“I called Kit,” he says. “You know he’s the man Kane trusts over all others.”
Kit is the man Kane has working security when we’re in the city, and at our apartment. A man who is big and smiles a lot, but in his eyes, I see that he kills easily. And he’s right. Kane trusts Kit. “Yes,” I confirm. “I should have thought of Kit. And?”
“Kane didn’t arrange security today. He had his own car at the airport. Kit is sending a man to find out if it’s still at the airport. More soon. He’s going to call one or both of us. Where do you want to go?”
I glance at Naomi’s address and say, “Murray Hill,” followed by the cross streets.
Jay sets us in motion and with Kane’s warning in my head, I dial Lucas. Thankfully he answers on the first ring, skipping all preamble. “Nothing on those IP addresses yet,” he says. “But I’ll know when, and if, they sign-on. I’m on this.”
Which is exactly what I wanted last night and I was afraid of today. “Aren’t you working today?”
“You know I work from home when I’m not meeting with clients. And I got those employee records you wanted. I’m going to send you a secure email in a few.”
“Damn you, Lucas,” I snap because he’s good. Because I need him. Because he was so fast I may have connected him to this.
“What the hell, Lilah?” he growls. “I worked my ass off for you.”
“I know. Good work. Great. Thank you.”
“Good work? Okay, what the hell is going on?”
“I need you to step back from this one, Lucas,” I say. “It’s personal. It’s dangerous.”
“If it’s personal and dangerous, you need me. I’m not stepping back. In fact, I’m trying to create a hack to unmask the game users. If I can’t get it done, I know someone who can.”
“No,” I snap. “I said no, Lucas.”
“Lilah, I got this—”
“No. And if I find out you kept pushing, I’ll come and arrest you myself. Do you understand me?”
“What the hell is going on, Lilah?”
“Send me what you have. Now. I need it now. Include the two phone numbers you’re looking for IP’s on. Include all six the Jamie person bought at the store. Then stop hacking, Lucas. It gets you nowhere good.” I hang up.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” I murmur. “And fuck.”
My phone buzzes and I glance down to accept a secure airdrop from Lucas. Once I have the file, I forward it to Tic Tac and then call him. I don’t bother with hello. I let him say it and then I get to the point. “There should be a list of cellphone numbers in the data I just sent you. Two of those numbers are registered on Banking the Billionaire. I need you to find the IP addresses.”
“Where exactly did the file come from?”
“A friend and he’s good. So good he can probably out hack you.”
“Please,” he chides. “That’s not possible.”
“Prove it. Get me the IP addresses.” I disconnect.
My cellphone rings again and this time it’s Tabitha. I answer hopefully, and most people who know me know hope is not my thing. “Did you find him?”
“No,” she says. “He’s not answering.”
“I hope like hell you did more than call him. I can do that myself.”
“Of course I did more. I called to check on his chopper and they won’t give me any information. I called the New York office and they haven’t seen him.”
“Again, nothing I didn’t know or do myself. Text me your contact to the elite chef service and a phone number.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Aside from the fact that a murder suspect showed up in place of the sous chef?”
“Oh God. Oh shit. Okay. I’m texting it now. What happened? I mean was it—”
I hang up and do what I should have done and would have done already if I was thinking straight. I call Lucas back. He doesn’t answer. “Damn it to hell,” I curse.
I text him: Ping Kane’s phone. It’s an emergency.
That’s when Jay turns onto Naomi’s street and it’s swarming with emergency vehicles.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Naomi lives in the row housing, which dominates this area, with a private gate. The fact that the emergency vehicles are in front of her unit says it all. She’s dead. And while I might be okay with stabbing a monster here or there, I’m not okay with this. I was distracted by the intruder in our own home, and I didn’t have the foresight to see this coming. I had Houston check on her. I didn’t ensure she was protected.
I motion for Jay to pull us as close to the mess of emergency vehicles ahead of us while I shrug out of my coat, pull my field bag cross-body and then slide my badge around my neck. “Stay close,” I say when he halts, opening the door. “And call me if you hear from Kane.”