17
FIONA
I hurriedto the laptop and watched the little dot that represented Bergen move steadily down the street and around a corner. He was moving quickly enough that he must be in a car. He traversed the city, pausing in a few places, but not for long enough to suggest he’d actually gotten out of the car. He was probably just stuck in traffic in the busier areas.
Zeke sat beside me and we didn’t speak until Bergen finally came to a stop in a run-down commercial area. I brought it up on Google maps and looked at the satellite imagery. Several storefronts were boarded up, with only a vape shop and a convenience store that seemed to be open to the public—assuming the images were up-to-date.
“I have a better idea,” Zeke said.
He navigated away from the satellite imagery and switched through a few tabs, typing furiously. In a few minutes, a series of camera displays filled the screen, each ofthem showing a different angle on what appeared to be the same street.
“How did you—”
“Don’t ask,” Zeke cut in. “It’s best if you don’t know.”
I frowned, but when Bergen appeared on screen, I didn’t pursue the matter. My ex looked different from yesterday. He wore a sports jacket with a woolen hat pulled over his head and a scarf twisted around his neck. Only a slice of his face was visible between the scarf and the hat, but I’d recognize him anywhere. His jeans were scuffed, and he kept his head low as he hesitated, glanced around, and went to one of the boarded-up shops. He unlocked the door and let himself in.
“That’s got to be it,” I exclaimed. “That’s where he’s keeping the painting.”
“We can’t know that for sure,” Zeke replied. “But it does seem suspicious.”
I stood. “Then let’s go.”
He leaned back against the sofa and laced his hands together behind his head. “Go where?”
“To catch him in the act.” I waved at the computer screen. “This is the perfect time. If we go now and prove that he has it, the police will be able to arrest him and get it back.”
Every minute we weren’t getting closer to that shop was a minute wasted.
“We need to wait.” His tone was blunt, but his expression was apologetic. “We don’t want to rush in without a plan, and without knowing what kind of protective measures he has in place. The building might be alarmed, or he could have an armed guard. By the time we get there, he could be gone. It would take us a while to travel over, and he may not intend to stay long.”
“But what if he moves it again?” I couldn’t believe wewere just going to sit here and let him do whatever he wanted.
“Then we’ll track him and see where he takes it,” Zeke said, far too reasonably. “We have the upper hand because he doesn’t know that we know where he is. He’s probably on edge after the incident on the yacht. If we wait another day, he might let his guard down. It’s important that he doesn’t know we’re coming.”
My chest felt hot and tight. I wanted to argue, but as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I’d been so hung up on wanting him to trust me, but in order for that to happen, I had to make trustworthy decisions. I couldn’t allow my years of festering anger to take the lead.
“Okay,” I said. “When would you recommend going there?”
His smile loosened the tension in my chest. “Tomorrow night. In the meantime, we’ll keep an eye on anywhere else he goes in case he leads us somewhere even better.”
I gritted my teeth at the thought of delaying for so long, but I managed to keep my impatience in check. “Should we tell the police? It would be nice to give them a lead to follow that doesn’t come back to me.”
“How do you suggest we tell them we got the information?” Zeke asked. “Tell them we tampered with his phone and added an illegal location tracker?”
“What about an anonymous tip?” If Bergen could threaten me with that, surely we could return the favor.
“At this point, I doubt anything we give them will be enough for them to act on. If we wait until tomorrow, we can at least give them a firsthand account rather than a guess.”
I rubbed my temples, my head beginning to ache. I’d often believed Zeke did whatever he liked and dealt with the consequences later. It would seem I’d been wrong, because Ireally wished he’d do that now, but I could tell he wasn’t going to budge.
“So until tomorrow night, we just sit here and watch a dot move around on a screen?” I let frustration enter my voice.
“And we make plans so we don’t end up in hot water,” he said.
I growled. I understood the need for delay, but I didn’t like it.
“Hey, it’s not all bad.” Zeke’s voice was teasing. He pushed the laptop aside and dropped to his knees in front of me, bracketing me between his arms. “It means we get to spend more time together.”
