by Annette Mori
Char didn’t really know what was going on with Ronda, but it seemed like not all was copacetic with her. She really didn’t have the time now to figure it out. Besides, supportive friendships weren’t really her strong point.
“Hey, I’ll see you at the hub later after I take care of a few things. I might just have to give the delectable Toni a call later tonight. I don’t want her forgetting me.”
Char waved at Ronda and turned toward the street, looking for the next cab.
She wanted to hurry back to her office so she could analyze how Toni was able to embed a tracking chip into a business card. She’d heard about Toni’s legendary inventions and wanted to check them out for herself.
Char spied a yellow cab rounding the corner and lifted her hand to get the driver’s attention. The cab rolled up to Char and she folded her long body into the backseat of the cab. She leaned her head against the vinyl seat and closed her eyes after giving the cabbie the address. Ten minutes later, she arrived at her office.
†
The soft glow from the streetlamp flooded into the cozy office space. Char looked around the office and noted that the solid cherry desk, matching bookshelves, and soft leather chair attributed to the warmth. Otherwise, the office was devoid of intimacy. Sparse was an understatement. No personal belongings, family pictures, or other indication of the owner’s personality adorned the desk.
Char walked to the high-powered desk lamp and pulled out a specially designed magnifying glass hoping to inspect Toni’s business card. As she deposited her body into the soft leather, she leaned back and smiled. By all accounts, Toni was a brilliant inventor and Char needed to know how she embedded the tracking chip into the card. After a brief inspection, she detected no raised lettering or any other indication of the device.
“Hmm. How did you embed the chip you clever little minx?” It often helped her to talk aloud when she was trying to solve a problem.
She placed the card under the powerful industrial grade magnifying glass.
“Even you can’t hide a slight bulge in the card when under the detection of Myra.” Char had a made a game of naming her gadgets. Myra was the name of her pocket magnifying glass.
Char frowned when she found nothing raised on the card and only noted an odd shimmering glow under the magnification.
“Hmm. What do we have here? If I were a betting woman, I would say this card has a biological property attached to it. I better get this to the lab. How do I do that without revealing the lab’s location? Let me think. Let me think. As Maggie always says, a problem is just an opportunity yet to be resolved.”
Char leaned back in the chair and looked to the ceiling, hoping for inspiration. She absently picked up the gold pen neatly aligned perpendicular to the pad on the top of her desk and tapped it on her temple.
“Maggie’s not going to like this, but I need to get some of that lab equipment transported here to the office. It’s the only way.”
Char chuckled as she thought about what people would think if they heard her talking to herself while all alone in her office. It’s a good thing most of my colleagues leave before six, she thought.
Char pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed the number etched in her memory. “I need to transport some resources. No, to my office. I’m afraid there’s no other option. Yes, I suspect it’s biological in origin. Oh yes, she’s a clever little minx. No, don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control. Yeah, I plan to call tonight to invite her for dinner tomorrow. Okay. Thank you. Yes, tonight—I’ll need it tonight.”
Char pushed the button on her cell phone to end the call. She flipped the card and smiled as she punched in the numbers scribbled on the card. “Well hello, yourself. I do apologize for needing to leave so abruptly. I was hoping you might be interested in having dinner with me tomorrow night. If you give me your address, I can pick you up at say six thirty. Okay, that would work as well. Are you afraid I’ll stalk you at home? Yes, me too. Goodnight, Toni.”
†
A few minutes after midnight, Char watched as Ronda parked the sleek black SUV next to her law office. She noted the emptiness in the street and breathed in the stillness of the air. Char scanned the street to make sure no prying eyes were watching the transfer of lab equipment into the secret room attached to her office.
Ronda carried the first silver box. “Hey, Char, what’s with the special delivery here?”
“I think our clever little inventor may have used a biological device in her tracking card.”
“No shit, I’ve never heard of such a thing. I thought we had the most cutting-edge technology. I’ll bet that’s why Maggie is so hell-bent on recruiting them.”
“I can’t really be sure until I check it out.”
“Do you need any help with that?”
“No, thanks. I really appreciate you bringing it here, though.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m just the brawn I guess,” Ronda mumbled.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Char moved close to Ronda and reached out to take the box. “Here, let me take that from you and then you can get back to whatever you were doing before I so rudely interrupted you.”
“No worries, it’s never a problem to help you out. You know I care about you, Char. I don’t know if we should trust them yet. I know Maggie thinks they’ll fit right in, but I’m not so sure and Toni is an arrogant little shit. I’ll bet she’s planning on bedding you the first chance she gets.” Ronda frowned.
“I know, Ronda, and you’re a good friend, but I can take care of myself. You know my rule, once we recruit them, there won’t be any additional fraternization. I have to admit that I won’t mind the amount of fraternization I may have to do—all within the confines of the mission.”
“You’ll just be another notch on her belt, you know.”
Char looked up to see Ronda scowling. I’ve really got to deal with her infatuation with me soon.
“Don’t worry, personal entanglements aren’t my style. You know that.”
“Yeah, I do,” Ronda mumbled.
Char gently set the silver box on the table in the secret back room and then walked out with Ronda to retrieve the rest of the equipment.
The back room was sparse with enhanced lighting, several large tables, and multiple outlets. The room was perfect for setting up a temporary lab.
After Char placed the rest of the silver lab boxes on the tables, she turned to Ronda to encourage her to leave. Char preferred working alone. “Thanks, Ronda, you’re the best. See you tomorrow. Maybe we can grab some coffee?”
“All right, I’ll call you. Don’t work on this all night, okay?”
“I won’t, I just want to run a few tests.”
Char unpacked the expensive equipment and set up the microscopes and sensitive sample testers. She sighed as she prepared for a long night of work. She was determined to figure out how Toni managed to embed a tracking device in the card without detection. It had to be something totally unconventional.
Chapter 8
“I’m bored. I’m bored. I’m bored. I’m bored. I’m bored,” Toni chanted to herself as she spun her chair around in circles. “Whoa.” Toni stopped spinning and put her head between her legs. “I guess that wasn’t such a good idea.”
After she braced herself on the arms of her office chair, steadying herself for a few minutes, she got up and paced her living room before plopping down on the sofa.
“What to do now for fun.” She groaned. God, Heather had put her in such a tailspin that she was talking to herself.
Toni stared at her cell phone and frowned. What could she possibly be doing this late at night in her office? She leaned back against the couch and flipped the phone in her hand in a nervous gesture of frustration.
I don’t suppose Kim and Sophie would object to a little stakeout tonight.
Toni jumped up, grabbed her leather jacket, and headed to her pride and joy, a Harley Davidson Softail. She knew she would have t
o park several blocks away from the attorney’s office because a loud engine was an obvious characteristic of the famous brand.
Toni roared up to the street several blocks away from Heather’s office and dismounted from her bike. She walked quickly to a location designed to give her a clear view of the building without revealing her location. The tree-lined street provided the perfect cover. Toni noticed the lights on in one of the second-floor offices.
Toni pulled out her high-powered binoculars and watched as a sleek black SUV pulled up in front of Heather’s office. Toni watched as an unknown woman unloaded what appeared to be some type of equipment encased in silver cases. Oh, Heather, what are you up to this evening?
Toni pulled out her phone and punched in the number to Sophie’s private line. She didn’t really want to confirm Sophie’s suspicions about the beautiful attorney, but Toni had to admit what she was seeing tonight did not bode well for her perception of Heather’s trustworthiness. Something was clearly happening and without audio monitoring, Toni couldn’t do anything at this point to solve this mystery.
“Hey, Soph, I hate to bother you this late at night, but something odd is happening at Heather’s office and I need you to try to follow a black SUV that is currently unloading equipment. I need you to hurry, because I think she’s about to leave.”
Toni pushed the end button on her iPhone and watched as the unknown woman carried several more cases into the brick building. Soon after, she climbed into the SUV and pulled out onto the empty street. Damn, Sophie was gonna be pissed.
Thirty seconds later, Toni jogged off in the direction of where Sophie would approach and rounded the corner just in time to flag her down. She banged on the driver’s side of the car, knowing that their window of opportunity was small. “Hurry. She’s headed north down First Avenue.”
Sophie rushed off into the black night.
Toni paced on the sidewalk, sending up a small prayer that Sophie would be able to catch her in time and find out a little more about the late-night activities she had just observed. After ten minutes of pacing, Toni heard a vehicle approach and turned her head to see who might be out this late in the evening. Maybe Heather was getting another nocturnal delivery. Sophie’s car pulled up next to her and the driver’s side window whirred as it came down. Sophie scowled.
“I can see by your pleasant expression that you just missed her. I think I’ll hang around for a few more hours to see if I can find out anything more, but I suspect she may be holed up for the night and I don’t want to take a chance that she’ll see me.”
“Why don’t you just continue to track her with your phone? You’ll know when she leaves the office and then you can pinpoint her new location. Maybe you can learn a few more things tomorrow at dinner. Be careful, Toni, and don’t let your attraction to her blind you. I can’t pinpoint it right now, but I’m sure I know her from somewhere. Call it intuition, but I think she’s somehow tied to Viktor and he is someone we want to stay as far away from as possible. Someday we’ll find a way to cripple his operation by liberating his funds, but we had better make damn sure we have a failsafe plan before we attempt going after the Russian mob. I don’t think I could live with myself if the result is another casualty.”
Toni’s voice softened. “I know, Soph, I miss Natalie too, but if we go after them it won’t be the same. We won’t have the restrictions you had when you were with the FBI. We get to play by our rules this time, not theirs. You know I only offered my technology to them because of you. I won’t make the same mistake again, even if it’s for the good guys. I’ll always be in your debt. You saved my life that night. I know I didn’t deserve it because I had no business insisting on accompanying you to make sure my prototype worked the way I envisioned it. It was pure ego on my part.”
“It’s water under the bridge. I’d do anything for you and Kim,” Sophie added.
“I know and I love you too, bud, but you know Kim luuves you more. Smoochy, smoochy.” Toni laughed.
“Oh, shut the fuck up and just go home already. You need to be sharp for your date tomorrow night.”
Sophie lifted her hand and waved at Toni. The electric window silently closed as she eased away with a smirk on her face.
Toni shook her head and walked to her Harley. A shiver went down her back as she relived that horrible night two years ago.
†
“I’m going with you. No arguments, Sophie. It’s my invention and I’ll be damned if I’ll let some snot-nosed feebie test it out.”
“Snot-nosed feebie? What the hell are you talking about? Natalie is young, but she’s on my team and she knows what she’s doing. You’re the one who offered to let us test it.”
“I offered to let you test it, not Natalie. I mean, I like the kid, but she’s pretty green and it’s a very expensive prototype.”
“Natalie’s the one who managed to get that snitch, Dani, to trust her. I’m only supposed to be her backup. I can’t very well be the one to test it because I’m not even supposed to be there. Besides, she’s spent months infiltrating the Russian mob, not me.”
“Fine, then I’ll hang with you as backup.”
“No offense, but you’re not exactly trained for this sort of mission. You’ll only be a liability to us.”
“It’s non-negotiable. I can hang out in the van with you and monitor the recording device. If something goes wrong I can help.”
“You are a stubborn little shit. I have a bad feeling about this, but you’ve left me no choice because my boss isn’t about to pass up the opportunity for this kind of breakthrough technology. You have us over a barrel and you know it.”
Toni grinned. “Well, I’m glad we got that settled.”
Toni watched as Sophie waved at Natalie who was busy talking to Ted, an agent Toni had met previously through Sophie. Toni noticed that Natalie and Ted seemed to be having an animated discussion. After a few minutes, Natalie walked to where Toni and Sophie were standing outside of the nondescript white van that held the surveillance equipment. Parked parallel to the first van was the one Natalie would use.
“Hey, Toni. Thanks for letting me test your prototype. I’m impressed. I’ve been trained to detect bugs and recording devices and I cannot believe the camera and audio are built into this jacket. It’s very stylish. Any chance I can keep it after the mission?” Natalie grinned.
“Not on your life. I plan on keeping that one for myself.” Toni answered.
“Hey, what’s going on with Ted?” Sophie asked. “You seemed to be having a very lively discussion.”
“Oh, he’s just pissed because he thinks he should be in on the action. I don’t think he likes the fact that I’m the one who’s been able to arrange the meeting with Dani and her two contacts. Would you believe one of them is a woman? She actually trains the poor girls to be subservient and accept whatever Viktor’s customers want.”
Natalie shook her head. “I just don’t understand how any woman can be attached to the white slave trade. Some of those girls have barely reached puberty. Although I want to nail both that bastard and his female associate, for some reason my snitch, Dani, is rather protective of this woman and made me promise to ensure her safety while this whole operation goes down. As repulsive as it seems, maybe we can offer witness protection for this woman in exchange for her testimony. I get the impression she knows a lot about the internal workings—it might be enough to take Viktor down for good.”
“Something doesn’t smell right about this. You never mentioned another person. I thought the exchange was only going to involve Viktor’s right-hand man and maybe a few security personnel. Paranoid bastards,” Sophie grunted.
“I don’t think we have to worry about this woman carrying a gun. Dani assured me there wouldn’t be more than two security personnel, Dimitri, and this woman. I trust Dani. I don’t think she’s really had a choice in her life and the woman’s circumstances have dictated what she’s had to do to survive. She wants out and I want to help her. All we need to do
is get them on tape and get the girls to safety before they realize anything is amiss. It’s taken me a long time to gain Dani’s trust,” Natalie argued.
“All right. Come on, let’s get a move on. We don’t want to keep the bastards waiting.” Sophie walked quickly to the first van. Natalie jogged to the other van, smiled and gave Sophie a thumbs-up gesture.
Toni remained quiet during the exchange, but the hairs on the back of her neck raised in alarm. She agreed with Sophie. Something just didn’t seem right about the change in the operation.
Toni followed Sophie into the first van and jumped in the back. She opened her laptop to make sure the program tied to the jacket was fully functional. She knew her job was limited to monitoring the meeting from afar. Natalie’s vehicle would transport the merchandise.
Toni shivered at the thought that this was how the mob viewed the young girls. The slave trade was big business. Each girl brought a price tag of more than one million dollars. Blond- haired, blue-eyed girls generated the highest price tags, but the Asian girls were also highly sought after.
Sophie slowly traversed the back streets until she rolled to an abrupt stop in a deserted area next to the unpopulated warehouse district. She was careful to keep a respectable distance from Natalie’s van, but was close enough to serve as backup if needed.
Toni and Sophie placed headphones over their ears and huddled around the small laptop screen.
Toni looked at Sophie and noticed that she’d pulled her Glock 23 from its holster. Toni now had second thoughts about accompanying Sophie on this mission. Suddenly things seemed a bit more dangerous than she’d initially thought. Toni wasn’t a trained agent—she was just a techno geek. Maybe she should have heeded Sophie’s warnings.
Natalie scrambled out of the van and Toni watched the small screen as she approached the five dark shapes clustered around the dingy warehouse to the right of the van.