Page 44 of Above ’N’ Beyond

Paola took one of Jax’s paws, giving it a little handshake. “How marvelous. Did you train him to do that?”

“I did.” That, along with how to chase down a suspect in five seconds flat. “Jax, take a bow.”

Jax stood, then lowered his front paws to the floor and arched his back, as if bowing to an audience.

“Wonderful.” Paola clapped her hands together. “Let him off the leash.”

Jamie did as she said, or rather, commanded. He felt reasonably certain everyone jumped to do her bidding.

“Marco.” Paola hitched her chin at Jamie. “Let’s get the unpleasantries out of the way.”

“Gladly.” Marco tugged a device from his back pocket about the size of a large cell phone, but thicker. Jamie recognized it instantly. A body wire detector. Marco turned on the device, ran it up and down Jamie’s legs, then his back. The device would pick up any radio frequencies being sent out. It could even detect a small power surge from a digital recorder’s battery.

Good thing he hadn’t caved to Special Agent Jenkins’s demands and worn a wire. If he had, Marco and Tony would have found him a permanent resting place. At the bottom of the river.

When Marco ran the device over Jamie’s ass, as expected, the device beeped, and Jamie tugged out his cell phone. Not even wireless transmissions would go undetected, and this was Paola’s home, her true inner sanctum. What they’d discussed at the Bistro had been of virtually no consequence. This was where the real business went down.

“Fist, unlock your phone,” Tony ordered. Jamie did, then handed over the phone, knowing full well what would happen next.

Tony tapped, scrolling through Jamie’s recent call list, contact list, and text messages. Right after he’d spoken to Jenkins that morning, he’d permanently deleted the number from his phone.

“There’s only one contact here,” Tony said, his tone suspicious. “That ain’t normal.”

“It’s a brand-new phone,” Jamie replied, knowing he’d be grilled about that and having an explanation worked out. “I got it the day before I got busted. Haven’t had much of a chance to use it yet.” In truth, it was a brand-new phone. A burner phone. To avoid scrutiny, he’d memorized all the numbers he’d need so there’d be nothing in his contacts list that would raise suspicion. There was only one number in there.

“Call the number,” Paola ordered. “Put it on speaker.”

Tony did as his mother directed. After three rings, a bored female voice answered. “Parole Division answering service.”

Tony covered the phone with his hand. “Who’s your PO?”

“Juan Espinoza.”

“I need to speak with Juan Espinoza,” Tony said. “It’s Jimmy Santoro.”

“Hold on. I’ll connect you.”

A few moments later, a different voice came on the phone. “Espinoza.”

Still holding the phone, Tony extended it toward Jamie. “It’s Jimmy Santoro,” Jamie said.

“How’s it going, Jimmy? You get a job yet?”

“Yeah. Bartending.”

“Good. What can I do for you?”

“I, uh, need to reschedule my appointment with you on Tuesday.”

The sound of papers being shuffled came through the phone. “Can you come in on Wednesday? Same time?”

“See you then.”

Tony ended the call and handed back the phone. “Sorry, Fist. We can’t be too careful.”

“No problem.” Jamie stuffed the phone back into his pocket. Behind him, Marco didn’t say a word, but the disappointment from the other man washed over Jamie in waves. Tony might be on Jamie’s side, but there was no doubting Marco was waiting for him to either screw up or get tripped up.

Sorry, bucko. Not today.