Never?
Ellie groaned and dropped her face into her hands. They didn’t have time for this. Not her mother, and not Bethany, either. But of course, here they sat. Dancing once again to Kingsley’s tune. Was that his plan? To force them to waste time trying to solve this ridiculous puzzle? Did he even have a plan beyond his enjoyment of serving as puppet master and pulling on their collective strings?
“Wow, you two are really focused on whatever you’re doing there. In the thirty seconds I’ve been standing here, neither of you looked up once.”
Ellie lifted her head. “Sorry. This code is a killer.”
Jillian blew air from her cheeks. “Yeah, I’m glad you’re here because we could definitely use the help.”
Clay feigned rolling up his sleeves. “All right, let’s see what we’ve got here.” He scanned the patio. “Where’s Katarina?”
The question hit Ellie like an electric shock. She bolted upright and traded an alarmed glance with Jillian before searching the patio herself. No Katarina.
Jillian sprang to her feet with so much force, the plastic chair tipped and clattered to the pavement, startling Sam, who yelped and darted under the table. “You big wimp, you’re not in trouble. But you can help me look for Katarina.” She tugged the lead, and the dog trotted back out, following Jillian as she hurried around the corner.
“Shit.” Ellie watched her roommate and dog disappear while digging into her pocket for her cell phone. The line rang once. Twice. Three times.
Come on, come on, pick up, Ellie urged, her knuckles white on the case.
The phone rang two more times before an automated voice mail service picked up.
Ellie squeezed the phone while waiting for the beep.
“Dammit, Katarina, what the hell are you doing? Call me before you screw this all to hell.” Ellie rattled off her cell number before ending the call with a stab of her finger. She laid her head on the table, silently cursing both Katarina and herself with every breath, but mostly herself. So stupid. She’d known that Katarina would jump at any chance to find her daughter, but she’d still gone and let her guard down.
After counting to ten, she straightened and pulled up a contact. The lab tech answered on the first ring.
“This is Carl.”
Ellie mouthed a silent prayer. “Carl, it’s Ellie. Remember the phone I had you LoJack, oh,” she checked the time, “around thirty minutes or so ago?”
The tech whistled. “Don’t tell me you need me to track it down already.”
“Yup, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
He whistled. “Wow, good thing you stopped by and had me take care of that before you left the station. This might be the fastest service request ever. Never fear, I’ll get you that info quicker than Thor can reach for his hammer. Except, yeah, no good, I forgot about Avengers: Endgame.”
Ellie drummed her fingers on the table and held her impatience in check. Barely. “I don’t have time for pop culture references, Carl.”
“Right, right, sorry! I just meant, yeah, I’ll get that info to you ASAP.”
“Fantastic. Oh, and once you report back with the info, can you fill Chief Johnson in on what’s happening?” Hopefully, by the time the chief got around to checking in, Ellie would be close to catching up with Katarina. This definitely qualified as one of those “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission” scenarios.
“Sure thing.”
“Thanks, you’re the best.”
“You know it.”
Clay was ready as soon as Ellie disconnected the call. “What’s the play? We going after her?”
Beneath her rib cage, something softened at Clay’s simple assumption. We. How good that one little word sounded.
On the outside, though, she worked to project steely resolve. “The play is, I’m going after her. Solo.”
Ellie braced herself for the eruption that was guaranteed to follow. It didn’t take long. After two seconds of gazing slack-jawed at her like she’d grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead, Clay smacked his palm to the table.
“The hell you are!”
Shane appeared at their side. “What’s going on?”
Jillian had just rejoined them, but after a quick glance at their faces, began to slowly back away. “Right. So, Sam and I are heading over to help Carl out. Text me when you figure everything out, bye.” Dog by her side, she scampered off toward the street.
Clay ignored Jillian’s retreat. His mutinous gaze never left Ellie’s. She held her ground, thrusting out her chin while meeting his stare. Seconds slipped by, with neither of them backing down.
When the tension stretched Ellie’s nerves so taut she feared they might snap, she broke the silence. “I don’t want to put you in danger.” She looked over at Shane. “You either, so…you’re fired.”
Neither man moved.
Clay looked like he was chewing on nails. “I understand, and that’s very noble of you. But what you need to understand is that we make a good team. And we’re far better together than we ever could be apart.” He leaned forward and placed his hand near hers on the table, palm up. “Plus, it’s kind of my job, putting myself in danger to catch bad guys.”
Hesitating, she bit her lip. One glance into his gleaming brown eyes and her stubborn determination to track Kingsley alone flew right out the door.
Clay was right. They were more effective together.
Ellie pressed her palm to his. “Okay. Just promise not to die on me, okay? Because if you do, I’m going to be pissed.”
Clay laced their fingers together and squeezed. “Then I’ll do my damnedest to comply. I’ve seen you pissed before. It’s not pretty.”
Despite the tension clamping down on her shoulders with a vice grip, Ellie snickered. “Good.” She turned to her bodyguard, who looked like he was ready to thrash her. “This could be dangerous.”
Shane simply lifted an eyebrow.
Ellie sighed.
