“Lenny, what’s up? Me and a buddy were just on our way to see you, incognito.”
The younger man gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah, incognito is real good. Listen, I got something for ya. Just as well we don’t discuss it over the phone.”
“We’ll see you in ten.”
“I’ll take a break. Meet me at the employee entrance in the alley.”
“Gotcha.” Ending the call, he placed the phone back in his pocket and checked the gun hidden in the waistband of his jeans. “Lenny’s spooked.”
“How so?”
“Said to pull around back, employee entrance. He doesn’t want to be seen talking to us.” They shared a significant look.
“He’s never done that before?”
“Nope.”
Silence hung heavily in the car as they rode the rest of the way to the bar. Pulling up to the seedy establishment, Blaze steered the car around back as instructed. The alley, which accommodated regular deliveries from trucks carrying beer and liquor, was plenty wide, so he was able to pull right next to where their contact leaned against the wall.
He and Blaze got out and Michael circled the car, his gaze sweeping the entire area. A nervous contact was not a good thing, and an agent never took even the best of them for granted. When he had discerned that no one else lurked nearby, he addressed Lenny.
“What do you have for me?”
The other man pulled a scrap of paper from his jeans pocket and passed it to Michael. Who noticed how badly his hands shook. He gave Lenny a long, hard look, not liking how the man flinched under his gaze, unable to meet his eyes. The sinking sensation in his stomach was a feeling he knew all too well. Turning his attention to the paper, he held it up to catch the light from the dim bulb near the employee’s door.
“An address?”
Lenny was fidgeting with a thread on his jeans. “That guy you’re looking for? That’s where you can find him,” he said, voice quavering a bit.
Michael fought to keep calm. “Says who?”
“Just a guy. Someone who knows someone. That’s how it goes.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah.”
He let the man stew for a long minute, exchanged another glance with Blaze. His friend’s skepticism didn’t escape him. He felt the same, but what else did they have going for them?
“All right. I’m going to check this out because you’ve always been straight with me. But I’m warning you now, if you’re setting me up, you’d better pray I’m dead before this night is over. You got that?”
“Y-yeah, but I’m not. I swear.” A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
“And if I am dead,” he continued, “you’d better pray that whatever amount of money you get paid is enough to ease your conscience for the rest of your life. You got anything else to say, Lenny?”
“N-no. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Pulling out his wallet, Michael dug out a hundred, grabbed Lenny’s hand, and slapped the money in his palm. “For your trouble. Take a good look at it, Lenny.” The younger man stared at the bill. “The only blood on
“That’s real interesting, but you’re off base. I–I don’t have anything else, okay? See you around.”
They watched as he disappeared inside, and then returned to the car. Inside, Blaze drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “You’re right, he’s scared. But that doesn’t mean the tip isn’t legit.”
“Do you honestly believe that?” he asked dryly.
“No. Let’s plug this address into the GPS and see what we get.”
Michael read it off while Blaze punched the information into the small, handheld unit. After a moment, the map popped up, along with the mileage. “Hell, that’s all the way across the county from here.”
“Do we check it out?”
“I don’t see what other choice we have.”
But as they drove, the tension in the vehicle increased with every mile. About twenty minutes in, Blaze pulled over in the parking lot of a fast-food place and shook his head.
“I’ve got bad vibes about this.”
“Me, too.” Michael tugged at the ball cap, wishing he could tear off the wig and scratch his scalp. The damned thing was hot and itchy. “Turn around. We’ll send a team out there at daybreak if necessary. But something tells me that we got sent on a snipe hunt.”
Blaze whipped the car back in the direction they’d come and hit the gas. “Snipe hunt?”
“Means being sent on a search for something that doesn’t exist. My dad used to send me on snipe hunts when I was little, until I found out there’s no such thing as a snipe.”
“Never heard that one.” He laughed. “Kinda mean, though.”
“No kidding. He—” The phone in his jeans buzzed again. Pulling it out, he raised a brow. “Guess who?”
“Lenny.”
“Bingo.” He answered the call. “Ready to level with me?”
“Michael, don’t go to that house,” Lenny rasped. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a diversion.”
He squashed the anger rising in his chest. “We figured as much. Tell me who gave you that address.”
“Robert Dietz,” he said, his misery clear. “Came by in person last night. Said I was to give you the address and wait for his call. Said he’d tell me what to do next.”
“You completed the first part. So did he call?”
“Yeah, a few minutes ago. He instructed me to wait three hours before I called you, but I can’t do it, man. I know he’s planning something bad and I don’t want no part of it, no matter how much I need the cash.”
“How much cash?”
“Ten grand.”
Michael swiped a hand down his face. “You never would’ve lived to see that money. Believe that. What’s the message he gave you for me?”
“He said wait three hours, then call and tell you that he has what’s most valuable to you.”
The blood drained from his face. “Oh, my God. My house. Hurry,” he yelled at Blaze. “Lenny, what else?”
“He gave me another address, for a warehouse. You ready?”
“Yes, give it to me.” He memorized the information. “Is that all?”
“He said come alone and unarmed, and then he hung up.”
Right. Dietz must be totally mental to think he’d follow that last instruction.
“Okay. Lie low until I can get by to see you.”
“You gonna kill me? I’m dead, anyway, if you don’t get that fucker.”
“No, I’m not going kill you, though it’s a good thing your neck isn’t in my hands right now. Talk to you soon.” He laid his head back on the seat, trying not to be sick. “Hurry, for God’s sake.”
“I am. Emma’s with them,” he reminded his friend, his face a mask of rage.
“Dietz was counting on having three hours’ head start. Maybe we’ll get there before he does.” Quickly, he placed a call to the house. The phone rang and rang, and cold fear gripped him. “Nobody’s answering at home.”
“Try their cell phones.”
He did. Bastian first, then Katrina and Emma. There was no way
The next call he placed was to one of his agents who regularly coordinated emergencies like this one. When Lawrence answered, he ordered two teams to be sent immediately — one to his estate, and the other to the warehouse. Both were to approach with stealth.
If anything happened to them, he might as well be dead.
