14
Tywin
Iwas gathering information with hope of turning out a lead on the attempted robbery of my father’s bank while simultaneously searching for leads to the mastermind behind the double ambush situation with Arjen on a mountainous road and Mecca in the Overtown Projects. However, the guard I had put on Patrena hadn’t checked in, which prompted me to do a check on her. I called up the camera feed that would allow me to peek into her office and noticed that her lights and computer were switched off.
Knowing she had left for the day, I tapped into the cameras in the mall she usually stopped at after work to pick up her shrimp fried rice. I knew the woman’s habits better than a married man knew his wife’s.
My face squinted at the first shot of her face. She didn’t look like her normal, care-free self. Her posture was too tense, she wasn’t smiling, and her erratic movements while glancing around put a deep crease in my face. I turned the camera, studying her surroundings. Where the hell was Carter and why wasn’t he with her?
Who the fuck was the creep standing adjacent to her table, staring? I zoomed in on the man who was eyeballing Patrena like a deranged lunatic stalking his prey. She knew he had eyes on her. Something was up and I wasn’t going to wait around to confirm his intent. I didn’t give a damn if he was simply an anxious admirer. It was something I would figure out after I confirmed Patrena’s safety.
After snatching up the keys to my car, I bolted through the front door like my apartment had caught afire and the flames were licking at my back. I pressed the button to start the car as soon as I stepped off the elevator and into the parking garage that housed my vehicles.
I hopped into my black Aston Martin. It was one of my fastest cars, armored, and the inside had secret hideaways with enough fire power to take out a small town. I drove like a crazy man, zipping in and out of traffic and glancing in my mirror at upset drivers flipping me the bird and cursing me out for cutting them off. I was breaking every traffic law known because the asshole on the camera was glaring at Patrena so hard, I sensed his anger through the lens.
“Dial Rhino,” I called out, dodging slower traffic and making my wheels scream at my evasive driving.
“T, what’s up?”
“Rhi, I need you to get me multiple eyes inside the James-Oliver Mall. I think Patrena’s in trouble.”
There was no way I could drive like a mad man and switch camera feeds to keep up with Patrena’s movements. Why hadn’t she stayed in the food court? I lost her movements after nearly taking the door off a black Lincoln Navigator. Six minutes away now, and my fucking nerves were blazing along with the heat of my anger when Patrena’s phone stopped pinging.
“Her phone stopped pinging. The last place I saw her was in the food court. A tall, pale white guy with brown hair, wearing black tactical pants, a navy-blue, long-sleeve shirt, and black combat boots had eyes on her. I believe he’s armed, but he’s purposely dressed similar to mall security.”
I swerved into the mall parking area across the street from the main structure and screeched into an exit row. “I’m headed inside now,” I updated Rhi, shoving an earpiece into my ear.
Rhi had linked me into what he was seeing through multiple camera feeds, but my phone’s small screen only projected a few views at a time. I slammed my car door shut after hopping out.
The car alarm chirped as I walked with swift purpose in the direction of the mall. Since the stalking man was dressed to blend in with mall security, it was hard to keep up with him on camera.
“Shit,” Rhi cursed. “You’re handling this yourself, so this is more serious than you’re letting on. Is this your girl with the tattoo?”
“Yes,” I answered. “You know I don’t mind things getting serious, but this time I hope I’m wrong,” I told him, knowing it was the last thing he’d think would come from my mouth.
He knew I enjoyed the trouble and loved the rush of danger that was never in short supply in my family.
“Hmmm,” was all Rhi uttered before he began switching through the mall’s camera feeds like he was flipping through a deck of cards. I didn’t try to keep up with him. When he stopped scrolling, I believed I had a view of the basement parking level. He pulled up a couple of tight zooms.
“Is that your girl?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered without correcting him.
“Ms. Pretty Freckles,” he teased and the smile in his voice and the tease in his tone wasn’t missed.
“Don’t call her that,” I growled.
“Hey, don’t growl at me because you’re finally interested in someone,” he continued teasing. “A mystery lady at that. What if she’s the secret love child of a mafia king who the syndicate wants for leverage?”
“Please with the conspiracy theories. We need to figure this out before things get any further out of hand.”
What I didn’t say was that I was afraid for Patrena. I didn’t want to see her hurt because we were unable to figure out why she was the target of a group we hadn’t yet identified. Patrena had captured my attention so strongly a few days ago that Rhi had sneaked up on me staring at a still photo of her on my phone.
“Besides,” he continued like I hadn’t said a thing. “I’m calling her what you called her before you noticed me looming over your shoulder while you were drooling over her picture and fingering her pretty freckles.”
His chuckle caused my frown to deepen. He wasn’t going to let me live that shit down.
“She’s kind of hard to forget based on looks, but to have the attention of someone like you, Mr. One-Night Marathon, makes her a pretty remarkable woman. However, I thought you only dated cougars,” he challenged, not missing out on an opportunity to tease me.