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FISH TURNED AS LEXI called his name. A sea of relief flooded his system.
Sofia ran up to her, eyes ablaze. “You went away and didn’t tell us.”
Lexi knelt to meet Sofia’s gaze and took her hands. “I know. I broke the rule. I’m sorry.”
“It won’t happen again, will it?” Sofia said. “You made us worry about you.”
“I’m sorry for that, too. I’m here now.”
“Can we do the race cars?” Sofia asked.
Worked for Fish. While Sofia was engaged with steering her car along the video course, he and Lexi could have a little chat. Although she’d put on a cheery demeanor for Sofia, Lexi was obviously shaken.
She related what had happened. “In hindsight, yeah, it was stupid, but if your caller ID said Dalton, you’d have answered it.” She raised both palms. “Don’t say anything. I reacted without thinking.”
Fish raked his fingers through his hair, then pulled out his phone and called Manny, not Dalton. You didn’t call the boss to report a screwup. After a moment, Manny confirmed the caller ID was spoofed, and Dalton hadn’t called Lexi.
Of course, now the boss knew he’d screwed up, but he wouldn’t get the tongue-lashing until later.
“Do you think there’s a leak somewhere?” Fish asked.
“We’re looking. Questions to that effect arose during Scrooge’s last op,” Manny said. “The boss has his eye on a new hire downstairs in reception. The overly helpful sort. He’s under investigation.”
Fish disconnected and pocketed his phone. Lexi seemed near tears, and that never happened. He put his arm around her. “We’ll figure this out.”
“How did he find us?” she asked. “And why come in person?”
Questions of the decade.
Sofia clambered out of her race car simulator. “I didn’t crash. And I got a high score.” She reached into her jacket pocket, pulled out her phone, and snapped a picture of the game’s results screen, then showed it to Lexi as if it wasn’t real without a picture.
Fish grabbed the phone. Stared at Lexi as the light bulbs went off simultaneously.
He swiped through the phone settings. Location services were on. Why hadn’t he remembered a phone? She’d asked if she could text him pictures of her spelling tests, for God’s sake. Where was his brain?
Lexi tugged at her hair. “I set it up when I gave her the phone. So we could find her in an emergency. There were never any issues, and I never thought of it again.”
“What’s done is done.” If they’d located Sofia, they undoubtedly knew the hotel they were staying at as well. Fish hadn’t noticed a tail on the drive to the arcade, but with the right connections, which Fish didn’t doubt Gunther had, they didn’t need one. Why bother with a tail when you have a GPS locator?
New phones were in order for both Lexi and Sofia.
“I think it’s time for lunch,” Fish said. “Where should we go?”
“Pizza,” Sofia said.
“Pizza it is.” Lexi took Sofia’s hand and led the skipping child to the exit.
Fish stopped at the front desk, let them know Lexi had shown up, and turned in Sofia’s phone. “Found this near the Skee Ball lanes.”
Let whoever was tracking them think they were still here.
He debated whether taking a cab would be wiser than driving. Or if there was a reason to keep Lexi from going home, given Gunther knew she was in Burnside. They could disable the surveillance equipment so her comings and goings would be off Gunther’s radar. Or would it be better to keep the feed to Blackthorne?
Those decisions were above his paygrade. He was here to keep Lexi safe.
Did eight-year-old girls take naps? He doubted it, but at some point, he needed to be able to confer with Intel. Lexi had to be in on it. He owed her that much.
While they worked on their pizza, Fish excused himself to use the men’s room. From the privacy of a stall, he checked in with Manny, adding yet another screwup to his growing list. “Neither of us considered the kid had a phone. Since Gunther himself showed up, it’s obvious our position has been compromised.”
He asked whether they should move to a different hotel or if they might as well stay at Lexi’s house, then braced himself for Manny’s reaction.
The prolonged silence was worse than an ass-chewing, but Fish knew Manny was weighing options. One of which might well be to call Fish off.
“Go to the hotel,” Manny said.
Better than being dismissed on the spot, Fish imagined, but it wouldn’t surprise him if he opened the hotel room door and found himself face to face with his replacement. Someone who thought more than half a step ahead of the game. “Roger. I’ll advise of new phone numbers when we replace the cell phones.”
Manny disconnected and Fish pocketed his cell.
“Can I have my phone back?” Sofia asked.
“There was something wrong with it,” Fish said. “We’re going to get you a new one.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Can it be pink?”
By the time Lexi and Sofia had new phones—with matching pink cases—and they got back to the hotel, it was late afternoon. Still no word from Manny.
“What can we do now?” Sofia asked.
“We should have taken her to the Bounce House,” Lexi said. “The trampolines would have worn her out.”
“I’d like to know what happens next in your book,” Fish said to Sofia. “Can we read?”
Sofia pouted. “We don’t have to read on Sundays.”
“Ah, but reading because you want to, not because you have to, is where it gets fun. It’s a good story, don’t you think?”
Sofia seemed to consider that, as if the thought had never occurred to her. She read because it was assigned. “Maybe.”
“Well, even if you don’t want to, I want to know if Ramona is going to mess up Beezus’s birthday party. Will you get the book, please?”
Sofia fetched it from her pack, and soon the three of them were taking turns reading. Fish swore there was a new enthusiasm in Sofia’s reading. After a few pages, she was working out the paragraphs without having them read aloud first.
He was almost disappointed when his phone rang.
***
LEXI HARDLY BELIEVED the change in Sofia’s attitude. Trying to get the child interested in reading had been a major struggle, yet in one afternoon, Marv had piqued Sofia’s interest. She listened as he started asking Sofia questions about what was happening in the story, and Sofia eagerly read—on her own—to find the answers.
When Marv’s phone rang and he confirmed it was Manny, she handed the book to Sofia and told her to find questions herself. “I have to go with Marv for a minute, but I’ll try to find the answers when we’re done with the phone call.”
Sofia huffed. “Grownup time.”
“That’s right, Princess. I’ll try to keep it short.” Lexi made sure the security latch was thrown on the hotel room door, then went into Marv’s room, closing, but not locking, the adjoining door.
“I’m putting this on speaker,” Marv said.
“I’m here.” Lexi sat on the edge of the bed. Marv sat beside her, holding the phone between them.
“First,” Manny said, “we have the details of the arrest.”
Lexi wrapped her hand around Marv’s, giving her the illusion she was holding the phone. Silly, she knew, but it made her feel more in control.
“The five arrestees, including Ms. Escudo, were found with large quantities of oxycontin in their possession.”
“Was there evidence of her using, or just procuring?” Lexi asked, immediately wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. She knew drug testing wasn’t done routinely, the way alcohol levels were tested. It was as if her cop knowledge had evaporated once she’d hired Blackthorne.
“Undetermined at this time,” Manny said. “The critical point is that not one of these people would give up who they were working for. They’d likely been warned in advance not to believe their respective counsels if they told them things would go easier if they talked.”
“Threatened, in other words,” Marv said.
“I don’t suppose anyone bothered mentioning that by being caught, they’d become expendable,” Lexi muttered. “In jail, prison, or on the streets, they’ll be marked as problem children, to be dealt with accordingly.”
“What’s interesting is that neither John Gunther nor any of his Merlin subsidiaries, has stepped forward with offers of legal representation,” Manny said.
“In other words, he’s hanging them out to dry.” Lexi had already accepted she’d be the one to hire an attorney for Cataline. Would Brian’s contacts be able to recommend one?
“If he’s separating himself from Cataline and the others, why do you think John Gunther strayed from his normal pattern of keeping himself many layers behind the scenes?” Marv asked.
“We believe it’s because, despite threats, one or more of the arrestees gave up information that could implicate Gunther before they were arrested,” Manny said.
It didn’t take much for Lexi to follow his line of reasoning. “One of them was Cataline.”
“As I said, they’re being very tight-lipped, but yes, that’s the presumption. We’re looking for the local equivalent of Nelson Riggs. The one in charge of recruiting people and handing out false prescriptions.”
Lexi wondered why Blackthorne was involved—or were they simply relaying information they’d picked up in the course of making sure she and Sofia were safe? While she understood them not turning the investigation over to the Burnside PD, given the likelihood of internal corruption, the DEA should be the logical investigative body. Gunther couldn’t have his talons in that agency, too, could he?
Reality check. “What about tomorrow?” Lexi asked. “Sofia has school. Will she be safe, or should we keep her here? Sticking to her routine would be best, I think.” Much as Lexi loved her Little Sister, another twenty-four hours in a cramped hotel room wasn’t going to be easy. If she went to school, would Sofia be safe? Given the appalling number of active shooter incidents, despite precautions, schools were no longer safe havens.
“We can go to the school,” Marv said. “Keep an eye on things.”
Judging from the silence, Manny seemed to consider it, and came back with an affirmative. “You’ll have to get clearance from the school.”
“I’m already on their approved visitor list. I can add Marv,” Lexi said.
“Tell me this, Manny,” Fish said. “What’s going to happen now that Gunther has openly threatened Lexi?”