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Chapter 24
Sandy Tate had contacted the police, but because Annabelle was an adult and there were no signs of a crime, they couldn’t act. Her next call had been to Cam. The fact that Ivanovich’s disappearing act coincided with Annabelle going missing likely wasn’t a coincidence, but Maria and the team were taking a two-fold approach to finding her anyway.
Jake was trying to get rental information on Annabelle’s vehicle in order to track it the way he had Ivanovich’s, but that was going to cost them time without a warrant. It was still possible Annabelle had been held up by something less nefarious, although everyone believed she’d have gotten in touch with her mother if she’d been able to, so Maria took over sifting through the police logs. Thus far, none of the accident reports listed victims that fit Annabelle’s description, and none of the petty crimes would have been enough to hold Annabelle up for very long had she been a witness.
Absorbed in the task, Maria didn’t notice Teag’s absence for a good fifteen minutes. She looked toward the closed door of the bedroom and frowned. He’d gone off to call his mother, and he certainly could still be trying to comfort the woman, but the tingling sensation that crawled up her spine made her cross the room and knock softly.
When Teag didn’t answer, she opened the door, hoping to find him crashed out on the bed. Instead, she found an empty room. Panic sent her heart racing as she checked the bathroom. Also empty.
“Cam!” she shouted.
The tone of her voice had the whole team rushing in. Maria’s well-trained eyes scanned the room for any sign of a struggle. What she noticed instead were the missing car keys.
“God damn it, Teag!” she said frantically.
“How could someone get to him without us hearing anything?” Cam asked between gritted teeth.
“No one got to him,” Maria answered, shaking her head. “He left. The keys are missing.”
“Why?” Cam demanded.
“Not sure. This has to be about Annabelle, though. He’d never disappear on us otherwise,” Maria said, growing more certain by the moment.
Cam gave Maria a piercing stare and then nodded his head. “I agree. Let’s assume Ivanovich is behind whatever’s happening with Annabelle, and that he somehow got to Teag. How could he have contacted Teag without us knowing?”
“The landline rang once,” Tank said. “He’d been on with his mother and then the phone rang back. I assumed it was just Sandy Tate again, and Teag didn’t give anything away. Shit.”
Cam picked up the phone and dialed the front desk. “Did a call come in for Teagan Tate in the last hour?” he asked, his tone curt.
Maria watched Cam closely, watched his eyebrows furrow and his jaw clench. When he slammed the phone back onto the receiver, she flinched at the sound.
“There was a package at the front desk for Teag. He picked it up about twenty minutes ago.”
“Oh god,” Maria said, before she could stop the words.
“How the hell did Ivanovich know where to find him?” Tank asked, running both hands over his face.
It was Jake who answered. All eyes turned toward the video screen. “Ivanovich is probably tracking us to get to Teagan. He’s done his homework, knows Teag is under our protection. Ivanovich could have eyes on us the same way he did the Feds. I know he hasn’t breached any of our tech, but we aren’t hiding, and he drove Teag right back to us.”
Cam slammed his fist on the table. “We need to find this motherfucker. Jake, can we get traffic camera footage in this area?”
“Yeah, but it’s going to take me a minute to get into the system,” Jake answered, already typing.
“We don’t have a minute. We have to find him right the fuck now,” Cam said, pacing the room.
Maria’s head spun. Teag had taken the car. The car Esteban del Fuego had provided. It was untraceable to the police, but she’d bet not to the cartel.
“I have an idea,” she said and pulled out the burner, still streaked with dried blood, that del Fuego had given her. Cam narrowed his eyes, but she couldn’t worry about repercussions from her boss when Teag was heading straight to his own execution.
Esteban del Fuego answered on the second ring.
“I need the GPS locator info for the car,” she said without preamble.
Silence greeted her on the other end of the line.
“Please,” she whispered.
“I’ll send it,” del Fuego answered.
