“What?” Jase snapped, a look of confusion on his face. “He just assaulted you.”
“I provoked him.” I shrugged. “Shouldn’t have done that. I think we should just get going now.”
“Wait,” Jase protested as he looked between Ryan and me.
“He’s right,” Ryan barked. “Get the hell out! You think you can just waltz in here and make accusations without any proof? I don’t consent to have you here anymore, so get out!”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at his posturing. He really didn’t have a leg to stand on, but the plan I had in mind wouldn’t work unless we let him go, so I held my tongue.
“Agent Park, let’s go,” I urged him. He finally seemed to understand that I had something in mind, so he sighed heavily and followed me out of the room.
We were barely into the hallway before Ryan slammed the door shut so forcefully that the sound echoed throughout the empty corridor.
“Okay,” Jase sighed as I led the way back toward the elevator. “Do you want to tell me what that was about?”
“I planted a bug on him,” I explained as we got into the elevator. “I had a suspicion that he would lose it and attack me if I prompted him about the domestic abuse. So we can definitely confirm that he has a bad temper and is liable to become physically aggressive when provoked. I took the opportunity to put a listening device in his pocket when I flipped him.”
“Nick,” Jase hissed as the elevator opened into the lobby. He looked around to make sure no one was listening before he continued speaking. “That’s illegal.”
“Okay, so cover your ears.” I shrugged as we left the hotel and headed back to the car. “I’ll listen to what he says, and then I’ll send an ‘anonymous’ tip to SDCT like I usually do.”
“That’s not…” he grumbled in frustration before lapsing into annoyed silence.
“Come on,” I grinned. “This is the best way to find out if he’s involved. If he is, there’s a good chance he’ll try to do some kind of damage control. This way, we can keep tabs on what he says and does.”
“Fine,” Jase sighed. “Just hurry up and turn it on.”
“On it,” I replied as I dug my phone out of my jacket pocket. The bug would transmit a signal to an app on my phone. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too muffled from being in his pocket for us to hear anything.
At first, all we could hear was static, then, Ryan began to mutter something.
“No, no, no. This can’t be real,” he said. He sounded genuinely concerned.
I turned the volume up, so we’d both be able to hear it well. For a few more moments, there was just more staticky silence, until I heard a faint beeping, like buttons being pressed.
“Hello?” Ryan asked shakily. “I need to see you. No, I need to see you now.”
“He’s talking to someone on the phone,” Jase muttered as we continued to listen.
“No, I don’t care!” Ryan yelled. “Meet me at the same place as before. Yes, the restaurant downtown. No, you need to come now. I’m not asking. I’ll talk to the cops if I don’t see you there in half an hour.”
He stopped speaking then, and there was a rush of noise on the other end of the line, as though he was walking quickly around the room.
“Well, that didn’t help him look any less guilty,” Jase grumbled as he pulled on his seatbelt.
“No kidding,” I scoffed as I waited for him to appear. Just a few minutes later, he burst through the front doors of the hotel and toward a bright red car parked near the entrance. I waited until a few seconds after he’d left to begin tailing him in order to keep it from being too obvious.
I followed him all the way downtown, to where the beaches and bright skies gave way to towering buildings and pitch black asphalt. As I parked on the other side of the street and watched him head inside, I got a feeling of deja vu. My day had started tailing a man into a restaurant just like this.
I could hear the sounds of people chattering and silverware clanging against dishes as the man weaved through the crowded restaurant. I couldn’t see him from here, but we should be able to hear everything he said. For a long time, the only thing we heard was the sounds of the restaurant.
“It’s about time,” Ryan finally hissed a few minutes after we arrived. It was a little more difficult to hear him now over all the background noise, but I could still make out what he was saying.
“Why did you call me out here?” A different voice demanded. I frowned in surprise. It was a little difficult to tell with certainty, but the voice sounded distinctly feminine. “We agreed last night after what happened that we’re supposed to be lying low.”
“You tell me,” Ryan retorted angrily. “Why are the police coming to see me? This isn’t what was supposed to happen! And now, even the feds are showing up to harass me. You must have messed something up!”
“Be quiet,” the female voice snapped. “Stop talking about this while we’re in public. Are you sure you weren’t followed?”
“What do you mean followed?” Ryan asked.
“Are you really this stupid?” the woman scoffed. “You just told me the feds were knocking on your door earlier today. Did you really head straight here without making sure you weren’t being followed?
“W-well, I…” Ryan stuttered. He’d rushed here in such haste that he obviously hadn’t stopped to consider the possibility at all. “Stop trying to change the subject! You were supposed to make sure that nothing could be traced back to me. My own son saw what happened! His life was put in danger because of you!”
My jaw dropped, and I looked over at Jase, who looked just as shocked
