“You do that.”
“Watch your six, Sarge.”
“I’ve got Scott with me. We’ll be fine. Y’all do the same.”
The call disconnected, and I pulled out the comms earpieces Declan mentioned. I turned them on, placing one in my ear and handing the other to Scott, who did the same.
“Sergeant Marin, my name is Cato. I work for Holt. Declan said he explained I’d be dropping into the comms link.”
I looked over at Scott, who was concentrating on the traffic, acting like there wasn’t someone speaking directly to me through our link.
“If you’re waiting for Sergeant Blackstone to acknowledge my voice, you’ll be waiting a while. I’ve isolated our connection. I’ll be adding Sergeant Blackstone to the link shortly. The two of you don’t have trackers like the Holts, so I’ll be tracking your phones. Do not leave them behind. Nod if you understand.”
I nodded, utterly freaked out by the guy in my head.
“Welcome to the family. Hurt Declan again, though, and I’ll make sure you live to regret it.”
I wiped my hand over my face trying to figure out what the fuck I’d gotten myself into that night at The Seaman when I picked Declan up.
Cato’s voice came over the comms link again. “Sergeant Blackstone, I want you to turn left at the next alleyway.”
“What the fuck!” Scott yelled, pulling the earpiece out of his ear.
“Put it back in. That’s the Holt IT guru.”
Laughter of a diabolical sort cackled in my ear, but Scott put the piece back in his ear and didn’t seem to notice.
“Guru. I like that. It sounds better than Gray Hat Hacker. And that’s a family secret, by the way, because the gray can be kinda charcoaly-black at times.”
I swallowed.
“Sergeant, the turn is coming up.”
I followed Scott’s gaze and agreed when he said, “There’s no fucking way we’re fitting in that hole.”
“With the right motivation…”
He trailed off, but I knew the saying well.
“Fuck, do we trust him?” Scott asked.
“Yes,” I said, taking a gamble.
Declan sent the guy to help us. And I trusted Declan implicitly. The realization took me by surprise, given how much my not trusting him over the last three years had cost us.
“I wouldn’t call this fitting,” I yelled over the sounds of the SUV mirrors scraping the brick walls on either side as we ping-ponged off them.
“It is not my fault your driver sucks.”
“Fuck you, dude!”
“That wouldn’t end well for you. My Master and Daddy get a little twitchy when someone stares at me too long. I can only imagine what they’d do if someone actually touched me.”
Scott’s eyes grew round as he turned to look at me. I understood the Daddy and Master’s thought process. If I caught someone putting the moves on Declan or Marcie, I’d loose my shit.
“Just follow his instructions. Declan sent him.”
“Dude’s an asshole.”
