“You’re to babysit me,” Talia said sweetly.
Drex gave her a droll look, then went back to Mike. “Await word. With luck, you’ll be able to bail me out before dinnertime.”
“Okay, but fair warning. If Rudkowski gets another bee up his butt, I’m not going to talk him into throwing me in the clink, like a certain dumbass we know. I’m getting the hell gone from Dodge.”
“Noted. Now beat it, you two, so I can change.”
He went to the door and pulled it open. As Talia drew even with him, he said, “Don’t forget to turn off your phone. Mike will take the battery out for you.”
“As soon as I check my messages.” She looked at him with a combination of vexation and anxiety. There were a thousand things Drex wanted to say to her, but the cop posted outside the door was within hearing distance. She went out into the hallway without a further goodbye.
As Mike approached him, Drex put out a hand and, speaking for Mike’s ears alone, said, “If I’m incarcerated and Jasper remains at large, he’ll come after Talia. She’ll need a bodyguard, Mike.”
“That speech of mine about getting gone?” He batted it down with his large paw. “I won’t go anywhere without taking her with me.”
“Thanks. You’re a friend.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, “and of all my bad habits, you’re by far the worst.”
Drex closed the door after him, squatted down, and unzipped his duffel. He took from it his suit and dress shirt. They were hopelessly wrinkled but would have to do. He forewent a tie. He was just about to start stripping down when the door opened and Talia burst in, Mike behind her.
She was brandishing her cell phone. “The call that was beeping in? The number I didn’t recognize that had called three times? It was Mr. Singh.”
“Who the hell—”
“Jasper’s tailor.”
Chapter 39
Talia’s words tripped over each other in her haste to get them out. “He’d called twice before. This time he left a voice mail. He was asking about a button.”
“What about it?”
“His accent is thick, hard to understand, but he was calling to make certain that I had found it.”
“Found it?”
She shook her head, indicating that she was in the dark, too. “I’m going to call him back. I knew you’d want to hear.”
“Get him,” he said to her then stuck his head out the door and told the cop in the hallway to summon Locke and Menundez.
“They’ll be back for you in ten minutes.”
“Tell them to come now.”
“They’ll ask why.”
“Tell them I’m escaping.”
He slammed the door. Talia had placed the return call. She, Mike, and he listened breathlessly at the series of rings before Singh answered with the name of his shop. “How may I help you?” As Talia had warned, his accent was thick. Being on speaker amplified it and made it even more difficult to understand.
“Mr. Singh, it’s Talia Shafer. Mrs. Ford.”
“Mrs. Ford,” he said in apparent relief. “You found the button?”
“I’m not…No. I’m sorry, Mr. Singh. I don’t know what you’re referring to.”
“The button I stupidly failed to return to Mr. Ford along with the others.”