“Says who?” Sol shakes his head.
I frown at their insistence. “What if Ace and his buddies start marking faces?”
“We’re your brothers. They already know our faces,” Zane argues.
“It’s too dangerous.”
Sol stares at me with a frown. “I’m here, Finn. I know what I’m signing up for.”
“No solo acts,” Zane adds.
Dutch speaks firmly, as if the decision is already done. “You can talk to Ace alone if you want, but we’re going to be close enough to storm in if we have to.”
Ren knocks on the glass window at that moment. He hands the phones over. “As you requested.”
I offer them to J in the back seat and give her a stiff nod.
“I’m on it.” She opens her laptop and connects the first phone.
I climb out of the car. The sounds of three other doors opening and slamming shut echo after me. Footsteps smack against mud and loose stones.
Dutch is the first to round the hood of the van. “Why’d you take their phones? I thought you rejected J’s plan?”
“I did.”
He arches a brow.
“She’s working on a contingency.”
Dutch backs off, but his jaw clenches as if he’s holding himself back from arguing.
I walk over to Ren. “Have they said anything?”
The sliver of moonlight fighting to break through the clouds illuminates Ren’s dark eyes and stern expression. “No. We left them food and water as you instructed, but they haven’t eaten.”
“How long have you had them locked up?” Dutch asks me.
I check my watch. “Fourteen hours.”
“Ten more hours and someone could report them missing,” Sol muses.
“They could have already been reported missing,” Dutch says darkly.
Stomach churning, I return to the van and knock on the window close to J.
The van door creaks open, revealing J wearing my hoodie over her hospital gown. It’s long enough to cover her knees.
Even with my mind racing, I give her an appreciative skim. I can’t explain why, but I like seeing her in my clothes.
“Don’t ask,” she says, worrying her bottom lip. “I haven’t found anything yet. It’ll take my algorithm thirty minutes to organize all this data.”
I check my watch. “We don’t have that kind of time. You’ll have to do it manually.”
“Manually?” Her eyebrows climb.
“You have your phone?”
She nods.
