Redemption Lost

by Cindy M. Hogan

  Finally, her arm brushed against the rough brick. She dug her toes into the cracks and relieved the pressure on her arms. She wanted to let out a sigh, but she knew she would be heard.

  “Christy, I see you—sorry to leave you hanging,” Halluis’s voice chirped in her ear. He had located her. Her relief was so great, she didn’t even roll her eyes at his lame joke. “Don’t worry. We will get you down from there. Listen to my voice, and I will direct you. You only need to traverse three yards to your right. Stay even with the bottom of the balcony and you’ll come on an emergency exit. You can do this.”

  But Christy was frozen. Her shoulders had locked up, and her fingers were about to give way. She looked right. Even if she could move, she wouldn’t dare follow Halluis’s instructions. If she moved to the fire escape, she’d be totally visible to Alvarez. She closed her eyes, searching for an answer—some extra strength. There was none. She was going to fall. She breathed deeply, trying to use biofeedback to get extra blood to her shoulders to hopefully loosen them, but it seemed there would be no aid. Her fingers started to slip. They’d become clammy and slick with sweat. She didn’t have a chance, and she had no way of alerting her team. If she spoke, the two on the balcony would surely hear.

  “Christy, I’m here.” Jeremy’s voice came over the com, and she looked around. He was below her, standing on the balcony railing, using the side of the building to brace himself. He had a rope with him. If she let go, she could fall into his arms. No. He was on the railing. He’d surely fall. She gripped tighter. “Hold on. I’m almost to you.” He dug his fingers into the cracks between the bricks just to the side and below her and began to climb.

  In seconds flat, he was there. He put one hand on the cement balcony, the toes of his shoes pressed hard against the brick. She looked up, wondering how visible he was to Alvarez and the girl if they chose to stop looking at stars.

  With his other hand, he carefully tied a rope to a metal rung beneath the balcony Christy was trying to escape. He yanked hard on the knot, making sure it would hold. He then tied it around her waist. Did he want her to let go? At that thought, one of her fingers slipped off the cement, and she gritted her teeth to prevent herself from crying out. His free hand pushed up on her arm and her finger was once again on the cement. He then attempted to move her right hand toward him, but it wouldn’t budge.

  He whispered, barely audible over the com. “It’s going to be hard, but you’re going to have to move toward me and the wall so that you don’t bring attention to us. They’re looking up at the sky right now, but that could change.”

  She whispered back, so quietly she wondered if he’d be able to hear, “My shoulders are locked up. I can’t let go, but I’m slipping.”

  He climbed a bit higher, his eyes darting to the two on the balcony and then back to her, over and over as he massaged her shoulders. The pain was almost unbearable, but she knew if she didn’t endure it, she would fall.

  He climbed beneath her, back onto the railing, his one arm bracing him on the wall. “Now, Christy.” The pain in her shoulders was excruciating. She tried to move her hands again. Nothing. Except, she could feel them slipping. A whimper escaped her lips and then she slipped.

  The rope jerked on her ribs as it caught her. She wanted to scream out, but bit it back. Jeremy’s arm wrapped around her and guided her swinging feet to the rail. Her arms remained above her, frozen and screaming in pain. Jeremy steadied her and then let go as he jumped down to the balcony floor. He wrapped his arm around her again and then cut the rope from her waist and pulled her to him. She let out a silent, but definite breath as her feet hit the balcony. He rubbed and rubbed at her shoulders until they relaxed, and she was able to lower them. They were only one floor down and they had to stay silent. She crumpled into his arms, silent sobs wracking her body. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened had she been alone. His body was warm, and his heart pumped fast and hard against her.

  After confirming that the hotel room was empty, he picked the lock and led them through it and out a side door.

  Once on solid ground outside, she whispered, “Thanks for coming for me. I don’t know what happened.”

  “Anyone hanging like that for a half an hour would have experienced the same thing. It would have been nice had they looked up at the stars earlier.”

  She felt weak and needed to feel strong again. She had gotten some good intel. Maybe divulging now would help. “It was definitely Alvarez—we’ve got him now.”

  Jeremy grinned. “Good work. Come on, let’s get out of here.” They started to walk toward the van when the hair on Christy’s neck stood up. Her spidey senses were flaring again. Her chest felt tight, and her stomach ached. She couldn’t leave yet. “We’re missing something.”

  Jeremy’s brow furrowed, but he nodded slowly. “All right, I trust you. What do you want to do?”

  She pursed her lips, wishing she had more answers. But all she had was a feeling. She gestured toward the front of the building, following the vague inspiration purring through her. When they neared the entrance, she pulled Jeremy into some bushes that gave them a good vantage point to see into the lobby.

  “There’s the guard,” Jeremy whispered, nodding slightly toward a spot near the door. The middle-aged man slumped in a chair, obviously snoozing.

  “Not a very good guard I guess,” Christy said with a smirk. “Come on, let’s get a better look.” She pulled Jeremy toward a position that let them see into the lobby, but gave them better cover. They burrowed in to wait for whatever it was that had put her spidey senses on alert.

  They waited there in silence for what felt like hours. Christy’s legs began to ache to accompany the ache in her shoulders and biceps. She thought ruefully that at least now her body would feel balanced.

  After they’d been waiting nearly an hour, Jeremy spoke. “So—it was really Alvarez, huh?” he whispered.

  Christy nodded. “I think the worst of it is knowing that I’m going to have to tell Marybeth. She was so sure he wasn’t involved—she practically worshipped the guy. This is going to break her.”

  “She’s stronger than you think—stronger than she thinks, even. She’s got a lot of growing up to do, sure, but I think she’s going to be okay.”

  Christy smiled at him. He always knew the right thing to say. She wished more than anything that she could kiss him right now.

  Her senses buzzed and she turned reluctantly away from Jeremy to stare at the hotel doors. Moments later, Senator Alvarez emerged with the guard from the lobby. They drove away in the same car in which they’d arrived. Jeremy raised an eyebrow, but Christy just shook her head. Her uneasy feeling had not receded in the slightest. There was something else they needed to wait for.

  An idea popped into her head and she whispered into her com, “Halluis—be ready with a tracker.”

  “What? What for?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just have a feeling. Trust me.”

  He muttered something in French.

  “I hope that means, ‘Of course, my trusted teammate, I will do that right away.’”

  “Your French is impressive.”

  Christy smirked and rolled her eyes at Jeremy, who grinned back. Suddenly his face changed. “Someone else is heading down,” he said, nodding toward the elevator. Sure enough, the down arrow was lit. Christy watched with bated breath, until the doors opened and a young woman and a guard walked out. Alvarez’s date. She was lovely, with the uncommon beauty of an edgy model—icy blue eyes fringed with dark lashes, bronze skin, and plump, red lips. She seemed perfectly safe. Perfectly okay, but ever so young.

  “Alvarez’s girl is leaving the building. We need to track her, Halluis.” The buzzing in Christy’s chest felt like a nest of hornets now. This was important—this was why they had waited.

  Jeremy and Christy crouched down further into the bushes and watched as the girl and the guard crossed the parking lot and got into a black sedan.

&nb
sp; Out of the corner of her eye, Christy glimpsed a shape moving across the parking lot. Halluis. He passed by the black car, and only because she had been trained to see it did Christy notice him place a small tracker near the back wheel well. He continued to walk toward the hotel. “Tracker placed.”

  Jeremy looked to Christy, who nodded. Her spidey senses were sated. They crept out of the bushes as covertly as possibly, and Christy spoke into the com. “Come on, Hal, let’s go.”

  Chapter 11

  CHRISTY

  All three jumped into the van, and Jeremy revved the engine, hurrying to catch up with the sedan.

  He pulled out his phone and before long, he was talking to Ace. “We got him—he’s MisterBig. We can track his movements within the app now. Halluis got a tracker on a black sedan, too. The girl and the guard are inside.”

  “That seems a little odd—that he would send her home in one of his own cars,” Ace said. His voice carried out into the van.

  “Why would you say that?” Jeremy said.

  “Why would the senator want to leave a trail?”

  “Good point,” Christy said.

  Jeremy pressed speakerphone so they could all be part of the conversation. “It does leave a trail that you think the senator wouldn’t want.”

  “True. Maybe not directly to him. What’s the car’s license number?”

  Christy’s photographic memory immediately brought it to her mind. She rattled it off. “Think about it, you guys. This is a service that thrives on anonymity. Maybe Alvarez wants more information than the app gives him. If he gives rides to all his girls, he can know where they live. If he knows where they live, he can find their names. The girls are clueless.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. I guess it’s pretty smart after all. And he can keep an eye on them—make sure they don’t talk about him.”

  “He’s covering his butt,” Ace said. “Smart.”

  “Yeah. And helpful to us.” Christy grinned. “Now we know where she is, and we can also keep tabs on her.”

  At long last, the sedan rolled to a stop in front of a large home with a well-manicured yard. While much of it was going dormant, it was easy to see it was well kept. After getting out of the car, the girl ran up the wide, curved steps to her front door. She stopped and waved once she reached the top landing before she went inside. Seeing her against the large home made her look even younger. Did she still live with her parents? Ace gave the house address to Halluis. Five minutes later, while the team watched, the car drove away. The guard’s car was not registered to the senator and had no connection to him. If the guard was in fact the owner, records showed his name was Mitch Abernathy. He lived in the outskirts of Maryland. “I’ll run into her on the way to work or something,” Christy suggested.

  “It might be better if you meet up after work or later.” Jeremy said.

  “But tomorrow night is Bradley’s funeral,” she said. “I want to be there for that. I want to see who shows.”

  “You may have to let one of us attend that while you check this out. I’m assuming you have a change of clothes or something?”

  “Yes.”

  He grinned.

  “Cross your fingers for now.”

  Halluis rang Jeremy. “The girl’s eighteen, but just barely. Had her birthday two weeks ago. Lives with her parents Jean and Pia. Her name is Carrie. Belonio is the last name.”

  “Well, this has been quite the adventure,” Halluis drawled. “But would there be any chance that sleep is on the schedule for the evening?”

  Christy laughed ruefully. “I guess there’s nothing more we can do until morning, so sure—let’s get a little sleep while we can.” They headed back to the safe house and fell into bed. Christy had never slept so well in her life.

  Christy slept through her alarm the next day. When she finally woke, the sun was streaming boldly through her curtains. She chided herself and rolled out of bed, then immediately regretted the choice. Her arms, shoulders, and neck still ached from the night before. She grimaced as she forced her body into uncomfortable stretches. She couldn’t afford to be slowed down by aches and pains.

  They spent the next few hours discussing the new intel and researching Carrie Belonio. Though Jeremy wanted to focus more closely on Alvarez, Christy had a strong feeling that she needed to follow up on Carrie.

  “We already know everything we can at this point about Alvarez—he’s involved with the app somehow. Carrie can tell us more things we don’t know, yet,” Christy argued.

  Finally, Jeremy agreed, and it was decided that Christy would meet with Carrie after her school day was over. She was still a senior in high school. The fact that Alvarez had targeted someone so young made Christy’s skin crawl.

  She got into a disguise to go meet with Carrie: a blonde wig that bobbed at her shoulders, no makeup, and a bland, business-like outfit of slacks and a button up shirt with a collar. In her front pocket, she put a small notebook and pen. She found a small handgun in a holster and put it in her waistband.

  “You’re going alone?” Jeremy frowned as she headed for the door.

  “Don’t worry, I promise not to get caught hanging from a balcony again.”

  Her levity did nothing to ease the worry off his face. “Don’t worry, boss. I got this.”

  Christy drove past Carrie’s house and parked a couple houses down. She figured Carrie would probably go take a nap after school since she didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and if Christy wanted to talk to her, she’d need to hurry. She rang the doorbell and Carrie answered it. “Hi Carrie.” She looked at Christy like she was trying to figure out if she knew her.

  “I’m Detective Jenner and I’m looking into a crime that occurred at your school. Can I come in? I only have a few questions.”

  “Should I wait for my parents?” She looked behind Christy, but didn’t seem concerned.

  “Oh, it’s not about you. It’s about a few of your classmates.” Christy smiled.

  “Okay. Sure.” She didn’t seem the least bit skittish. Christy had expected more nerves from the girl—she’d imagined that a call girl would be afraid of cops in any form.

  “I’m not interrupting anything, am I? Bingeing on Netflix?”

  “No,” she said, smiling now too. “I was just about to take a nap.”

  Christy shook her head ruefully. “I start watching one episode on that good for nothing service, and I’m up all night watching.”

  “Yeah. I do that too sometimes.”

  “I bet you were up all night with homework and friends and want to be up all night tonight, too, huh? I get it. Believe it or not, I was once your age.”

  She chuckled as she led Christy into a formal living room and they both sat. “You don’t look old,” she said as she sat up straight in her chair. Most likely how she sat at school.

  Christy needed her to loosen up. “Do you like Merryweather Academy?”

  “Yes. It can be fun. But let’s face it, it’s school.” She grimaced. “I’m a senior—I guess I have senioritis. I want it to be over already.”

  “I had senioritis bad too, but I moved all over and must have gone to ten or fifteen schools. It was nuts.”

  “That would be hard.” Carrie’s shoulder’s relaxed, and she leaned her elbows on her knees.

  It was time.

  “Sorry, Carrie. I didn’t tell you the truth earlier. I’m not a detective. I work for a sort of private investigating agency.”

  Her eyes grew wide and she sat up straight again. “Are you going to hurt me?”

  “No.” Christy smiled reassuringly. “I have a few questions for you, though. I didn’t lie about that.”

  Carrie was on high alert now. She looked petrified. On instinct, Christy pulled a pen from her pocket and pressed the button on top, carefully and deliberately. Carrie watched, brow furrowed.

  “I’m scrambling all communications in this area. No one will be able to hear what we talk about over the next ten minutes.”

  Ca
rrie bit her lip. “Okay,” she said, looking around. “But I’m not sure I should be talking to you.”

  “This will be painless, I promise. You’re safe. We’re the good guys.”

  She clasped her hands in her lap and her shoulders slumped.

  “I’ll get right to it. We know you’ve been using a dating app that sets you up with powerful men.”

  Her face flamed red. She felt shame for her actions then.

  “Is somebody forcing you to use the app or are you using it out of your own free will?” Christy didn’t stare directly at her. She didn’t want it to feel like an interrogation.

  Carrie was shaking her head, but was hesitant about it.

  “No? No one is forcing you?”

  “No.” She looked all around and then at the pen Christy had placed in her pocket.

  “Don’t worry, no one can hear us.” She patted the pen.

  “Are you sure? You’re not one of them come to check up on me, are you?”

  “No. I’m not and if you feel threatened in any way, I can protect you.”

  “They said we shouldn’t say anything, and I heard from other girls that they knew stuff, like if we talked to anyone.”

  “You’re right about that. Don’t you ever talk to anybody about it except me today.” Christy pulled out her phone to get Ace to do a sweep of the house to make sure she was telling Carrie the truth that no one was listening in. The pen was nothing more than a regular writing utensil. What if they did have her house laced with bugs? Christy had no doubt they would come after her now if they did.

  “How did they choose you?”

  “I got a message on Facebook from one of my friends that I should meet somebody. He looked nice, so I went. My friend was there, and the guy told me about the app and how my friends are doing it and stuff.”

  “Do they pay you money?”

  “No. Never. They give us things.”

  “What kind of things?”

  “Cell phones. Jewelry. Gas cards. Gift cards. Stuff like that.”