“Oh!” He nods.
One push and I can hear Linda calling for us.
“Tac team, are you there?”
“Y-yes. We can hear you,” I answer.
“Thetic-tacteam is in position,” Lori deepens his voice, gesturing something at Petunia. I lift the binoculars again to look at Ezra. He’s still there.
“And where is that?”
Can she just check the tracker? Lori has one behind his ear. I’m the only one without.
“Somewhere between Englewood and Washington Park.”
“We are in West Garfield, the boys are moving now, and we are following,” Michael lets us know. That means they aren’t so far away.
“Roger that. Keep us posted.” Lori is still using that idiotic deep tone.
The margarita plus the water I drank weren’t such a good idea. “I need to pee,” I tell him.
He silently hands me an empty detergent bottle—that he took from the kit.
“What should I do with this?” I stare at him, baffled by his level of preparation.
“Use your imagination,” Petunia snorts.
“I’ll hold it.” I toss it back into the bag.
“They are on the move.” Lori lowers the binoculars. “Fuck, they disappeared into the alley. We need to continue on foot.” He pushes a bag into my hand, tosses me a black cap, and then passes Petunia a roll of cash.
“I’ll keep your stalker kit safe, call me if you need me,” she says as we slide out of the taxi.
“It was a pleasure, Sully. Leave a good review.” I hear her say as I gently close the car door.
“Follow me.” Lori moves in the alley’s direction, holding a black umbrella in one hand and his phone in the other, where the three blue dots keep moving—Rague, Ollie, and Uri.
I haven’t talked to my brother since we fought yesterday. He sent me a text this morning.Stay safe.I should have been the one saying that since he’s going to fight against Nine, not me. I didn’t write anything back. I should, but I’m still so angry at him.
Lori snaps his fingers in front of my face, signaling me to stop alongside the wall near him. He’s wearing the same cap over his curls, dark gray leggings, and a black jacket, with leather boots on his feet. He takes the bag from my hands and passes me a knife. Then he seems to reconsider it and replaces it with an expandable baton. He looks at his phone and then takes a quick peek in the alley. He frowns and then takes another peek. His frown deepens. He moves to the entrance of the alley and just stands there.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I think the tracker app is broken.”
“What do you mean broken?” Linda’s voice resounds in my ear.
“On the screen, it says they are walking down this way, almost at the end, but there’s no one.” Lori is right, the dots are walking thirty feet down this same street. I take a step inside the alley. My eyes fall on a manhole, and suddenly I know. “The freight networks!”
Lori snaps his fingers again. “The tunnels underground, that’s how Ezra went around the city and spied on us at first, avoiding both Serena’s and Nine’s eyes.”
“Keep following them,” Linda tells us.
“Eww, really?” Lori asks.
We both use our strength to lift the grate—which had been unsealed. The smell is ripe, but it’s not sewer stench. It’s dark down the hole, so I use my phone light to illuminate the bottom. I can’t see it.
“Be careful, those tunnels are a maze. They follow the grid of the streets above, but many areas are flooded or blocked, and some segments are used by utility companies for high-voltage electric cables. It’s said they are strictly controlled to make them inaccessible to the curious public, but it’s bullshit.” Michael scoffs.
