Page 107 of Lorenzo

“Good.”

We speed off.

I tear right through the exit gate when it doesn’t open fast enough. The wooden gate breaks apart as if in an action film.

“But how do you know where he’s being held?” she asks, wild-eyed when we’re on the main road.

“The tracker,” I say.

“What tracker?”

“The tracker on the keychain I gave him when we went out for ice cream.”

“And I never even suspected that,” she says, voice hollow.

Emily’s nails go white on the dash when I whip the wheel around another blind corner.

G forces compress us into our seats.

Emily digs for her phone.

“Don’t call anyone. They’ll trace the call,” I say.

She drops the phone like it burns. I can feel the tremors rolling off her.

My own hands are steady. Dry. Even though I’m mad as hell at myself for dragging Emily and her kid brother into this mess.

We blow through a red light, nearly crashing into a truck carrying a load of hay.

I look at the tracker, showing Teddy’s location just ten miles away.

“That’s my uncle’s summer house!” says Emily, startled.

I turn to look at her.

Those fucking Russians. I wonder if Emily’s uncle is a guest or a hostage.

“My uncle… was he part of this?” she asks, as if reading my mind.

“We don’t know all the facts,” I say, my voice low. “But it looks like that may be the case.”

As I spit the words out, I can’t imagine how it could be possible that her uncle would put Teddy, a child and his own flesh and blood, in jeopardy like that.

For now, there’s no time for her to make sense of her uncle’s possible betrayal. He’ll get what’s coming to him one way or the other.

On my tracker, I see the signal still moving. If Teddy is still carrying the keychain, he’s likely still alive.

But I don’t tell Emily. I need to keep everything close to my chest until it’s finally over.

I punch the gas toward the remote farmhouse.

The passing breeze sweeps Emily’s hair from her face, but she doesn’t complain about my speed.

The house appears at last from a distance.

It’s large but otherwise normal, without ostentation. Dante calls and I pick up the phone, careful to keep my game face for whatever he has to tell me.

“What did Dante say?” Emily asks once I hang up. “They’re landing now. I want you to stay in the car. No matter what happens.”