Chapter 18 #2
Devon glanced around the room. “Give him a few minutes. In the meantime, get back to harassing your contacts.”
Angie was in Ian’s bedroom after telling Kristen she’d be up in a few minutes.
Brody had programmed her hand print for the lock scanners at Ian’s request earlier in the week, so she’d been able to let herself in as Beau followed Kristen upstairs to her and Devon’s apartment.
This was the first time Angie had a moment to herself since Jimmy had shown up, her brief time in the plane’s bathroom notwithstanding.
She needed some time to come to terms with a few things.
In addition to her worry about Jenn, she was still reeling from Jimmy’s confession and the fact that she’d told Ian she was in love with him.
She hadn’t expected him to say the words back to her, and although she knew he meant them, she couldn’t help but think he was still holding himself back from her.
His ex-fiancée must have done a number on him, and she was glad the woman didn’t live nearby because she might have gone looking for her and pounded on her for hurting him.
Entering the bathroom, she rewashed her face, then brushed her teeth with the spare toothbrush Ian had given her to use after her first overnight stay.
When she returned to the bedroom, she pulled the pieces of her disassembled cell phone out of the sweatshirt Ian had given her to wear when she started shaking at the news of the kidnapping.
She’d retrieved the phone parts from the backseat of his SUV, where he’d tossed it yesterday, and shoved them in her pockets.
God, was it only yesterday afternoon when she and Brody had been running for their lives? So much had changed in less than thirty-six hours.
Putting the SIM card in, followed by the battery, she closed the cover and powered the phone up.
At once, it began alerting her to missed texts and calls.
Checking the call log first, she saw four voicemails from her friend Mandy, Shelby from the club, Red Rose Books, and one other client.
Then she checked her texts and saw more of the same, but one Unknown message caught her eye.
When she opened it, Angie was horrified to see a photo of Jenn, and her blood ran cold.
The girl had been bound, gagged, and blindfolded.
The message accompanying the photo told her to contact the sender immediately without telling the cops or the Trident team, or they were going to kill Jenn.
Checking the time stamp, she saw the message had only been received twenty minutes ago.
She sent a return text as fast as she could.
I’m here. Tell me what I should do.
Less than fifteen seconds later, the phone rang in her hand, and she’d been so startled that she almost dropped it. The screen read Unknown Caller. After punching the connect button, she brought the phone to her ear. “H-hello?”
A computer-disguised voice came over the line, and Angie’s hands began to tremble. “Come alone to the address I’m going to text you. If I see your boyfriend, the cops, or anyone else, I’ll kill her. You have fifteen minutes.”
Before she could respond, the call was disconnected. She stared at the phone until a text message alert sounded.
Unknown Caller
1795 Route 301… Alone!
Frantic, she ran out to the living room and began to search for her purse and car keys before remembering her car wasn’t there.
It was still in the driveway at her house.
She spotted Ian’s spare set of keys sitting on a shelf of his entertainment center.
Snatching them, she ran out the front door and jumped into his Audi, pushing the keyless start button as she grabbed the seat belt.
She couldn’t risk telling Kristen where she was going, or anyone else for that matter.
But she wasn’t stupid, though. When she reached the destination, she would text Ian to tell him where she and Jenn were.
Relieved to see no one was outside except two security guards, whom she barely knew, she put the car in drive and accelerated as fast as she dared without alerting them something was wrong.
The gates had been left open to allow the police and feds to come and go as needed, and Angie drove out of the compound, heading for the main road.
Ian and Jimmy would kill her if the drug dealers didn’t do it for them, but she knew they wouldn’t exchange her life for Jenn’s, and she refused to be responsible for the girl’s death.
It didn’t take her long to get to Route 301, but she didn’t know if she needed to go north or south.
She programmed her phone’s GPS with the address and turned north when the annoyingly cheerful woman’s voice told her to.
A few minutes later, the same voice spoke again.
“You’re approaching your destination on the right. ”
Pulling to the shoulder, Angie viewed the structure set back from the road.
It was similar to Ian’s compound but had fewer trees, no fence, and only two warehouse buildings, the only ones in sight on the unpopulated strip of highway.
From where she sat, she could only see two vehicles—a black SUV and a plain, four-door sedan, which she assumed belonged to the DEA agents who'd been at her house.
Grabbing her phone, she typed a text to Ian.
Kidnappers called. They’re at 1795 Route 301. I’m trading myself for Jenn. Hurry.
After pressing the send button, Angie tossed the phone on the passenger seat.
She put the car back in drive and eased forward, turning onto the long driveway leading to the buildings.
She parked next to the SUV and climbed out of the car, leaving the engine running with the key fob in the center console so Jenn could escape.
Angie glanced back and forth between the two buildings, trying to figure out which she was supposed to go into, when the door to the one on the left opened.
Agent Jackson was standing inside the door jamb, pointing his gun at her. “Inside. Now!”
Angie trudged toward him with trembling knees and heavy feet, praying Ian got there before it was too late.