CHAPTER 53
As Micah speddown the road, Naomi’s phone buzzed.
She glanced at the screen. It was Gio.
Gio? Why was he calling? Why now?
She hit Decline and put the phone face down on her thigh. She couldn’t deal with him right now.
Immediately, the phone buzzed again.
She declined the call again.
“Someone’s persistent.” Micah glanced at her.
“Gio.” The name left a bad taste in her mouth.
Micah’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t comment.
Then the buzzing stopped. There was a pause. Then a different alert sounded.
A text notification.
Naomi almost ignored it, but something made her pick up her phone.
I was driving out to see you this morning when I saw what happened to you on the road. I knew better than to try and approach to help. I would have been useless against armed men. So when those men left, I followed them instead. I know where they went.
Naomi stared at the screen, unsure if she was reading the words correctly. “Micah.”
“What is it?”
She read the text to him.
“What?” His voice rose. “Call him.”
Naomi pulled up Gio’s number and put the phone on speaker.
He answered on the first ring. “Naomi. Are you okay?”
“Where are they, Gio?”
A beat passed, almost as if he’d expected something else from her first. “A property about two miles off Harlan Road. There’s a dirt access road—easy to miss. I followed them from a distance. They don’t know I’m here.”
“You’re still there?” Her voice sharpened. “You’re sitting outside this property right now?”
“I parked off the road. They can’t see me.” He paused. “I couldn’t just drive away.”
Micah reached over and took the phone from her hand. “Gio, this is Sheriff Sutherland. I need you to stay in your vehicle. Do not approach the property. Do not engage with anyone you see. Do you understand?”
“Understood.”
Micah ended the call and handed the phone back without a word. He was already reaching for his radio.
Then he stopped.
Naomi watched his expression shift into something careful and calculating.
“What?” she asked.
