Chapter 30 #2
“Yes, I did.” He doesn’t offer any more.
The traffic is stop-start, making me miss my bike already, but at least it lets me concentrate on this conversation. “Not their security, right?”
“No. Not their security.”
“Then by whom?” I prompt. Not asking would be a catastrophic mistake. Hale would ask; Maddox knows.
“FBI.”
“Fuck!” I let all my anger with Mercer into that word, reliving my frustration again to give it credibility.
I’ve had time to anticipate this, and plan my play.
“They were watching the job,” I say, feigning alarm, like I’ve just made that realization.
“Was it me? I’m the newest member. If someone’s made me, I need to know.
Have they made Briggs? Tell me you trust the others.
Shit… could Pablo have somehow led them to us? ”
“Relax, Declan. I’ve no reason to believe it’s you, or the rest of the crew.”
Or if he did, he doesn’t anymore. I’ve thrown him off with that little performance.
“Are they still holding you? Don’t tell me you’re using your one call to talk to me? Fuck, dude, those things are recorded!”
Renner chuckles dryly. “Calm down. I’m out; my lawyers sorted everything.”
Along with the goddamn CIA. What are you hiding, Renner?
“Good,” I say. “Have you heard from the rest of the crew?”
“Dario, Cammy and Tasha are fine, all here in San Fran with me. Cole’s in a private hospital. I have connections here; there won’t be questions. He’ll be there for a couple of weeks, and fully recovered in two or three months.”
“Good,” I say again, actually feeling some relief. Partly because that means Renner can’t send him after me, but partly because I like the British bastard. “And Raven?”
“Why are you asking me?” His voice tightens. “Isn’t she with you?”
“I haven’t been able to reach her.” He must know that already. “Her phone isn’t taking calls. I’ve just left her apartment; I’m heading to mine.”
“Fuck. I thought she’d turned it off because you were both together.”
I can’t remember Renner ever swearing before.
“I’m guessing she has your package, right?” Like I don’t already know.
“Yeah, she does.” His voice sounds tight. “And I need it, Declan. It’s more important than you could possibly imagine.”
I have some idea. Important enough for the CIA to want it too.
The question is whether Renner’s working against them… or… shit… with them.
That’s a realization that hits hard.
What if the CIA isn’t just taking an active interest, what if they’re his contractor?
My brain races.
Meridian Pacific holding something they want. Chinese target on US soil… they can’t touch it without the FBI, who they’ve specifically avoided. Renner’s a criminal, but disciplined, with methods they could accept. Just the kind of profile they’d use for something… deniable.
And if that’s the case, he was always untouchable.
Fuck. If I’m right, whichever way this operation went, Renner was never going to be taken in.
But he’s not the focus right now. Raven is. Along with her package.
“Where would she have gone?” I ask. I check the GPS; I’m ten minutes from my apartment, if this damn traffic ever gets moving.
“That’s what I was hoping you would know,” he replies. “She’s got closer to you these last four weeks than… anyone, ever.”
She has? That’s news to me.
“But you don’t know where she is?”
“No. Except…”
“Yeah?”
“Remember she took a few days off before the Rodeo Drive job?”
“Uh-huh?”
“Well, she went home. To her parents.” A pause. “Same as she did three years ago, last time she got… jumpy.”
“Wait. You’re saying she got jumpy before the Rodeo Drive job?”
“Yeah.”
“It wasn’t the job, was it?” It was me.
“Nope.”
God damn Mercer and her face-to-face. All I did was miss breakfast and the girl goes AWOL for almost a week.
And if Renner’s right, she’s done it again. “What makes you think she’s jumpy now?”
“I… uh… might have suggested you couldn’t be trusted.”
“Oh, right.” I let that one stand for a moment. “Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?”
The length of his pause tells me he hasn’t. Just that he’s running out of options, and I’m the best he has left. “Heading that way.”
Fair. “So where’s her parents’ house?”
“That’s the problem. I have absolutely no idea. And I can’t reach her either.”
“Then what do you expect me to do?”
Renner exhales, loud enough to travel down the line. “I guess I was hoping you knew how to find her.”
“Well, maybe she’s at my apartment. There in a few minutes.”
“Yeah…” He sounds skeptical.
“What do you want me to tell her?”
“Just… get her back.”
“Renner…” I pause, thinking what Hale would say, and phrase it carefully. “Whatever you gave her is valuable, right? You got intercepted by the FBI, and now Raven’s missing. Are you certain those two things aren’t related? If she’s got it, can she sell it and disappear?”
“I trust Genesis, Declan.” His tone doesn’t leave room for error. “She’s not the problem.”
No. I am.
“Fine. Well… if I find her, I’ll let you know.”
“Good hunting.”
He ends the call, and I stare unseeing at the traffic in front of me.
Mercer wants me to find her. Renner wants me to find her. Both of them want that damn package.
The irony isn’t lost on me.
Now I’m certain that she won’t be at my apartment. But I’m equally certain I can find her.
It takes me twenty minutes to get through the traffic. Her bike isn’t outside, supporting Renner’s theory. She’s hiding, not trusting me. It still doesn’t explain her phone, though. Unless she deliberately sabotaged it to stop anyone tracking her? That’s paranoid, but… it makes sense.
I pull my laptop out from the floorboard beneath my dresser, logging in to the FBI database. Enter Genesis Greer into the query, along with her brother, Caleb, and cross reference.
It takes less than a minute. Known connections.
Her parents are in Salt Lake City. Of course they are—Mormon upbringing. But now I have an address. And it’s a day’s ride from San Fran. This feels right.
So Raven went to hide rather than come to me. That is something we will have to discuss.
And Renner told her not to trust me. Turning up out of the blue won’t help with that.
I have to assume she won’t come quietly. But that’s fine too; Mercer told me to torture her.
How else am I going to get what I need out of her?
I take a shower, running through my plans, thinking what I’ll need. My bike ramp is already in the back of my pickup. A change of clothes. A few ropes. Sedatives… that’ll be a problem. But maybe Steven can help there, and I have his number. He seems to have a low moral threshold when paid enough.
It’s a day to Salt Lake City, but I’ll swing past Steven’s and travel while the roads are quiet. Stop for a few hours—sleep in the cab, maybe. I whistle a tune to myself in the shower.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Raven again.