Page 17 of Roman

“Keep your eyes on it. I need to know the second it’s back online. I need the location.”

“Sure.”

“Can you tap into traffic cams by Fireway Drive?”

He sighed, turning to another computer, typing away. “Not many around there. There is one on the corner by Third and Fireway.”

“Perfect. Bring up the footage for the last two hours. Put it on the wall monitor.”

He did as I asked, and we scanned the footage. It was grainy and dark, but I found what I wanted. A car pulled up outside the diner, and a man wearing dark clothes and a hoodie got out. A second car pulled up, and another man got out, dressed the same. A woman joined them, and I knew without a doubt it was Marianne Warner. I recognized the coat she wore from earlier. I checked the time stamp. They’d taken her before Marianne dropped off the cash.

“Fast-forward again until they come back.”

My suspicions were confirmed when they reappeared, one of them carrying a sack over his shoulder that he put in the car trunk and sped off. Marianne got in the second car, and they pulled away, heading, I knew, toward the casino.

“Fucking bitch,” I snarled. “That fucking cunt!” I slammed my hand on the desk. “Find that car, and tell me where it goes.”

“I was about⁠—”

I cut him off. “Now. I don’t fucking care what you had planned. Until I tell you to stop, you’re on this, you understand?”

He held up his hands. “I hear you. Relax, Roman.”

I stormed from his office and headed upstairs.

Until I found either Effie or Marianne, relaxing was the last thing I could do.