Trevor took the bag from her hand. “Appreciate it, Riley. I know you’re not a fan of going against the system.”
The other woman smirked. “After what went down with Eric’s brother, I realized sometimes it’s a necessary evil.”
“Let me call Ryker.” Trevor nodded. “His lab can run the test and have the results back in less than an hour.”
“Why do you think I’m giving it to you, now?” Turning to Mac, Riley said, “I hope you find your partner soon.” Her dark eyes flittered to Eric and back. “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you.”
The quick, sideways glance the detective gave Derek’s brother made Mac wonder if Riley and Eric were more than mere colleagues.
“Thanks, Riley. I appreciate you guys coming out to help.”
“Any time. Although I’d love it if we could stop meeting like this.” Riley offered Mac a kind smile. “Keep me posted, yeah?”
“We will.”
Mac stood as Eric and Derek exchanged a half-handshake, half-hug. With goodbyes said and a final ‘good luck’ given, the two detectives left, ordering the other officers to head back to their normal patrol assignments
“What now?” Nauseated by fear, she looked up at Trevor and Derek. “It’s been over two hours since we left the hospital. He could be anywhere.”
“We approach this like any other op. One step at a time.” Trevor reminded them. “First step is getting this to Ryker so his people can tell us what the hell it is.”
“Should we call Jake?” Derek asked. “I know he just had a kid and all, but this is Coop. Boss is gonna want to know what’s going on.”
Trevor ran a hand over his strong jaw. “Yeah. You’re right. Damn, I hate going to him without more to go on. If I tell him, he and Liv will only worry.”
“He’ll be pissed if you don’t.”
Mac pulled out her phone to call their boss. “This happened because of me. I should be the one to tell him.”
“Damn it, Mac. For the umpteenth time, this isn’t your…”
Her work phone rang, the number not one she recognized. “It’s them.” Her eyes shot back up to the two men. “It has to be.”
“Put it on speaker,” Trevor ordered.
“Wait!” Derek pulled out his own phone, his fingers flying across the screen. “I installed a tracking system into my phone a while back. All I have to do is hack into your work phone to pinpoint where the call’s coming from.”
The phone continued to ring.
“Derek, I need to answer.”
“One…more…second…okay.” He huffed out a breath and nodded. “Go ahead. Keep them talking as long as you can.”
Mac answered the call and tapped the speaker icon so they all could hear. Not bothering with pleasantries, she answered with a curt, “Let me talk to Sean.”
The distorted voice laughed. “You’re not in the position to give orders, Abigail.”
Mac closed her eyes, the last strand of hope that this had nothing to do with her fucked-up past snapping in two. “I talk to Sean, or I hang up.”
“Hang up and your boyfriend dies.”
Barely controlling her overwhelming rage, Mac asked, “What do you want?”
“You know what I want.”
Yes, she did. She also needed to keep the bastard on the line as long as possible. “Pretend I don’t.”
“The two million dollars you stole.”
