Lucas nodded but said nothing. I stared him down as he pondered, just waiting for the whole story. No more mysterious mumblings. No more cryptic asides. I needed answers.
Lucas finally took a deep breath and continued, eyes locked on me. “So Joel also helped on this same case, this mafia group. A while back. Before the explosion that killed Vinny and the rest of those crooks.”
My eyebrows shot up. Even more history here.
“He was actually the main source of intel at that time,” he continued, “operating for several years under the alias Dominic Vichelli. He worked with them, was one of them . . . or so they thought. Until that explosion.”
“Wait.” My mind whirled with the new information. “The explosion? Is that how he died?”
“It is.” He broke eye contact, turning to gaze out at the distance again. “And thanks to you, we now know Vinny actually made it out alive, when he was presumed dead. So I guess they suspect their guy Dominic might’ve actually done the same.” He scratched at the back of his head absently, lost in thought. “Not quite sure what to do with that yet . . . ”
I watched him a moment, quiet, trying to take it all in. Sloan’s fiancé was in the mix with these guys from the beginning, from before the beginning? And she never said a thing? Not even a peep?
I could feel my blood pressure rising. Despite there obviously being more pressing matters, I was not going to be able to just let that go. “So . . . no one ever wanted to mention this connection to me, after all this time?”
Lucas's head snapped toward me, concentration broken.
I tried to keep my frustration in check as I continued. “Not even Sloan, who dragged me into all this in the first place?” My fists were tightening against my will just thinking about it. Always the one lied to. The one left in the dark. She got me again.
“Actually . . .” Lucas cringed. “That’s really not her fault. She didn’t exactly know either.” His eyes returned to the front window. “I never told her.”
My breath caught as I watched him carefully, waiting for more. Surely there had to be a good reason for such a colossal withholding. Something to explain all of the deceptions. If anyone had a right to know the truth, it was his own fiancée. Especially after he had been killed.
“It wasn’t my call,” he finally continued, his voice deep and firm. “And it wouldn’t have changed anything. We were asked to wait. Once this whole thing blew over, and they were all finally behind bars . . . then we could tell her everything. But until then, it was unsafe. Her connection to him couldn’t be known out in the world. She could become a target.” He glanced over, indignant. “As we clearly now see.”
I swallowed, absorbing the news. All this time. So even the secretive Sloan could become a victim of all the masquerades in their maddening clandestine world. She would be clobbered by the lies, too. The deceit could be devastating.
But there was no satisfaction in knowing that I was not alone for once. My friend did not know the truth of her own fiancé’s death. Or life, it seemed.
As I replayed his words, trying to picture their side of it, my mind hung on a pronoun. “So who’s we?” I ventured.
Lucas's eyebrow quirked up.
“You said we were asked to wait,” I continued. “So, other people knew, besides the feds?”
He shrugged. “Just Hudson. He was aware of Joel’s participation. And he agreed to do his best to keep everyone safe until it was time. Which was going to be any day now.”
Her business partner, too. Sloan was going to feel betrayed once everything came out. I had a feeling she wouldn’t take kindly to her own weapons being used against her.
But now was not the time to worry about it. First we had to get her home.
“Wow,” I mumbled, feeling overwhelmed. “Let’s just figure out what to do now.”
I took a deep breath to push aside the new information and turn my focus on the current situation. We only had one more thing standing in our way. In order to retrieve Sloan, we would now have to produce Joel, a.k.a. the mob’s quasi-friend Dominic. Which was not possible, for obvious reasons.
Or is it? A flash of inspiration hit.
I turned back to stare at Lucas, studying his face. Trying to remember the broken photo. The glass had been too shattered for me to be certain, but it seemed worth a try. We have to try something.
“What about you?” I finally blurted, unable to hold back.
Lucas raised his eyebrows at me. “What about me?”
“All I know is you two were pretty close in age. Any chance you could pass for Joel, under the right conditions?”
One side of his mouth lifted slowly into a half-smile as he pondered. “I’d like to think I was the better-looking one,” he finally said, “but yeah, we might just be able to make that work. With a little help.”
I sighed, releasing a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. We had a new option. A solution.
“Not a bad idea,” Lucas said, still smiling at me with satisfaction. “Thanks.”
I beamed. “So what do we do now?”
“What we do now is take you home.”
I perked up even further for a second. “Home?”
He flinched. “Your temporary home. You know what I mean.” He whipped around to put the car in gear and glanced back in the mirror. “I’ll need to make some calls. We don’t have much time.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Just waiting. And more waiting.
I stayed curled up on the couch in my second makeshift home in a week, trying to not to gawk as Lucas paced around placing phone call after abrupt phone call. He had a way of mumbling into the phone, his voice deep and low, that made it impossible to make out what he was saying even when he was only feet away. But just watching him made me feel better. Things were happening. People were taking charge.
Finally Lucas slipped the phone in his pocket and turned to me. “We’ve gotten some intel. Think we have a line on where they might’ve taken her. Sal’s restaurant.” His gaze turned hard. “I think you know the place.”
My eyes widened. “Fantastic.” The place had seemed nice enough when Sloan and I had done surveillance in the past. No dark dungeon, at least. “Now we can just barge in and get her, right?”
“First of all,” he said, eyes narrowed, “we wouldn’t be barging in anywhere. But our people aren’t prepared to go in blind, either. It’s an unnecessary risk. They don’t know what they’re walking into.”
I felt a panic rising. “But we can’t just leave her there.”
He waved off the idea. “We just have to be smart. We’re going to be invited guests tomorrow, anyway. Now that we know where she is, it will help us plan it all out. The less unknown, the better.”
“Right.” I tried to hide my disappointment. It sounded like we would still be playing completely by the mobsters’ rules. I had hoped we would finally get the upper hand, for once.
“We’re moving ahead with your idea, by the way,” Lucas continued. “We’ll give them what they want. ‘Dominic’ will be going in there with you tomorrow.”
I looked him over, curious about his acting skills. “So you’ll be playing your brother, then?”
“Don’t forget, it’s my brother, pretending to be their old pal Dominic.” His smile was crooked. “But I think I could pull it off just fine.” He took a deep breath, his expression slowly flattening as he exhaled. “The only problem is Sloan’s reaction. We don’t know how she’ll respond to her long-lost fiancé waltzing in. Will she believe it, or pretend to? Will she just freak out?” He shuddered. “Pretty disturbing, I’d think.”
I gulped just thinking about it. Poor Sloan. It would be heartbreaking to be in such a terrifying situation already, and have a faux-loved one show up. I was certain I wouldn’t know what to think. Or do.
A sudden voice in my ear startled me. “Battery,” it
blurted.
My hearing aids. They would die soon without new batteries. I would need to find my stash, hopefully included in my things that had been rushed to the new safe house.
“Excuse me,” I said to Lucas, grateful for the momentary distraction. Finally, a problem I could solve.
I crossed the few feet of the small space into the first bedroom, in search of my suitcase. Most of my belongings had been left behind. My entire shrunken world was now contained in the one sad little bag. I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled out the box I needed. At least I would be able to hear. There was enough chaos without that added problem.
I pulled a new pack from the box and hesitated. I found myself squatting in front of the open suitcase, frozen, just holding the batteries. Staring at them.
Something had made me stop. Something was bothering me. But what do batteries have to do with anything? I studied the packaging, trying to find the source of my unsettled feeling.
And suddenly it hit me. It wasn’t the batteries. It was what they represented. And that was a link.
A possibility.
I rushed back to the living room. “Where’s Sloan’s phone?” I blurted to Lucas, interrupting his millionth phone conversation.
“Hang on,” he mumbled into the phone. He moved the handset away from his mouth and looked up, a little impatient. “Why?”
“I might have a way to get in touch with her. Get her a message.”
“I’m gonna have to call you back,” he told his caller. His eyes narrowed as he pulled Sloan’s phone from his back pocket, hesitant. “I don’t really see how.”
“Just let me just see it,” I snapped, grabbing it from his hand. I went straight to the accessibility settings and confirmed. There was a possibility.
I looked up at Lucas, excitement bubbling. “We can talk right to her. If she still has them in, of course.”
“If she has what in?” His look was beyond skeptical. “There’s no way they let her keep some listening device, if that’s what you’re thinking. These guys are known for their meticulous checks. They’ve been burned too many times.”
“I’m well aware, having been subjected to it myself. Which is why I have reason to believe she might’ve been able to keep something else. Something just as useful.”
I held the phone screen to him, pointing to the listing of the hearing aids paired with the phone. “If we can get close enough, these could give us a line right into her ears.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Since when does she wear hearing aids?”
“Since I showed her how to use them to communicate and listen in on things. It’s actually a lot easier than the fancy setups you guys use, and a heck of a lot more versatile.” I smiled, proud of myself. “And much more discreet. I convinced those goons to let me keep mine. So if she acted like she needed them, played hard of hearing, they might’ve found it easier to just let it go. Completely unaware of the true capabilities.”
He looked keenly interested now. “So it’s like a headset? We can talk to her?”
“She won’t be able to talk back. But if they’re in her ears, she’ll be able to hear us.” I watched the expressions play on his face, concern battling excitement. “You said we need her to respond appropriately when we show up. Now we can warn her.”
Lucas nodded, pondering. “So you really think this’ll work? That Sloan tricked them?”
I shrugged. “She’s pretty smart. So it’s worth a shot.”
He pursed his lips, considering, before looking up with a nod. “Guess I can’t argue with that.”
***
By the time we pulled up next to the restaurant, Lucas's silent meditation had returned and become brooding as dark as the unlit parking lot. I peeked over from the corner of my eyes, unsure about breaking his trance. Or about what I could possibly say to lighten it. I fidgeted nervously with the ends of my dark wig, the rest of my disguise abandoned for the nocturnal mission.
He kept his gaze on the back of the white stucco building, eyeing the service door and the row of warmly-lit windows along the first floor. As usual, all the second floor windows were pitch black, not a flicker of activity. But we knew better.
By now, Sal’s not-so-secret underground casino was probably back up and running full steam. It would be a nice way to shove their seeming triumph in everyone’s faces. Back when Sloan and I had first visited the restaurant months ago, I had attempted to access that upstairs lair. We had been suspicious something more was going on, and were just beginning to scratch the surface of the truth.
I no longer wanted to get myself in. Only to get her out. And fast.
Despite the closed sign on the door, two dark-suited men exited the darkened front and crossed the parking lot, confirming our unspoken suspicions. I turned to see Lucas's face harden once again, his lips pressed tightly together as he watched them in silence. He finally looked back at me.
“I’ve seen enough,” he said. “Now let’s see what you’ve got.” He yanked the door handle and stretched himself back to normal height as he exited the vehicle. I followed, trotting to keep up with his long stride as he crossed to the shadowy front corner of the building.
He handed over Sloan’s phone, eyebrows raised in curiosity. I went straight to the special streaming settings, checking to see if the hearing aids showed connection. Nothing yet.
Lucas leaned in to peer over my shoulder, the proximity sending chills down my spine. “What now?” he whispered. “I was promised communication.”
“I said we could try,” I snapped back, trying to keep my voice low. “But there’s no guarantee.”
I took a step away, heading around the corner. Lucas reached a hand to stop me. “Where are you going?”
I pointed the phone screen at him. “We need to get closer. If they’re on, the devices will show up here as connected. But only if we get near enough.”
He considered only a second. “Stay behind me,” he growled quietly, peeking around the corner to check before continuing.
I followed him down the side of the building, eyes focused on the connectivity page on my screen. Nothing was changing. I avoided Lucas's questioning eyes as he continuously kept watch of both me and the vicinity.
Staying as close to the building as possible, we maneuvered around the green cinder-block garbage area at the back and suddenly got a hit. The hearing aids lit up as connected. I had to suppress a shriek of excitement, settling instead for a sharp intake of breath. Lucas's head jerked toward the sound.
“She’s here,” I said, trying to remain calm. “She must be somewhere in there, probably upstairs above us. Or at least the aids are. We don’t know for sure she’s wearing them, but they’re definitely turned on.”
“So how do we talk to her?” Lucas's eyes were lit up, somehow twinkling despite the darkness.
“Just call her,” I whispered. “All I have to do is answer with her phone. Your voice will be routed straight into her ears.”
He shook his head, just a hint of a smile forming. “You’re a genius.” He pulled out his phone and dialed.
My head tingled from the compliment. Now it just needs to work.
Sloan’s phone lit up in my hand, vibrating. I took a deep breath and hit the button to answer, connecting the call. The screen indicated it was being sent to the hearing aids.
Lucas met my eyes and I nodded, encouraging him to go on.
“Sloan,” he said softly into the phone. “It’s Lucas. Don’t be alarmed. We’re right outside.” He paused, thinking. “I’m here with Quinn. We can’t get you just yet, but we’re coming in tomorrow. I promise.” His voice cracked as he began to choke up. “I hope you can hear me. And I hope you’re ok. I’m sorry you’re stuck in there, all alone. After everything . . . ”
He trailed off, seeming lost for words. He really loves her.
Fearing we would run out o
f time, I slipped the phone from his fingers and spoke, my voice low. “Sloan, you should know that there’ll be a surprise tomorrow. Lucas will be coming in to get you, but he’ll be pretending to be Joel. Only he will go by the name Dominic. It’s confusing, I know.”
I paused for a moment to listen, thinking I heard something. Nothing. I continued hurriedly. “But it’s very important that you play along. Act like Joel never went anywhere. And then hopefully we can all walk out of . . . ”
I was cut off as Lucas suddenly grabbed my arm, flinging me up against the wall. The phone clattered to the ground beside me. He swung himself into me, wedging us in the corner between the restaurant and the garbage wall. I gasped in surprise, searching his darkened face for explanation as it hovered over mine, moonlight highlighting his features from above.
“Shhh,” he whispered. “Don’t say anything. Just giggle.”
What in the world? My back stiffened as his hands slid around my waist. He leaned in, pressing me firmly into the wall.
“Just do it. Right now.” The stubble on his jaw tickled my cheek as he moved his face in close to mine, sending every nerve ending in my body into overdrive. “Giggle for me,” he whispered again, his hot breath on my cheek setting my face on fire. I gulped, utterly confused.
And then I heard it. Footsteps headed toward us. Possibly more than one pair.
I sucked in a trembling breath and let out a shy giggle. Then a little louder.
The footsteps were close. And I understood. I began to wriggle around and push him coyly away a little. “You’re so bad.”
“That’s my girl,” Lucas purred in my ear. He slid a hand up my back and pressed his face into my neck, scratching my skin with his short beard, just as the spotlight settled on us.
I gave a little squeal and shrank back, hiding my face behind his shoulder. Lucas froze, not daring to turn around. After a long moment, letting them have a nice look, he groaned. “C’mon, man,” he called out, his voice gruff. “Mind your own business.”
The bright light dropped away as we heard quick chuckles. “Get a room,” one of the visitors yelled sternly in an Italian accent. “This is not the place.” The two shared another laugh and strolled away.
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