Yeah, Bo worked his magic on lots of people. They kept their heads together, her nods and headshakes indicating a question and answer session.
She grimaced, and Bo’s talk took on a more frantic tone. After a few moments, he lifted his head and glanced around the room. “Loretta? I need you to come with me, please.”
The girl paled when Johnson approached, but Bo’s constant murmuring smoothed the stress lines from her face. He helped Yolanda to her feet, mimed calling Lucky with his thumb and little finger to his mouth and ear while mouthing “Call you later” and plowed through the crowd. He towed the girl with a gentle hand on her arm. Johnson brought up the rear.
What was that about?
He’d have to stop worrying. Any man capable of taking a woman from hysterics to answering questions in the course of ten minutes knew how to take care of himself.
Please let the girl and her baby be okay. Poor thing. She must be about the same age as his sister when Charlotte carried her oldest son, Todd. Yolanda was in good hands, but where had Bo taken her, and why?
He found Keith at the back of the warehouse room, sitting at a desk and pecking at a laptop. Like some of the equipment, the newness of the computer stood out in the squalid surroundings.
Walter squeezed in between the wall and the chair. “Download what you need and take the laptop to the office.”
Keith nearly jumped from the chair, grabbed up the electronic evidence, and strode past Lucky, so preoccupied he didn’t even bother to sneer.
Walter ran his hand up his face, dislodging his bifocals to rub his eyes. Ever since his health scare, he’d begun tiring so easily.
The boss stopped rubbing his eyes and turned a weary gaze on Lucky. “I’m concerned for the expectant mother. Has Bo taken her to the hospital?”
Lucky let his gaze drift to the doorway where he’d last seen his partner. “He left with the girl and Johnson.”
Walter nodded. “Yes, best to have another agent with them.” He scrubbed his hand over his face again. “I do hope her child hasn’t suffered.”
The mother did have an underfed look about her. And she worked with God only knew what without benefit of protection like gloves or a mask. What had life been like for her these past few months? If those sonsofbitches hurt her, he’d…
Yet, she’d refused to get out when Cruz offered.
A shriek pierced Lucky’s thoughts. “Get him!”
Lucky charged back into the warehouse to insanity. One of the kids they’d rounded up struggled through the press of bodies. Where the hell did he think he was going?
Fighting his way through a crowd not smart enough to get the hell out of the way, Lucky closed in on his prey. The guy went the wrong way to escape.
The kid ran up a flight of rickety stairs. Lucky ran after. Younger and quicker, the kid soon vanished from sight, nothing but his tennis shoes pounding stairs giving away his location. Where the hell was he going?
Footsteps sounded behind Lucky, and he risked a glance over his shoulder. Three plain-clothed agents from God knew which agency followed in his wake.
The stairs ended on the sixth floor. Winded, Lucky shot down the hallway, following the sound of running feet.
The hall ended and the kid yanked open the window at the end.
Holy shit. Lucky’s heart stopped and started again with a slam to the chest. If the kid hit the fire escape, he’d be gone.
“Stop! We’re not going to hurt you. You’re not in trouble. We just need to ask you a few questions.” Where the hell was a bilingual speaker?
The kid glanced back over his shoulder, eyes widening as Lucky bore down. Time slowed. Two things hit Lucky’s brain at the same time: the kid diving through the window and…
Lucky grabbed for an ankle.
His hand closed on air.
There was no fire escape.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Bo’s truck wasn’t in the driveway when Lucky dragged himself out of his car and to the front door of the house. He checked his cellphone. Three-sixteen a.m.
