“I’m pretty sure they’re jamming the signal,” Chris said, an exasperated edge in his voice. “I’m working on it, but these guys are pros. I can’t get a lock on them. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Shit.” Joe thought quickly, turning over options. “What about traffic cams? Have the cops had any luck with that plate?”
“No love,” Chris said. “The number you gave is from plates reported stolen two days ago. The cops haven’t spotted the van—or at least not a van with those plates or a busted window. My guess is they’ve already ditched it. Either they had a backup vehicle already prepped or they’ve stolen one. My money is on the backup.”
“Yeah.” Joe knew these people had kidnapping down to a science, it was how they made their money. However, they’d want to avoid detection, too, and that meant one thing. “South. They’d go south, I’m sure of it. Running for the empty areas past I-40. There are lots of places where there’s nothing but farms and woods for miles, all the way down to the Cape Fear River. Can you listen for any reports of suspicious activity? Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll break in, or a bunch of foreigners will scare the crap out of some local paranoid.”
“On it,” Chris said.
Joe stepped out of the convention center, turning and heading for his car. Drew was right on his heels, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that. When he reached the vehicle he unlocked it and then got in and fastened his seatbelt. Drew slid into the passenger seat. He glanced at Joe as he buckled up.
“What’s our first move?” he asked.
Joe wished he could ignore the question, but he couldn’t. At the moment he really didn’t give a damn about professionalism, but he had his orders.
“I’m going back to HQ.” He started the car, putting action to words. “I’m picking up one of our executive protection vehicles, which all have GPS locators and trackers. I’m going to load up every damned weapon I can find and hope that Pixel gets something. Until he does, I’m following my gut. You may know Urdu, but I know Raleigh, and I’ve gone up against these guys before. They don’t want prying eyes for what they’re going to do. They want something, or they would have just killed him outright. They’re either going to sweat him for info, or they’re going to try to set up an exchange. They must know they can’t get him out of the country, not from here. Not unless they have a private plane, but I don’t think that’s what they want. I’m betting what they want is me. They just don’t know who I am. Yet.”
“They sure as hell won’t find out from Finn,” Drew said. “He’d probably rather die than give you up.”
“Yeah, which is stupid.” Joe grimaced. “He should tell them what they want. I’ll go with them. Anything I have to do to save him. Even if it kills me.”
Drew let out an amused snort. “That’s probably what he’s thinking right about now, too. He’ll do anything to save you, even if it kills him.”
“I won’t let that happen.” Joe said the words with utter conviction. Hewouldsave Finn. Anything else was unthinkable. “Just don’t get in my way.”
“I’m not planning on it,” Drew said, his voice quiet but determined. “I want to get Finn back, no matter what it takes.”
Joe tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Yeah, I get it. I don’t trust you to have my back, but I don’t care as long as you get Finn out. That’s all that matters to me.”
“You may not trust me, but I’ve got your back. For Finn’s sake, if nothing else.”
“Don’t ask me to believe that.” Joe growled in disgust. “I know what you want, and I know that if I’m not in the picture, you get it. So spare me any insincere words of support.”
Drew regarded Joe with disbelief. “You think Finn would miraculously become a fan of monogamy just because you’re not around?Please.Finn isn’t the type who can give everything to one man. If it wasn’t you, it would be someone else. He loves you, and you’re important to him, so by extension, I’ve got your back because I don’t want him to be hurt.”
“Yeah? Well he loves you, too, so I’m sure you know he’d be just fine eventually.” Joe shook his head. “Then you’d have him because you wouldn’t have to share him with anyone else he loved. The hookups meant nothing, that’s why I could live with them. I’m sure you’d live with them, too.”
Drew studied Joe, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. “You’re throwing the word ‘love’ around, but I’m not sure you understand how deep it runs with Finn. Just because he’s not monogamous doesn’t mean he doesn’t care deeply. Losing you would cause him a lot of damage.”
“I understand more than you think.” Joe glared straight ahead. He should probably just cut Drew off, but if anything did happen to him, he didn’t want Drew telling Finn how awful Joe was. Maybe, just maybe, he needed to get some of this off his chest. “Finn has been my lover, my partner, my heart… myeverythingfor the last eight years. My reason to get up in the morning. I never tied him down because that would have killed his spirit, made him less the man that I love. You’ve been around him what, six weeks? I know that losing me would hurt him. I know it hurts him now to know that he’s hurting me by being with you. I know he wishes he could be just with me and be satisfied, but he can’t. And I won’t ask that of him, even if it means sharing him with you. Don’t presume to think you know what I understand. You don’t know me. You know nothing about me.”
“If you understand so much, why do you keep saying he’ll be fine if something happens to you?” Drew asked, frowning at Joe. “Why are you implying we’ll have a perfect life with you out of the picture, as you put it? Either you don’t really know how much Finn values you or you’re seriously undervaluing yourself. Which is it?”
The question pulled Joe up short, but he didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about Drew anymore or let Drew inside his head. “I’m not implying you’ll have a perfect life, just the one thatyouprobably want. Anything else is none of your fucking business,” he snapped.
“Don’t presume to think you know what I want,” Drew said, lobbing Joe’s own words back at him. “You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me, either.”
“Yeah? I know you want Finn.” Joe laughed, but there wasn’t any humor in the sound. “I know that you want him enough to stick around when you see that he’s conflicted about you and how being with you makes me feel. He even offered to give you up if that’s whatIwanted, but I’m not that selfish. As far as I’m concerned, you’re hurting him, but if he wants you, I’m not going to stand in his way.”
“Oh, you think I haven’t seen how this is tearing Finn up?” Drew’s eyebrows climbed to his hairline as he fixed Joe with an incredulous look. “You think I haven’t offered to bow out? You think I’m enough of an asshole that I can stand by and watch him hurt and do fuck all about it, unlike Saint Joe? Is that what you think?”
“I don’t think I’m a fucking saint,” Joe snapped. “But yeah, I think you’re a selfish prick.”
“It takes one to know one, then, because you’re still with him too,” Drew shot back.
“Yeah, and whenIoffered to bow out, he fucking announced to the whole company that he was in love with me.” Joe’s dislike of Drew only grew the longer they talked, but he was damned now if he was going to let Drew make him feel like shit. He could do that well enough on his own, he didn’t need this fucker piling on him. “I’d kill for him. I’d die for him. Can you say the same, Mr. Johnny Come Lately? He’d get over you a hell of a lot easier than he’d get over me. So if you think I’m selfish,fuck you.”
“I don’t think you’re selfish,” Drew said with a little shrug. “I think you’re being hypocritical, but more than that, I think you’ve got something eating at you that’s bigger than what’s going on between the three of us, and it’s coloring everything else.”
