What the fuck are they doing?
“What the fuck are they doing?” a voice echoed my thoughts.
Realizing who it belonged to, I spun, whipping a finger to my lips, silently telling Kenna to keep quiet. She and her big mouth were about to blow my cover.
She complied, but only after giving me the stink eye. It was a glare I’d been on the receiving end of frequently and had little impact on me.
Brrrring. Brrrring. Brrrring.
The ringing pulled my attention back to the guys just as the person on the other end picked up. “Hello?”
It was difficult to distinguish who answered the call from one common word and the distance from which I hid, but I had an inkling who it was.
Brock gave Micah a single nod. I had no idea what he was instructing Micah to do, but when another voice cut through the quiet of the night, I became even more confused. It was female, and she trembled one name into the phone. “Sterling.”
Huh?
Did they have someone with them? Had they merged two calls? Where was this girl?
Kenna and I shared a look, her brows raised in question as she crowded against my side. I gave her a silent shrug, those same questions in my expression.
I squinted and counted the heads huddled together to make sure I hadn’t somehow missed an addition. Four. There were definitely only four, but then I spotted something in Micah’s hand. It looked like his phone. Not so weird. But I continued to watch him closely.
“Sadie?” Sterling’s reply came through the speaker. A combination of surprise and befuddlement was evident in his tone.
Who the hell is Sadie?
Micah hit a button on his phone, lifting it toward his lips. “Sterling, help me,” a female voice cried.
A recording. They were playing a recording of this girl Sadie. No, that wasn’t quite right. They were using her voice to alter Micah’s. Who was this girl to Sterling?
“Sadie? How…? Are you hurt?” He sounded concerned, but something else laced his words. An emotion I couldn’t quite place. It appeared I wasn’t the only one trying to play catch-up and figure out what the fuck was going on.
Kenna’s fingers pressed into my shoulder as she leaned forward to hear better.
“Where are you?” Sterling asked, a hardening edge to his question.
Micah hit a button and held his phone up to his mouth. “I-I don’t know. It’s dark. A warehouse maybe.”
I didn’t have to wonder how they got a recording voice of Sadie and used it to make a program that would mutate everything Micah said to come from this girl.
Fynn.
Micah should have been nominated for an Oscar after the performance he was giving. The way his voice shook, even I believed the girl on the other end was frightened, alone, and desperate for help.
“Is there a window? Look outside, see if you can find something to tell me where you are,” Sterling urged.
Micah turned off the app that masked his voice and said, “I’ve got a better idea. I’ll text you the address.”
A beat of silence passed. “Who is this?” Sterling demanded, the situation sinking in.
“You’ll find out soon enough if you want to see your sister again,” Micah said, and then Fynn disconnected the call.
They were threatening Sterling by using his sister. Or pretending to use her. Then what?
I had to find out.
I dug my fingers into the side of the house, watching the guys pile into Brock’s Range Rover. I turned as the engine jumped to life, rushing by Kenna into the house.