got that, right?” he asked Clara through gritted teeth.
“I did.”
“We can’t let Bri leave the airport with Tawnya.”
“I’ll reach out to my contact at HSI. We’ll come up with a plan. And it’s not ‘we.’ You cannot be at the airport. Tawnya knows Bri has a brother. If she knows what you look like and spots you, you’ll blow the op.”
“But if they’re in the airport, Tawnya won’t be armed.”
“She’s just one piece of this. Who knows how many people like her and Randy are running the same play, possibly targeting single moms. We need to aim higher if we’re going to make a difference and get the major players.”
“I get where you’re coming from, but I’m not offering up my sister as a sacrifice for the greater good.”
“That is not my intention. I’m asking you to let us come up with a plan that protects Bri but gives us enough solid evidence that Tawnya can’t walk away with a deal. I want her doing serious time.”
“Agreed.” The bitch deserved every bit of bad karma coming her way.
“Until we learn if Spivey is here or out of the country, I need you watching over Jalen and Kendra, not locked up for interfering with a police investigation. Why don’t you take Jalen to the hospital to see his great-grandmother?”
He’d experienced getting the brush off enough over the years to know now wasn’t the time to push. While he doubted she’d really lock him up, he needed to show he could be a team player if he wanted her to share their plan for protecting Bri so he could evaluate any action he might need to take. “I’m trusting you,” he warned before opening the bedroom door. He motioned to Kendra and Jalen.
“I haf to go to the bathroom.” Jalen pulled up the front of his shorts.
“Of course you do. Is it okay to use one here?” Linc asked Clara.
“Yeah, they’ve processed the entire scene.”
“Will you come wif me? Jalen asked Linc. “I don’t like it here.”
Kendra watched Jalen take Linc’s hand, and the two disappeared into the bathroom. Even Jalen picked up on the vibe in the house. “Am I free to go home now?” she asked Clara.
“I’m afraid not until we know where Spivey is. He could be looking for you, and we don’t know if Tawnya will relay our claim that Malloy got you both. I don’t think it’ll be too much of a hardship for you to be stuck with your sexy protector a little while longer.”
“You don’t need to do me any favors.”
“I’m not. I can see you two are on the same page. He really is good with Jalen too.” Clara leaned closer. “I know that’s a plus in your book,” she said lowly. “You give Grandma Ruby a great grandbaby, and she might overlook him being military.”
“I don’t know about that. Why don’t you work on that great-grandbaby stuff since he and I haven’t even been on a date.”
“We are working on it. Well, just having fun practicing for now. You could use a little more fun in your life.”
It had been months since she’d ended things with Marcus, and they hadn’t had much fun in bed. Thinking about Linc had her longing for the kind of ‘fun’ Clara referred to. That, in and of itself, was a good turnaround.
The toilet flushed. Linc’s clear reminder to Jalen to wash his hands made her wonder how much of her and Clara’s conversation he overheard.
Which was worse, the sexy protector part or Clara outing how much she wanted kids before they had even kissed? Though, damn, she wanted to kiss him. And for him to kiss her in a way that wouldn’t be appropriate in front of his nephew. Thinking about it, her body tingled in all the right places in a way it hadn’t in—probably ever.
Linc opened the bathroom door. “I want to take him to the hospital to see his Grams. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all. That’s thoughtful of you. I’m sure a visit from him will be better than medicine.”
“Call me after you talk with Homeland Security. I need to know that plan,” Linc said to Clara.
“Call me if Mrs. Feldman remembers anything useful,” Clara countered.
“I will. We’re a team—whether you like it or not.” Linc didn’t back down as he met Clara’s direct gaze, exuding confidence that made Kendra glad they were on the same team.