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Chapter Thirty-Three
“Hadley, eat something,” I growled, watching her stare at the plate of food in front of her.
“I’m not hungry,” she muttered.
“Bullshit.”
Her eyes flicked to me, surprised by the tone in my voice. She was shutting down and scared, I could tell. Things had suddenly got very real for her.
Hadley was tough, she could handle her own. The attack back in Athens had been a shock, but the reality was, we weren’t sure who it was meant for.
This, it was personal. They’d known her name, they’d talked about Judge. They’d filled a hotel room with bullets hoping to kill her. She knew now, for sure, that Simon was out for blood, her blood.
It was 3:00 a.m. I’d driven for as long as possible before the adrenaline in my system had given out, and my eyes began to feel heavy. We’d found an all-hours diner in some small town outside of Charleston, South Carolina. It was at this point I was satisfied that no one had followed us, and the likelihood of being found or recognized by police was slim to none.
Just as I was about to tell Hadley again to put something in her mouth, my phone began to ring. I whipped it out and pressed it to my ear. “Hello.”
“Leo, it’s Judge.”
“Hey, you find anything helpful?” I asked, leaning back in the small booth.
Hadley looked up at me, and I nodded to her plate, mouthing the word ‘eat.’ She frowned in reply, not moving at all.
“Yeah. Had my boys inside get on it.” He sighed. “Simon must be getting desperate. He risked some serious shit with this one.”
My ears perked, and I sat up a little straighter.
“He got someone inside to use the camera identification software to find her. They caught you at a gas station in Jacksonville, and he had men there within a couple hours,” Judge explained.
I clenched my jaw. “Are you serious? He can do that kinda shit?”
“We didn’t think so, but it looks like he got someone to,” Judge stated angrily. “This is a good thing, though. Now we just need to find out who he conned into doing it and get them to talk. If our superiors find out he’s using the system for personal gain, we can bring him down.”
I scrubbed my beard. “And how long will that take?”
He sighed. “Can’t tell you, but I’ve got everyone possible working on it.”
“We at risk with the cameras now?” I asked, looking around the diner, wondering if their cameras were hooked up to the system.
“I would be careful, just in case. But we think we’ve managed to pull it down.”
“Fucking awesome.”
He snorted. “How’s Hadley holding up?”
My eyes looked up, watching as she finally placed a French fry in her mouth and chewed. “She shot someone,” I told him simply.
Hadley looked up from her food, her face visibly twisting into disgust.
“One thing Simon got right, teaching that girl how to shoot.” Judge chuckled.
I’d seen the evidence of that first hand when she beat Rifle at the range in Athens. She had a steady hand, and perfect aim and she could shoot under pressure.
“Let me know if you find something. We need to find a motel and get some sleep,” I told Judge.
“Will do. I’d help you out with a safe house, but unfortunately, the second I did, Simon would be able to find you,” Judge said, disappointed and angry.
“No problem. Catch you soon.”
