He went into the database and entered the necessary parameters, pulling up prior case notes, arrests, and known associations—anything related to the gang and its members. He even had access to ECPD’s intel through the task force. “Here we go—residences,hangouts, and anywhere else that’s in the system for whatever reason.”
“Email the CSV file to my work address,” Sean said.
Once that was done, the FBI agent imported the file, and soon, blue pins bloomed across the map on the screen. Dozens of them. Far too many.
“After you’ve narrowed it to the tower range, drop anything that isn’t an actual building.”
The number of pins shrank with a few keystrokes, then narrowed again until only three remained.
Sean zoomed the map in. “Those are all the known properties inside the tower’s range.”
From over his shoulder, Rafe pointed to one of the pins at the crossroads of Kings Highway and Hawthorne Drive. “That’s got to be the old seafood processing plant that’s been abandoned for years.”
“We can cross that off the list,” Brian said. “They started demolishing it last week for a new strip mall. Saw it on the local news.”
“Okay. The second one looks like it’s Turner’s Campground off Maple Road.” The large parcel of land was split into two—a trailer park with year-round residents and short-term sites for tents and RVs.
Sean shook his head. “Too risky. High foot traffic this time of year, and not a lot of cover. It only takes one bored neighbor with nothing better to do to notice what you’re up to.”
Brian’s attention shifted to the third pin. “Switch to satellite and zoom in on that one.”
The screen shifted from the roadmap to Google Street View, showing a run-down apartment building on Fleetwood Drive, in the seedier side of town. The kind of place with multiple units, high turnover rates, complaints that went nowhere, and residents who kept their mouths shut out of fear of retribution. Easy to overlook. Easier to ignore.
“That’s it,” Brian said quietly.
Rafe studied it, then nodded. “Agreed.”
“That’s where she is?” Andy asked, a shred of hope in his tone.
Before anyone could respond, his phone chimed, the alert cutting through the room. He froze, staring down at the lit screen. “It’s the same number as the last call.”
The teen passed the phone to Brian, his hand shaking. At the same time, Sean’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Got him. We were right about the apartment building.”
Brian looked at the text.
Unknown Caller:
U ready
He typed out one word and hit send.
Almost
Seconds later, the phone rang. Stepping closer to Andy, he spoke fast and low. “I’m putting it on speaker. When you answer, tell him you need a little more time—say you’re making sure you don’t get caught. Demand to talk to Tess. You won’t do anything until you know she’s okay.”
Andy nodded, his throat working as he dragged in a shallow breath.
Brian hit the answer button before the ringing stopped, switched the call to speaker, and held the phone near Andy’s mouth.
“H-hello?”
“What the fuck is taking so long, Bing?” Diego’s voice came through low and even, with a calm that carried a threat all its own. “I thought you were some kind of tech genius. You fuckin’ with me?”
“N-no. I—I’m just making sure I don’t do anything that can be traced back to you—” His eyes widened and snapped to Brian, who nodded several times in encouragement.
“I mean—to me,” Andy rushed on. “I just need to be careful. Let me talk to my sister.”
“That’s not how this works,” Diego said flatly. “You talk to her after you do what you’re told.”
