“Got it.” He hung up before I could finish my sentence.
“What a dick.”
A weight lifted off my shoulders. It wasn’t progress in leaps and bounds, but at least I was getting somewhere. If anything happened to me, Devin would deliver on his promise to send the account files to the cops.
I returned to bed, sitting with my back against the headboard with my knees pulled up to my chest. I was tempted to go back to sleep —my bouts of morning sickness really took it out of me— but I was also tempted to order something to eat. I had the weirdest craving for banana peppers and vanilla ice cream.
Before I could decide to indulge my peckishness, my phone rang. I checked the screen only to find that it was from an unknown caller.
“Hello?” I answered hesitantly.
“Vivian!” a woman cried on the other line.
A chill shot through me, chilling my blood and leaving goosebumps crawling up and down my skin. I’d know that voice anywhere.
“Molly?” I gasped, sitting up straight. “Molly! Where are you? Are you okay? I’ve been worried sick about you. Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you—”
“Listen to me!” she shrieked. “Whatever you do, don’t listen to them! It’s a trap. Don’—” Molly wailed as she was silenced. It sounded like she was being gagged with something.
My heart was racing. I couldn’t believe it. After all this time, Molly was alive!
“Molly? Molly, talk to me!”
“I know you have copies of the files,” a man’s voice intoned. He sounded familiar, too, but I couldn’t quite place him past the ringing in my ears. “Listen to me very carefully, Miss Jones. I’m going to offer you a deal. Bring me that USB you stole, and, in exchange, I’ll give you your friend.”
Fire replaced the ice in my veins as I seethed. “You son of a bitch. Just let her go!”
“I won’t hesitate to kill her here and now. Is that really what you want?” When I didn’t answer, the man on the phone chuckled. “That’s what I thought. I’ll text you an address. Meet me there. Come alone. And if you go to the police, I’ll—”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ll kill her,” I said fearlessly. “Got it.”
The man hummed. “You have one hour. Don’t keep me waiting.”
My hands shook violently as I struggled to gain control over my breathing. My heart was erratic, beating so hard and so fast I thought it was going to pop straight out of my chest. I inhaled through my nose and concentrated on the facts.
Molly was alive. Her captor wanted me to bring the USB. I had one hour to meet him at his specified location. If I didn’t comply, I might lose Molly.
My phone pinged, alerting me to a text from the same unknown number that called, citing the address to a restaurant downtown.
The tiny voice in the back of my head told me it was a trap. Molly told me so herself. But what other choice did I have? The smart thing to do would be to go to the police, but I wasn’t going to risk Molly’s safety. I only had an hour and dwelling on the best course of action would waste what little time I’d been granted.
Now was the time to act.
And the first thing I needed to figure out was how to get past Lance.
Chapter 30
Jesse
Imay or may not have camped out on the couch watchingJeopardyall day in lieu of work. I didn’t even like the show, probably because I was terrible at trivia games. I watched regardless because it reminded me of her. It never ceased to amaze me what weird and obscure facts she could pull out the top of her head. Watching made it feel like she was still here.
I must have dozed off at some point because I awoke with a start at the sound of the elevator door sliding open. At first, I thought it was an intruder. Instead, it was Wally.
I sprang out of my seat. “Wally? What are you— I mean, I’m glad to see you. I need to talk to you about—”
Wally brushed right past me, headed toward his room. “I have nothing to say to you.”
I followed, determined to get him to listen. “That’s fine. You don’t have to say anything, but pleaselisten.”