Chapter 30
Cam came to pick up A.J. first thing in the morning. Liss was there to give him a once over and expedite the process, so he was on his way out the door by eight am.
“Your girl is smart,” Cam said as soon as A.J. maneuvered himself, one-armed, into Cam’s SUV. “Jake tracked a transfer into Josie’s bank account from one of her brokerage firms, which means she initiated the transaction.”
“She’s buying time and trying to leave a trail for us,” A.J. said.
“That’s what we think,” Cam agreed.
Josie was alive. A.J. felt something loosen in his chest.
“I’ll take you by your house first before we go to the office. You can clean up and get changed,” Cam said.
“Yeah, good idea.”
He wore hospital scrubs since blood from his head wound had dried onto his jacket in crusty, brownish-red splotches, and the rest of his clothes had been cut off.
He didn’t think his jacket was salvageable, but he was grateful, as it probably saved him from nasty road rash when his body had skidded across the pavement.
It took a while to gingerly undress himself, and washing his hair one-handed was something of a trick, but he tried to minimize movement of his left arm and shoulder per Lissa’s instructions. Besides, it hurt like a bitch to lift that arm over his head.
He felt halfway human as he made his way to the kitchen. Cam had his phone pressed to his ear and an intense expression on his face. When he ended the call, Cam turned to A.J.
“We have another lead.”
“Talk to me,” A.J. said as they hurried back to the SUV.
“Apparently, Spider ditched his ride and got a clean set of wheels at a garage owned by a former prison buddy of his. This guy’s name is Jason Denning, but he goes by Deacon. Josie left a sticky note in Deacon’s office with our phone number written on it.”
“This guy is a friend of Spider’s, but he made the call anyway?” A.J. asked.
“Yup. Jake just got off the phone with him. He told Jake he has kids now and he’s trying to go fully legit with his business. He didn’t want Spider coming around anymore, and he felt like this was the best way to get rid of him for good.”
“Deacon saw Josie?”
“Yeah, she was with Spider. He said he didn’t like the look of things between them.”
“But the asshole didn’t try to help her?”
Cam bit out a humorless laugh. “Jake asked him the same thing. According to Deacon, Spider can be a loose cannon, and Deacon just wanted him gone, but when he saw the note this morning, he called.”
“I’ll try to be grateful,” A.J. said sarcastically.
“Maybe let me do the talking?” Cam suggested.
“Probably a good idea.”
They pulled up to the garage, and A.J. was out the door before Cam could put the SUV in park, but since A.J.
was definitely not in top form, Cam caught up quickly.
They noticed a few mechanics throwing off suspicious looks, but no one bothered to stop them as they strode through one of the open bay doors.
A man walked toward them wearing a tight, suspicious expression on his face, the name Deacon embossed on his grease-stained coveralls.
Cam immediately introduced them.
“I’m Cam Taylor, co-founder of Tactical Solutions International, and this is my business partner, Adam Mathison.”
Deacon gave them a nod and led them to a small office in the back of the building. He circled his desk and sat in the chair, motioning Cam and A.J. to sit in the plastic seats across from him.
“Before I say anything, I need your assurance that you aren’t the police and you aren’t working with the police,” Deacon said.
“We’re a privately held corporation offering security and tactical support operations. We are not law enforcement,” Cam assured him.
A.J. noted the careful way Cam worded his response.
While they’d both agreed to work this problem independently after the local police had screwed things up, as a rule, they were not in the business of running afoul of the law, strictly speaking.
They’d walked the line a few times, but they’d never leaped over it.
“Spider came to you yesterday and requested a vehicle?” Cam prompted.
“Yeah, he gave me his SUV as payment, and I hooked him up.”
“I’m going to need the information on that vehicle,” Cam said.
Deacon sniffed and drummed his fingers on the table. “I don’t think I can do that.”
“Let me tell you why you will do that,” Cam said, his tone menacing. “The SUV currently in your possession was used to run down two people, including my partner.”
“Shit,” Deacon hissed, glancing at A.J.
Cam leaned forward slightly in his chair and glared at Deacon. “Shane Davidson also abducted Josie Callahan at gunpoint, and we are very concerned for her safety.”
“Give me the note she left for you,” A.J. demanded.
Deacon only hesitated a moment before peeling a bright pink sticky note from his desk and handing it over. A.J. fought to keep his hand steady as he reached for it. At the sight of Josie’s neat, precise handwriting, his chest tightened.
A.J. swallowed hard. “She was okay?”
Deacon rubbed his hands over his face. “Physically, yeah, but she looked scared,” he admitted.
A.J. felt a wave of white-hot fury wash over him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Cam beat him to it.
“Josie is important to us. I need the information on that car, and I need it now,” he demanded.
Deacon blew out a breath and nodded. He peeled another sticky note off the pad, this one bright green, and scratched out the license plate information. “It’s a 2020 light gray Honda Civic.”
Cam reached for the paper with one hand and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket with the other. He sent off a quick message, and then shoved both the phone and the sticky note back into his pocket.
“Where would Spider go to hide out?” Cam asked.
Deacon shrugged. “I assumed he was heading out of town right away.”
“Let’s assume he needs to stay in the area for a few days before taking off.”
Deacon drummed his fingers on the metal desk. “He sometimes uses a place near Andrew Square. It’s not his, but I think he crashes there on the regular. I don’t know the address.”
When Cam practically snarled at him, Deacon held his hands up in a position of surrender.
“I really don’t know the address. Spider had to pick something up from there once.
I was with him, but I wasn’t paying much attention.
All I know is it was a shitty building that backed up to an alley.
Look, I don’t even know if he’ll be there, but that’s all I got. ”
A.J. and Cam exchanged a glance and then stood.
“Appreciate your help,” Cam said.
Deacon grumbled something inaudible as they headed for the door.
Once they were back in the SUV, Cam called Jake on speaker.
“Look for apartment complexes that abut an alleyway near Andrew Square, and see if you can access any traffic cameras nearby.”
“I accessed the cameras as soon as you sent over the license plate info. Got a hit at 5:12 pm yesterday just off I-93, at Columbus Park and Andrew Square heading northbound,” Jake said.
“That’s a good start. A.J. and I are heading that way to see if we spot the vehicle.”
“Want a team on stand-by?” Jake asked.
Cam blew out a breath and cringed. “Yeah. The local cops will be pissed if we move on this without informing them, but we might not have time for the bullshit and red tape.”
A.J. knew this could get dicey. They had no right to enter a private residence, but how could he stop himself if he knew Josie was inside?
The one time they’d nearly gotten themselves into big trouble had been when Lissa’s stalker escalated and abducted her.
The team at TSI had figured out her location before the police, and they’d gone in the minute they had confirmation.
It had taken some legal maneuvering to keep Cam out of jail, mainly for breaking the stalker’s nose, but then, as now, they wouldn’t risk the life of someone they loved to wait on the cops.