I can’t hear what our president says. Atom just murmurs acknowledgement and then hangs up with one word: “Thanks.”
I force my chest to do something akin to breathing while I scan the road for signs of them. Panic is a poor tool, so I focus on the ground, trying to keep tire tracks in my sight.
“What did he say?”
“Jackal and Shade were at the garage, disposing of Mika’s hardware. They’re two minutes behind us.”
When I was younger, there was a restless part of me that hated living in a one-road town. Today, I’m grateful that it makes getting to Wren easier. It’s still another two miles until the next town, where we might lose the trail.
“He can’t have Wren, Atom,” I say.
Atom reaches between the seats and squeezes my shoulder. “You gotta remove the what-ifs from your mind, brother. We need a clear head.”
I nod, but everything in me is hurting, like my bones are tuning forks struck too hard. “I need information,” I say. “I’m calling Vex.”
Wraith puts his hand out to stop me. “If you tell Vex, he’ll tell King. King’ll be pissed.”
“I’d piss off Satan if I thought it would get Wren back quicker. And if he stops paying us to look out for Wren, I’ll go without.I’ll cash in shit. I’ll sell every fucking thing I own. But I’m doing this.”
“Shit, sorry,” Wraith says. “You’re right. Do it. If anyone can find a digital breadcrumb, it will be him and Calista.”
The phone rings four times. “Catfish, what’s up?’
“Chase took Wren. They’re in my truck. I’d just popped into the diner to pick up food. Eastbound out of town. We’re behind them, losing the trail. I need every trick you’ve got.”
“One sec…Calista, honey, grab your laptop. We need to help Wren. Chase got them.”
“Did Wren have their phone?” Calista asks.
“Yes, but they use one of those Faraday bags to carry it in. So maybe it won’t work,” I say.
“I’m gonna try anyway,” Calista says. “On the off chance Wren got it out to look at something while they were waiting for you to come out again.”
The positive action feels good.
“You can track it if it wasn’t in the bag?”
“Maybe,” Vex answers. “Even a locked phone will handshake with towers. If the battery’s alive, we can probably triangulate.”
“Probably?”
“Atmospheric interference, elevation, whatever can all mess with signal scatter. But if they’re moving, we’ll get a pattern.”
We approach the first turn we’ve met.
“Stop,” Atom says. “Let me check whether they turned by looking for tracks.”
“Good idea,” Wraith says, pulling to a stop.
“What else can you do?” I ask Vex as I watch Atom hustle around the front of the truck, crouch closer to the road, then bounce back to his feet. “What about my truck GPS?”
“Straight,” Atom says when he climbs back in. He calls someone on his phone and relays that detail to whoever he’s speaking to.
“I’ll do it. No promises,” Vex says. “But we’ll throw every goddamn thing we can think of at it.”
“And Catfish,” Calista says, “you need to hang up. Wren’s smart, and they’ll probably try to get a message to you. When Wren told me they thought they were falling in love with you, I told them to fall hard. So, you better catch them when you find them.”
“I will. Call Atom if you find anything.”
