“All right, you’re on.”
My phone rings, and I hit the button on the steering wheel. “Yeah?”
“Hey,” Soren’s voice comes over the car's audio system. “We’ve got a lock on Leti’s location and are heading there now. Meanwhile, I took a quick look at this little Netgear hub, and while they programmed it to scramble the originating IP address, it’s also got a tracker inside of it. Whoever’s on the other side of this knows where this little hub is at all times, and if Epiphany has been carrying it on her, it’s been giving somebody her location within a half a mile or better for a long time.”
“Interesting. That explains why they knew she was at her father’s residence.”
“Better than interesting—it’s because of this little hub that we know where we’re going since it popped hot on the location I’d triangulated off the phone call.”
“That’s fantastic. Who’s in the car with you right now?”
“What’s up?” Caiden says right before Reese announces himself.
Porter scrolls through the notes on his phone. “The designer of this little hub is a woman, Claudine Humphrey—an ex-employee of Epiphany’s. From the story Epi told, she’s most likely a hostile ex-employee.”
“A woman? That’s not the typical MO,” Caiden says.
“No, but Epi said something that has me thinking. The dollar amount demanded is specific. Too specific. Epi said she had to fire Claudine after she became belligerent when Epi didn’t glom onto a business opportunity presented to her. Maybe this money is the anticipated gains?”
“Did you guys ask the client about this?” Soren asks.
“No, not yet.”
Porter interjects. “If it’s a woman behind this, she has to have partners. Male partners. Because even though the twins aren’t much to handle, how many women do you know who could wrangle a woman and then inflict bodily harm?”
Reese responds dryly, “There are some out there.”
“Damn, I’ve never popped a woman before.” I glance at Porter to make sure I’m not forgetting somebody, but he shakes his head no. All of our years of combat, neither one of us has ever had to draw weapons on a woman. We’ve had to detain some. Frisk and hold—and not in the pleasurable way—but we’ve never squared off against one.
“They bleed just the same as men,” Reese says without a hint of emotion.
I shrug, understanding exactly where his head is at. “Whatever it takes.”
“Exactly. We’ll call you guys later tonight, after it is done.”
We disconnect the call, and I drum my thumbs against the steering wheel, realizing this job may be over before it starts. “We might head home before we even get unpacked.”
“Is that a good or a bad thing?” Porter chuckles when I toss him a sardonic glance. “Come on, she’s fucking hot and sassy, and my palm has been itching to connect with her flesh since she came bouncing into the house.”
“Damn, if you want to spank her, she’s got to be bad. You usually leave that to me and Lee.”
“Not bad. Just a brat. A delectable, mouthy, brat with the plumpest fucking lips—”
“Been thinking about her mouth, have you?”
He nods enthusiastically, his fist clenched against his thigh. “Man, when she started pitching a fit in her apartment, it took everything within me not to rip my belt out of its loops.”
I laugh, hitting the turn signal to follow Lee off of the interstate. “Well, this could be over tonight, or it could take two weeks, so I suggest you focus on something else for the time being. Otherwise, you’re going to have the worst case of blue balls in history once this is done.”
“Like she doesn’t make you hard?” He snips back in my direction.
“She does, but we have a job to do.”
“I can protect her with my life and daydream about bending her over a counter at the same time.”
“Fuck, Brother. That is not an image I need in my head right now.”
“You’re welcome,” he says lightly, but one look at his face and there is nothing humorous in his eyes.
“What is it?”
“Tan van, three cars back. They’ve been loosely following us for a while.”
I search my side mirror, visually confirming the van in question. “Call Lee. We need to make a pit stop.”
“On it.”