Of course, he had already guessed that Dave would be busy plotting his next move. They had reached the end game. Neither would be sitting on their hands.
During their conversation when he returned from the police station, he had caught every emotion and gesture from Dave. He had seen the tightly leashed fury. At first, it had made him fearful. Not for himself, but for Stella. She would suffer in his place.
Jay leaned back against the headrest on his bed. He had also caught Dave’s slip up. Jay had never mentioned Jane Daniels by name, yet Dave had gone to her straight away. She was the only one Dave’s seeping corruption and threat hadn’t managed to affect. He wondered if the man realized who she was in relation to himself?
While he would still do his best to follow the first and predict Dave’s likely course, he had to leave him to make his moves. That was the only way to make Dave fall into the trap. Otherwise he would simply flee and come back at them to pick them off one by one like a vengeful shadow.
Jay let out a billowing breath. While he had always made use of the people in his life, he had never put his trust in them. Now, it was all he could do.
Jay laid back to get some rest. His mind returned to the gossipers whose meet spot Dave had supposedly been scoping out. Sleep was driven even further from his mind as he had one of those two a.m. epiphanies. Dave would have had no reason to scope out a place to spy on the wives of his own people. While Jay was certain that they did in fact meet, and that they would likely talk out of turn, Dave would have no need to spy on them. Which meant that while Jay was getting Dr. Daniels to help them, Dave was off doing something of his own.
It took a lot of willpower for Jay not to merely leap out of bed and go to his laptop. He was certain that Dave had gone to meet with Lloyd. It was, after all, one of the days Lloyd would go out to the house Gary had alerted Jay to.
He got a new message, another encrypted one that had left Gary’s phone and gone through four of Joe’s servers before reaching Jay’s phone. Jay smiled at Joe’s prowess then frowned at the message. It seemed that Lloyd had begun hunting for new properties. His search seemed specifically aimed at derelict houses just beyond the borders of Carthage. Jay clicked out of the message while his mind followed all paths. It was a logical lead to fabricate as Gary had been told to press the kidnap for ransom idea. Lloyd’s proposal seemed logical and a decent cover for Gary to believe.
I don’t know what he will be up to, but I must prevent him going out alone again if I can manage it.
Jay thought about the sedative he’d been dosed with more than once and grimaced. He felt certain that Dave was visiting either Amara or Stella during these nights. His last memory from the latest time was of Dave taking his pulse. Amara had clearly taught him to recognize the signs of the drug’s effects.
Jay shook himself. It was a blessing in disguise that he was drugged. It enabled him to know each time Dave made a move he felt important enough to be there in person for. This last time, it had been the finger that was now in Dr. Daniels’ care.
Jay nodded to himself and shut his eyes. He needed to sleep. None of his plans would work if he was not in form.
***
Three days later, Dr. Daniels sent him an email. Dave was hovering over his shoulder and Jay fought the urge to punch the man in his face. He had obviously been told that Dr. Daniels was sending the information Jay wanted today, and he wanted to be here to catch the reaction his handiwork would receive.
Cursing him silently, Jay sat upright in his chair.
“The results?” Dave inquired.
Jay nodded as he clicked on the email. Really, he was furiously checking the sender ID. If she had triggered the email to contact Gary, there’d be an extra zero on the end.
Jay felt himself begin to smile in triumph and quickly opened the secure document. It was worse than Jay had imagined. He had little trouble showing the shock and horror Dave was clearly waiting for. The digit had been removed from a living subject. The trace of blood showed that no anesthetic had been used, but rather a paralytic. The fingerprint had given a positive identity for Stella Haraby.
Jay pushed himself away from the computer. Dave hovered to look over the details as if to make sure he missed nothing. Jay was sure that what he was really doing was making sure that Dr. Daniels had obeyed his edict and had disclosed only the information he had deemed appropriate.
Jay bit back the urge to laugh. It was a mad reaction, given the results. Yet he knew why he wanted to laugh. It was as it had been when he had pulled the trigger to kill a woman he had both admired and cared for. The death of Linda had made Matthew Goldstein feel in control. This was now having the same effect on Dave. The more Dave felt he was winning, the more blinded he would become.
“Jay. I… I don’t know what to say,” Dave said as he turned to face him.
Dave watched him start at the silver fire in his eyes. “You don’t need to say anything. Just know that I am going to take him down.”
CHAPTER
