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“It’s an interesting theory. But they burned down her house.”
“Just a messenger. It’s a running theory.”
“Did our guys in the Caymans find anything?”
“Not yet. Two are running surveillance on the facility. Two are floating Sloane’s photo.”
“Nothing?” I push off the bed, frustration simmering.
“These things take time. You know that. They just hit the ground an hour ago.” The screen shifts, and I get glimpses of the ceiling and the floor. It’s another reason I hate video calls. He comes back into the picture, but this time he’s sitting at his desk, and it looks like he’s set his phone down on a charging dock. “Just wanted to tell you to stay tight. Whether they’re looking to abduct her or kill her, she’s on someone’s list, and that someone has deep pockets.”
“Did our guys land in Asheville yet?”
“Don’t think so. Why?”
“She’s worried about her friend Jimmy.”
“You think he’d sell her out?”
“She said he’s her best friend. She’s worried for his safety.”
“Kairi’s team is behind the listening device theory. Her team said that if anyone checked her social, which is set to public, he’d be the one they’d watch to try to locate her. Kairi didn’t find anything in his texts or email, which is why she sent someone out to check his place. See what we’re dealing with. What kind of listening devices they used. Or if someone went old school and tricked him into sharing her location.”
“Old school phishing. That’s a conceivable angle. I’ve never met the guy. It’s possible he’s a dumb fuck and bought some story about someone looking for her. Insurance or something. He’s supposed to be helping her. Knows a guy from USAA.” An insurance cover could definitely work on an unsuspecting person. “The guy’s a schoolteacher. If they got forceful, he might cave pretty easily.”
The bedroom door opens. Sage squints, one hand on the doorframe, the other on the knob. “You think they’d go after Jimmy?”
CHAPTER 18
Sage
Knox blinks with surprise but quickly morphs into business mode.
“If you’re concerned about him, let me call him.” Desperation rings in my tone. I didn’t go to Jimmy out of a desire to protect him. If something happened to him because I left…
“Not a good idea.” He glances down at the phone in his hand. “Or that’s my gut reaction. Felix will check with the team. Let’s clear it.”
“Do you need his number?”
“No.” The speaker on the phone lends Felix’s voice an artificial quality. “I’ll be in touch.”
I don’t hear a click, but the call must’ve ended, because Knox sets the phone on the bed, face down.
“This is crazy.” I’m a kindergarten teacher. Jimmy teaches history. “I worried Sam was suffering from extreme paranoia when he left me that duffel bag. And now look at all that’s happened.”
Knox pats the mattress, encouraging me to come sit beside him. I comply, but there’s an uneasiness I can’t rub out of my chest. “You don’t think they’d hurt Jimmy, do you?”
“We’re looking into it.”
I rest both hands behind me and tilt my head up to the ceiling. My eyes burn.
“It’s unlikely. He’s the only one who knew you’re in Santa Barbara, right?”
Jimmy is the only one I called. But… “They were in my house. My letters. If they read them…more than once, Sam told me to find you if I was ever in trouble. He included your address. The one in San Diego. And your phone number, but an old number. It was disconnected.”
“That number got on some spam list. When I changed providers, I went ahead and changed the number.”
“After the explosion?” My chest sinks, and I squeeze my eyes closed, willing away the nagging doubt. Sam’s alive. I know it.
