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“We’ll have plenty of talk time on our ride home, love. Ciao!” Dylan replied and ended the call.
“Was that long enough?” Madison asked.
“Not nearly,” the detective responded with an air of disappointment.
“So what now?” I asked, my eyes turned to him.
“We’ll stick with the plan that’s already in motion,” he said, then turned to the other officer. “Call for backup.” Turning back to Madison, he asked, “Has he texted you the address yet?”
“Yeah, it just came in.” Madison flashed her phone in his face. The detective penned down the address and reached into his pocket.
“Take this. Place it in your pocket,” he said, handing over what looked like a mini recording device to me. It was as tiny as the buttons on my shirt.
“What’s this for?” I asked, my eyes on him.
“It’s like a bug. Once activated, we’ll be able to hear whatever you discuss so we can know the right time to step in. Also, just in case he decides to make things more complicated . . .” He handed Madison one, as well as a pair of magnetic earrings. “Put these on.”
“New earrings?” Madison asked, anticipating some extra details.
“They aren’t just earrings. They are encoded with tracking sequences. We will be able to keep track of your movements as long as you have them on.”
“Oh, okay. So, how do all of these work? Do we need to activate them somehow?”
“I already did that. They’re currently active. Let’s get moving.”
I shoved the device into my breast pocket and grabbed Madison’s hands as we walked to the car. We rode in my car alone while Amy rode with the policemen. Madison wouldn’t stop tapping her feet repeatedly; her hands were vibrating. She looked out the window in a bid to calm her nerves with a view of the scenery.
I held her hands with my right hand while holding onto the steering with my left. She turned to look at me, then forced a smile.
“Everything is going to be all right, I promise,” I said.
She nodded and smiled again. “What’s more important is getting June back. Poor girl must have been traumatized these past few days.”
“It’ll all be over soon,” I replied with assurance, determined to do whatever it took and pay the cost.
Chapter 18
Madison
The meeting point was an abandoned garage. There were piles of old vehicles everywhere. Hudson helped me out of the car and lifted the briefcase containing the cash from the trunk.
There was no sight of Dylan anywhere. The policemen had parked at a good distance away from the garage so as not to be noticed.
“Do you see him anywhere?” Hudson asked.
I shook my head in response to his question. “Perhaps I should try calling him,” I said and dialed the number he had called earlier on and waited patiently for the call to go through. “It’s off again.”
“He asked to meet here. Why isn’t he here? Is he messing with us, or what?” Hudson was starting to get agitated.
“Let’s just wait a while. He must be around here somewhere.”
Three figures appeared suddenly from the shadows. Dylan was one of them. He stood in the middle. The other men with him looked like thugs with mean faces and intimidating physiques. They brandished their guns in our faces—an attempt to instill fear in us.
“Already in a hurry to leave?” Dylan asked, directing his gaze at Hudson. He wore a tight frown as he gazed at Hudson, sizing him from head to toe. “What do you even see in this guy? He’s not even better-looking than I am. Or is it the money?”
“We didn’t come here to discuss this, Dylan. We have what you’ve asked for. Where’s the little girl?” I asked.
“Take the briefcase from him and walk slowly toward me with it,” he ordered.
