Lincoln swallowed, likely conjuring up a thousand ways he might be forced to repay his debt, which confirmed another of Ford’s theories—this wasn’t the only delivery he’d expected to get for free.“How much can I get for three hundred Omhns?”
That wasn’t what most kids his age would pay for drugs, especially the illegal ones.He couldn’t even get the ones meant for studying for that amount.What was he buying?“You joking?For three hundred, you get one dose.”Ford gauged the answer was innocuous enough that Lincoln wouldn’t question it.
He bobbed his head and licked his lips.“I can maybe get that much by Thursday.”
Fucks sake, he doesn’t even have three hundred?Then why ask?
Lincoln wasn’t far from pissing his pants.Whoever he was in debt to wasn’t a nice person, or his debt had grown so high that he expected to repay with broken limbs.Ford made Lincoln hand over his mobile number, then told him he’d text when he was on campus on Thursday.“Even if you gotta skip class or bolt outta there in the middle o’ an exam, you come when I call ya, d’ya hear?”
Lincoln bobbed his head before he’d even finished.
Ford didn’t bother with niceties.He walked away, dismissing Lincoln, then lifted a hand to his right ear to tap the button that played the live feed from Lucky’s mic.He’d listen to the recording later, a everything went straight to his phone, including Lucky’s every move until he found or lost the tracker.Right now, he mined the unsuspecting omega for information.
* * * *
Ford headed to his car and shut the door just as a light rain became a deluge.He tugged his collar up, switched on the heating and grabbed his phone.
“This is Sykes.”
Ford grabbed the bag from the passenger footwell to rummage through.“I’mma need an ID card.Introductory College.TA or an advanced student.I need it available for pick-up by Sunday, for use on Monday.”
Sykes hummed, the sound of a pen scratching over paper on the other end.“The Roach says he can get it done for pick-up on Friday, if that helps.”
That was quicker than he’d hoped, but better.Ross ‘the Roach’ Rose was a talented, if mouthy, little shit.
Ford scrambled through the gear in his bag until he found the coffee flask and set it on the passenger seat.“I want a phone chip ready, and two tracker chips.”The phone chip would give him access to the data on whatever phone it was attached to, and he could get his hands on Lucky’s phone easily.If luck was on his side, he’d get Lincoln’s too.
“Gotcha.”Sykes sounded curious, more casual than tense, which meant he was trusting Ford to do this right.“How will you swing the college ID?You’d need someone on the inside, to make sure you aren’t outed when you step on campus.”
Ford removed a vial of liquid from his bag.“A professor owes me a favour.”
“Anything else you need?”
“No.”He hung up, because he didn’t need pleasantries with Sykes, and now Ross was on the case, he could be sure the job was done properly.
Ford put the vial aside and cracked open his coffee for a drink.He flipped his phone to the audio file from Lucky’s tracker and saved it, then tapped open the auto-transcript app and gave it a minute to scan the file.Within two minutes, he had a complete transcript of everything Lucky had said since Ford had placed the tracker.
He’d read the transcript when he got home, in case there was anything useful.The more he was learning about Lincoln, the more he sensed that Lucky was the key to getting this job on track.
Getting his cooperation would be the hard part.
Chapter Three
The next day
Lucky
“You have ten minutes to consider the question on the board, then we’ll debate.”Professor Milliner stepped away from the board to clasp his hands.“Support your argument.Convince everyone in this room thatyouhave chosen the correct answer.”
What single historic event has had the greatest influence or impact upon the modern age?
There were so many potential answers, and if they had to convince one another, then the professor wasn’t looking for one particular answer.
Lucky was still writing notes when Professor Milliner called time.
“Hands up.”He cast an eye around the auditorium, the tiered seats curved to make Professor Milliner the centre of attention.“Charity, go first.”
“Making an alpha chaperone mandatory by law has been one of the biggest advancements towards omega freedoms.”
