by J. L. Drake
“I suggest you do so,” Jennings said. “He’ll need to know so he can cover his tracks better. I guess you’ll have to go back to work.”
Lloyd and Sonya scowled at Jennings.
“I’ll take one more day off, so it actually looks like I was sick,” she snarled. “Then I’ll go back. I can text or call him tonight and let him know what’s going on.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Roger said, trying to break up the growing hostility. “Did you find out about renting a moving truck, Jennings?”
The older man turned his attention to Roger.
“Yes, I did get ahold of someone about renting a truck, so we’ll have one by tomorrow.”
“Good,” Sonya said, “because I mentioned to Jan about knowing someone who could help her move.”
“So, she’s still moving?” Roger asked.
“Yup,” Sonya said. “She said she’s about broke and has to. The sooner we can get something set up the better. The FBI makes me nervous.”
“You? Nervous?” Butch asked, and chuckled. “That’s something new.”
Lloyd glanced back and forth between the two.
Sonya frowned and shook her head.
“You never did get to know me that well,” she said.
Butch laughed. “I knew you well enough, I think.”
“Do we have a general idea how many days it will be ‘til this goes down?” Lloyd asked, putting an end to the interaction between Butch and Sonya. “I need to make sure I can move everything right away. We aren’t going to want even a slight delay.”
“I’ll keep you updated,” Jennings said. “It’ll mainly depend on what Sonya can set up with Jan.”
“I’ll get right on that tomorrow, since I’ll be calling off work again,” Sonya said. “Hopefully it’ll be in a day or two. Do you think we should move to another building? You know, in case the FBI finds my car on street surveillance tapes leaving the bar…and then driving around here.”
“That might not be a bad idea,” Jennings said thoughtfully. “You’ll have to stay away until we do the harvest.”
“I know,” Sonya said. “But since they’ll eventually be checking out hospitals—if they’re smart—that might be a good idea. There are cameras in their parking lots for sure.”
“So, we’re doing the harvest at the move—whenever Sonya can set it up—and we’re moving base?” Roger asked. “I guess I know what I’ll be doing for the next couple of days. Did you pick out a backup building already, Jennings?”
“I have one in mind, yes,” Jennings said. “It’s on the other side of town and is a bit more secluded.”
“Sounds good,” Lloyd said. “Is there anything else we need to talk about tonight?” He looked from Jennings to Butch, searching their eyes and finding nothing out of the ordinary.
“No,” Jennings said. “I don’t think so. I’ll keep in contact with Sonya, and I’ll keep you all up to date on the timeline. Let’s get this thing done and make some money.”
They all agreed and stood to leave.
Jennings and Roger started chatting about the move and what they would need to do.
Lloyd was on his phone, texting his contacts to see when they might be available in the next week or so.
Sonya turned and walked out into the main area of the factory. She didn’t realize she’d been followed until Butch grabbed her elbow and spun her around.
“Where you think you’re going so fast?” he asked in a harsh whisper. His breath was coming so fast he was almost panting. “Why are you acting like you don’t remember what we had?”
“Because that was a long time ago and it’s over now,” Sonya said, pulling her arm free. “You went too far and I didn’t like it.”
Butch smirked. “You liked it all up until then.” He stepped closer and looked down at her. “As a matter of fact, I think you loved it until I didn’t let you control me anymore.”
“What’s going on?” Lloyd said, walking up to them. “Everything okay, Sonya?”
Chapter 31
“Everything’s fine,” Sonya said with a smile, stepping away from Butch to put some distance between them.
Lloyd nodded, but looked between the two suspiciously. He could tell they had…history, and it annoyed him. Again he wished Sonya would trust him and tell him what had happened in the past, but he didn’t want to push her—he wanted her to tell him because she wanted him to know.
“I have to go,” she said, glancing at both men. “You two have a good night.”
“You too,” Lloyd said, smiling at her politely.
Butch nodded—he sensed there was something between the two and knew they were trying to hide it from him.
Sonya turned and walked away, heading outside to her car. She didn’t leave right away, but sat in her car and tried to calm her raging emotions. Seeing Butch again, and having him bring up their past relationship had brought up more feelings than she’d thought still existed where he was concerned. Having Lloyd in the same room hadn’t helped either, because he brought up even more emotions and made her feel edgy.
She noticed her hands were shaking when she pulled out her cell phone to call Miles, so she decided she would wait until she was calmer to contact him. If he said or did the wrong thing at that moment she didn’t know what she would do with such a slight grasp on her self-control.
Butch and Lloyd came out of the building and that’s when she started the engine of her car. She didn’t want to see or talk to either of them right then.
She drove out of the parking lot a little faster than normal, but she didn’t care. She needed to get away from everyone and everything for a while, but she didn’t know where to go. Home was too quiet and lonely, and she didn’t want to go to a bar or anywhere where she might get hit on or recognized.
Jan suddenly sprang to her mind. She could go and talk to her as a “friend” and it wouldn’t matter what she accidentally told her because the woman would be dead soon. That knowledge made her feel comfortable driving through town to the woman’s house.
***
David wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone when he arrived back at his hotel. He went straight to his room and ordered his supper through room service even though he didn’t expect to eat much.
The human trafficking idea was out. The theory had been farfetched, but deep down he’d wanted to believe Daniel was still alive and that’s why he’d held onto it. He’d needed to feel like there was a chance he could still save his brother. Now there was no possibility. He had to face the truth that his twin brother was dead.
While he waited for his supper to arrive, he sat on the edge of his hotel bed and stared down at his cell phone. He knew he needed to call his mother and tell her he was sure Daniel was dead, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. On one hand he wanted her to know what was going on, to be honest with her. But on the other hand, he didn’t want to call her and tell her Daniel was dead when he still didn’t know the hows or whys. There were still so many things he didn’t know for sure and he knew she’d have questions. He wanted to be able to answer those questions so she didn’t keep calling him asking him if he could be wrong.
David let himself fall backward on the bed with a sigh. He laid his cell phone on his stomach and closed his eyes. The weight that had settled in his chest when he’d gotten the news from Detectives Jones and Cridge was still there. He’d expected it to blossom into full-blown grief and another emotional outburst when he’d made it back to his hotel room, but it hadn’t. The ache just stayed in his chest as the rest of him became numb. There was a kind of a peace in knowing which direction to go to find the truth, and there was a peace in knowing that he didn’t have to rush to find his brother while he was still alive. No matter how long it took him to get the people responsible he couldn’t bring his brother back. He was finally letting go. His brother was gone.
Despite everything, he wondered if he could find out where his brother’s organs had gone and if he could find someone who
was still alive because his brother was dead. He decided that he wouldn’t tell his mom anything until he found out if he could. If he could present something of Daniel still alive, that was better than going to her completely empty-handed.
He jumped, startled from his thoughts, when his cell phone rang. When he picked it up from his chest and looked at it, the phone number displayed on the screen was unfamiliar—he answered it anyway.
“Hello?” he said, sitting up again.
“This is Agent Mallory, from Tennessee. I wanted to let you know we found a picture of the woman you’re looking for on a traffic cam from Cleveland. It’s a fuzzy picture, but it’s a picture. Limmon is using it to track down her license information as you’d requested.”
David’s heart skipped a beat at the news.
“That’s great,” he said. “I’ll be heading into the Pittsburgh field office tomorrow, so I’ll check everything in the morning. Is there any chance I can borrow Limmon? He was a great help with everything.”
“Sure, I can spare him,” Mallory said. “I’ll put him on the first available flight.”
He was shocked and pleased. He’d expected her to give him a hard time, but was glad she hadn’t.
“Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate the help and you keeping me up to date on things.”
They ended the call after that. She had plans to make for Limmon and he had a list of hospitals to make so he could have a plan of attack for the next day.
He hoped they found out more about the woman now that they had her picture. He would have to decide if he was going to release it in the morning and open a tip hotline, or if he was going to keep things close to the chest right now so as not to give away what he knew and spook the woman and her associates. He didn’t want them to panic and escape his grasp when he was finally so close.
***
Butch and Lloyd just looked at each other, blinking for a moment before Butch smirked.
“So you’re her new toy, huh?” he taunted the smaller man.
“I’m not her toy,” Lloyd said flatly, not giving anything away. He was seething inside and wanted to lash out, but he knew staying calm was in his best interest—the more Butch had on him the more dangerous life could get later.
“That’s what you think,” Butch said, and laughed.
Lloyd shook his head and turned to walk through the building toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Butch asked, easily catching up with him.
“What do you care where I go and what I do?” Lloyd asked, glancing sideways at the other man. “You get hired by Jennings to be my mother?”
Butch laughed and said, “No, but I wonder what that would pay. I was just wondering who you were in contact with and how you were going to move all the parts…”
Lloyd stopped walking.
Butch took a couple extra steps, not realizing Lloyd was going to stop. He turned back to look at him.
“That’s my job,” Lloyd said, looking Butch in the eyes. “How about you let me do my job and you do yours?”
Butch held up his hands in mock surrender.
“Easy, killer,” he said. “I was just curious and thought I could help suggest some other contacts in case the ones you have set up couldn’t move all the stuff.”
Lloyd stared at Butch for almost a full minute, wondering what his angle was. They both knew it was possible that each handler on the black market might only be willing to take so much at once because the more they took, the higher the risk was of getting caught.
With a sigh he started walking again.
“I’ll let you know,” Lloyd said as Butch fell in step with him again.
They were silent as they left the building, and both of them stopped to watch as Sonya tore out of the parking lot.
“Huh,” Butch said, and chuckled. “Wonder what’s bothering her…”
Lloyd shrugged but didn’t answer. His eyes followed the car until he couldn’t see it anymore.
“I’m going to check out the area and get the ‘lay of the land,’ so to speak,” Butch said, slapping Lloyd on the back before walking away and getting into his truck.
“Have fun,” Lloyd called after him and walked down the ramp slowly while his mind raced, thinking about Sonya’s behavior.
He just didn’t get it. She’d been acting like Butch scared her, but now he thought she might have been fucking Butch in the past—things just didn’t make sense. Unless…he’d done something during their relationship that had scared her. He knew she was a tough, crazy, psycho bitch, but she still had real feelings hiding under it all, she just didn’t let many people see them.
He was finally getting into his car when he received a text, and he was almost shocked to see it was from Sonya. As he thought about things for a moment before he opened the message, he realized she might need to be in contact with him because she was upset. He hoped so, wanting to believe he actually meant something to her.
The text wasn’t what he’d expected at all.
Sonya: Beware of new contacts, in case the FBI puts someone undercover.
He sat in his car for a few minutes, rereading and thinking about what dangers the FBI’s investigation could bring, and what…possibilities—a couple of ideas came to mind of how he could handle Butch and his upcoming attempt on his life.
He was grinning broadly as he started his car and drove away, and he was no longer worried about the past. He knew the score would be settled, or at least evened out, when all was said and done. Now all he had to do was set the plan in his head into motion.
***
Sonya was surprised that Jan was happy to see her, welcoming her into her house with a hug.
“I’m so glad you stopped by!” Jan exclaimed. “I just put the kids to bed; it has been hell around here with them being upset about their dad and the move.”
“I can imagine,” Sonya said. She glanced at a clock hanging on the wall and was shocked to see it was after nine o’clock. “I didn’t realize it was that late. I should have called first instead of just dropping in.”
Jan shook her head and waved her hand as if to dismiss the issue.
“Nonsense,” she said. “Like I said, I’m glad you stopped by. I’ve found a house to move into.”
“You did?” Sonya asked. “That was fast. When were you planning on moving?”
“This weekend,” Jane said.
“That’s…soon,” Sonya said, and looked around her. “You have a lot to move. How are you going to do it?”
“Energy drinks,” Jan said.
Sonya nodded. “Those will get you through about anything, especially a big task with little sleep.”
“I was hoping your cousins would be able to help, which is why I was glad you stopped by,” Jan said, walking into the living room; Sonya followed.
Boxes were everywhere and various objects were in different stages of preparation for the move.
“It looks like you’re making good progress already,” Sonya said. “I can call my cousins to see if they’re available this weekend, if you’d like.”
“That would be great,” Jan said, grabbing an empty box and preparing to pack books off a shelf; she had three in the box when a young voice cried out from upstairs. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll go ahead and give them a call now,” Sonya said, sliding her cell phone out of her pocket. “Do you need them Saturday or Sunday?”
“Saturday,” Jan said with a nod as she rushed out of the room and up the stairs.
Sonya dialed Jennings; he answered on the second ring.
“They’re moving this weekend—Saturday,” she said. “Will we be ready by then?”
“We can handle that timeframe if I enlist Butch to help with the move,” he said.
“Okay, thanks,” Sonya said, hanging up.
Looking down at her phone. She had a strong urge to call Lloyd, but was glad she hadn’t when Jan came back into the room a few moments later.
“What did they say?” she
asked. “Are they available? I know it’s short notice…”
“They’re not booked this weekend, so they were happy to have the work,” Sonya said.
“How much will they charge me?” Jan asked, biting her bottom lip. “I’m still tight on cash, even though my family loaned me some money.”
“I think two hundred will cover it,” Sonya said, nodding. “I told them you were my friend, so they gave you the friends and family discount.”
“Oh, that’s great!” Jan exclaimed, hugging Sonya before going back to work on the books. “Things are just falling into place now.”
Sonya frowned.
“Are you doing okay?” she asked, concerned that Jan didn’t seem to be upset when before she’d been a wreck.
Jan paused, and then started packing again.
“No,” she said softly. “Not really. I’m just trying to focus on positive things and not think about anything else.”
“That’s a good idea,” Sonya said. “Pain can be a powerful tool when used to accomplish a goal.”
Jan nodded and continued packing.
Sonya sighed.
“You need some help?” she asked, stepping forward and picking up a box.
“Um, sure,” Jan said, sniffling and wiping away tears as she turned to survey the room. “You can start on the DVDs in the entertainment center. The kids were supposed to pack them earlier, but they were staging a boycott.”
“Okay,” Sonya said, and got to work.
She didn’t know what she’d planned to do when she’d come to Jan’s house, but the mundane task of packing was just what she’d needed. As she packed objects into cardboard boxes, she silently sorted through her thoughts and emotions.
She and Jan chatted about random, nonsense topics, as if sensing that the other wasn’t in the mood for anything serious, and finished packing the living room objects in less than an hour.
“Just the furniture and TV to deal with now,” Jan said, yawning and scanning the room. “I don’t want to unhook the TV yet ‘cause I’ll need it for the kids.”