When Tristan suddenly blurted out, "Can I talk to you about something?" much louder than was necessary, the outburst startled him.
Turning to the other man, Cade took in his stiff posture, pinched face, and still-twitching leg and figured this conversation was going to be uncomfortable.
"Sure," he answered warily.
Tristan sucked in a deep breath and angled himself to face him. "I wanted to ask you ab — "
Cade's phone buzzed, cutting off Tristan's thought, and they stared at each other for a beat, silently acknowledging that phone calls always seemed to interrupt them. Cade rolled his eyes before answering.
"Hi Annabeth, what have you got?"
"Good news. Tag and Young saw the van at the warehouse and are following it now. I'm here with Hamm."
Turning to Cade, his eyes shining with hope, Tristan said, "Maybe that's the van that took Natalie. Maybe it will lead us to her."
"Let's hope."
Hamm's deep voice rumbled through the speaker, "Tristan, I'm Hamm. Nice to meet you."
"Hello, Mr. Hamm. Thank you for helping me."
"We're happy to. And just Hamm is fine."
"What's going on?" Cade prompted, impatient with all the introductions.
"Hold on. I'm pulling Tag in on the conference call."
A minute later, Annabeth said, "Tag, you're on with Hamm and King. What's your status?"
"The van's headed out of the city. We're keeping a safe distance."
"What exactlyhappened?"
"After it left the warehouse, we followed and rammed into the back at a stop sign. While Young approached the driver, I acted like I was looking at the damage and planted a tracker under the bumper."
Tristan's wide eyes darted in his direction, but Cade shrugged off the comment; they tracked vehicles all the time, so it didn’t faze him.
"The driver was pissed, of course. Young admitted it was his fault and offered to call the police. The guy balked, said he was late. Nothing specific, but he was too jumpy and clearly hiding something. I offered him cash to pay for the damage, and he took it and left.
"We both got a good look at the guy. Couldn't snap a picture, but I could pick him out again. Tall, shaved head, dark eyes, big bushy eyebrows, ears that stick out. I'm texting you his plate number."
"Anything else?"
"No... Wait, I think he's turning off the main road."
Annabeth confirmed, "Yes, I see it. Looks like a residence. Pulling the address now."
"Hold on."
They heard muffled, indistinct voices through the speaker, then Tag said, "Young will park where the car is not visible, and I'll follow on foot. I've got night vision and thermal imaging."
"Good. Glad those are coming in handy. Fucking expensive enough. Keep your comms open," Hamm said.
"Will do."
As Tag's footsteps and shallow breaths crackled through the connection, Cade glanced at Tristan, noticed his frown, and on instinct, reached over and covered the other man's hand with hisown. Those amber eyes flicked to his, and the small smile made his heart skip a beat.
Tag's whisper hissed through the phone, "There's a long driveway, lots of trees. The van is parked in front of a two-story house. The front door opened, and a big, ugly guy came out. They're talking, but I can't hear what they're saying. The driver is heading to the back. Oh fuck."
