Chapter Twenty-Eight

Laia walked out of the office supply store, clutching the brown-and-black leather ledger book and other items she’d purchased tightly to her chest. From what she remembered of the one Kade had pulled from the hidden compartment in Rosa’s dinghy, it was approximately the same size, shape, and color.

She continued into the parking lot, darting her gaze back and forth, looking for anyone watching her. Including the police.

Knowing Kade would keep trying to find her, she’d intentionally parked in the lot next door. If she saw anyone waiting for her, she’d have to abandon the minivan and rent a car, but then she’d have to use a credit card, creating a trail. Luckily, she’d had enough cash in her wallet to pay for the new ledger and fill up the minivan with gas.

She stepped over the concrete divider separating the parking lots of the two stores and headed to the minivan. Just before she would have opened the driver’s side door, a young man walked toward her. When he began taking something from his pocket, she tensed, preparing to run. But the man kept walking past, then got into a pickup truck and drove away.

With her heart threatening to beat its way right out of her chest, Laia quickly got into the minivan and drove from the lot.

All she had to do now was find a place to stay for the night. A hotel would require her to show ID, and that was a chance she couldn’t take.

She turned off the main road, meandering down the side streets, searching for just the right place that was close enough to the bank that she could quickly get there when it reopened in the morning.

Remembering what Kade had said about parking somewhere that didn’t have a night crew on staff, she continued driving until she found what she was looking for, a recycling center just off Route 18. The front parking lot was empty. She drove around the side of the building, then turned into the rear lot. The only vehicles there were heavy-duty collection trucks. No personal vehicles that she could see.

She backed into a narrow spot in between two of the trucks parked against the side of the building and directly in front of a large, corrugated metal door at the loading bay. With her back to the wall, and the tall, vine-covered chain-link fence lining the opposite side of the lot, she’d be well-concealed for the night.

Before shutting off the engine, she cracked the windows to let some fresh air in. The stench of garbage filtered into the passenger compartment, and she wrinkled her nose. Here she was, wedged between two garbage trucks and hiding out like a wanted criminal. With a heavy sigh, she let her head fall into her hands.

What were they doing to Rosa, right now, right at this moment? They wouldn’t really hurt a child. Would they?

Her body shook from the effort to keep from screaming at the top of her lungs. If they harmed Rosa in any way, she’d rip them to shreds with her bare hands. Somehow, she’d find a way.

For a moment, she wavered. Kade was the federal agent. He was the one trained to shoot, kill, and take no prisoners. His entire life had been spent defending this great nation abroad, then protecting its citizens back home. Should she call him?

The urge to fling herself into his arms…to feel his strength and warmth envelop her…to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay…

An illusion. That’s what he was. Part of a wishful dream, a life she’d secretly hoped for with someone she loved and who loved her back with the same passionate fervor. That wasn’t meant to be.

It was time to harden her heart against the truth. Yet again, she was alone.

She drew in a series of calming breaths, then pulled her cell phone from her bag and snapped in the battery. The kidnappers had said they would call her tomorrow, but she couldn’t take the chance of missing another call from them.

Once she hit the power button, it seemed like forever before the screen lit up. There was another message from Kade.

Tears threatened to destroy what little remained of her composure. Despite her earlier resolve, the need to hear his voice won out, and she cued up the message.

“Laia, it’s Kade. I know I hurt you. I know you’ve lost faith in me, but you have to know…you and Rosa are everything to me. I don’t want to lose you. I’m working on a plan to find Rosa. Don’t put yourself in jeopardy. Do not go after her alone. I couldn’t—” He broke off, his voice choked. “I couldn’t take it if anything happened to you. Please, call me back right away.”

Hearing his voice, absorbing the meaning of his heartfelt words, nearly took down the steel wall she’d erected around that special place in her heart reserved solely for Kade. She wanted to believe him, but there was too much at stake to change course now.

Taking another deep breath, she deleted the message, then popped out the battery. Next she emptied her bag of purchases on the seat. The ledger. Several blue and black pens. Whiteout. And three small flashlights. Tucked away as she was and shielded from what remained of the light of day, she’d soon need them.

Part one of her plan was to retrieve what she assumed was Fernando Colon’s stolen cash. Creating a phony ledger—one good enough to pass muster, at least long enough to get to Rosa—was the second part.

With her knowledge of banking, plus whatever she could remember of the entries in Josh’s ledger, she could do this. Not knowing what those two-letter codes were could be a problem. The main thing was that her version had to be an original, not a photocopy. Assuming, as Kade had said, the prosecutor would demand the original to press charges, then Colon would want the original, too.

Eventually, Colon would figure out everything in the book was phony. The only part of her plan yet to be written was that teensy-weensy part about how to get her and Rosa out of there safely.

Wherever there turned out to be.

…

Kade assumed the last message he’d left for Laia would go unanswered. Even if she did turn on her phone, he doubted she’d call him back.

Man, I messed up with her.

He might as well be wearing his ass on the top of his neck instead of his head, because that’s what he’d been. An ass. But he could—and would—fix this.

Smoke whined, so as soon as he pulled into the DHS parking lot, he popped the rear door for Smoke to stretch his legs and relieve himself.

Most of the lot was empty. He recognized Manny Dominguez’s G-ride, along with several other fed cars. Jamie pulled up next to him and rolled down the window. “At the risk of being a nag, are you sure this is the right course of action?”

“No, but right now it’s the only course of action.” And he was done waiting around for one of his or Manny’s informants, or the FBI to call him with any concrete news.

“Okay then.” Jamie shut off the engine and joined him outside.

Kade shook his head. “This is my fuck-up to un-fuck. I need to do this alone.” He gave Jamie a meaningful look. He hadn’t exactly lied to his friend, but the real reason he didn’t want Jamie with him was because it would make him an accessory.

He went to the back of his vehicle, then flipped up the door and grabbed a dark-green backpack. After closing the door, he motioned for Smoke to follow him inside. He took the stairs two at a time. Smoke loped behind him, his nails clicking and echoing on the concrete. They hadn’t even gone into the office yet, and already Kade was sweating. He was about to break every rule in the law enforcement handbook. Plus a few in the penal code.

Outside the agents’ door, he paused, then swiped into the office. While it was late in the evening, seven thirty, there would always be someone working late on a big case.

Like Manny.

Somehow, he had to sneak in, grab what he came for, then haul ass before anyone got wind of what he’d done.

The heavy metal door clicked shut behind him and Smoke. After trekking up the stairs, his dog was panting.

He leaned down and held his finger in front of his mouth. “Shhh.” Instantly, Smoke snapped his jaws closed. Atta boy.

Voices came from the end of the corridor in the vicinity of Manny’s cubicle. He and the forensic accountants were probably still poring over Josh’s ledger. He was counting on them having made a working copy and securing the original in the evidence room.

Moving as quietly as possible, he and Smoke continued down the corridor. Halfway there, he stopped and stared at the tag on the door.

Evidence/Tech Room.

Getting in was a longshot. Since this wasn’t his official duty station, he wouldn’t normally have access. But as recently as a month ago, he’d been assigned TDY—temporary duty—to a narcotics squad operating from this location. He and Smoke had been seizing so much narcotics, he’d been given access to log in all the seizures. He prayed it hadn’t been rescinded yet.

He held his card up to the reader, wincing when the box beeped. His heart raced as he stole a glance down the corridor, but no one popped their head out.

Slowly, he twisted the knob and pushed open the door. He indicated for Smoke to go in first, then he followed and nudged the door shut behind them.

Rows and rows of metal shelving stared back at him. About two-thirds of the shelves were jam-packed with evidence, mostly cardboard boxes containing documents, or drugs, or…Josh’s ledger. The other third contained tech equipment that was valuable enough to be locked up and also required a signature to sign out.

Kade pointed to a spot directly in front of the door, whispering, “Guard.”

Smoke sat next to the door. If anyone so much as twitched on the other side, Smoke was trained to notify Kade with a soft huffing sound.

The evidence log sat ominously on a desk just inside the door. Agency policy required anyone entering the evidence room to sign in, regardless of whether they actually removed anything.

Ignoring the logbook, Kade went directly to the black three-ring binder sitting next to it. The Evidence Inventory Sheets. Once evidence was formally logged in, it was given a location code, making it easy to find. Row, shelf, and position on the shelf.

Knowing the ledger had to be one of the most recent seizures, he flipped to the last page. There it was. Row 5, Shelf 3, Position C.

Kade easily found the ledger. It had been placed inside a large brown envelope with the DHS address in the upper left corner. A large white evidence label had been secured to the outside of the envelope.

He took the envelope, then unzipped his backpack and stuffed it inside. He’d thought his heart had been racing before. Now it was pounding like a jackhammer. He zipped up the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Before opening the door, he took a deep breath, trying to calm his heartbeat.

Not working.

Smoke watched him, a worried canine expression on his furry face. Even his dog knew he was up to no good.

He put his hand on the knob, about to open the door, when another crazy-ass idea came to him. Releasing the knob, he went to the other side of the room, the one housing the tech equipment. It took him a few more precious minutes he didn’t really have before finding what he was looking for—the box containing the brand-new micro-transmitter and receiver he’d seen on Manny’s desk.

He reopened his backpack and stuffed that inside next to the ledger. Boy, when he broke the rules, he more than broke them. He shattered them into smithereens. After cracking the door open, he peered in the direction of Manny’s cubicle. Voices still filtered to him, but the corridor was empty.

After he and Smoke stepped out, Kade eased the door shut. Thirty feet and he’d be home free. Until they realized what he’d done.

Eventually, they’d check the card reader record and see that he’d made entry without signing in. It wouldn’t be long before they figured it out. After that, he’d be toast. But if his plan worked, at least Rosa would be safe.

Smoke followed him to the exit door. He grabbed the handle, about to pull it open, when Smoke snorted. Pounding footsteps came to his ears, the sound of someone running on carpet.

“Kade! What are you doing?”

He turned, his fingers tightening around the strap of his backpack. He was so fucked it wasn’t funny.

“I didn’t even know you were here,” Manny said, a little out of breath. “You’re not gonna believe what the money geeks found in the ledger.”

“What?” Kade asked, his relief so great at realizing Manny was clueless as to what he’d just done, he nearly dropped the backpack on Smoke’s head. That combined with the fact that Manny had already made a copy of the ledger might give him a couple of days before anyone realized he’d stolen the original.

Manny grinned. “We’ve got him. Almost. That ledger documents over a hundred million dollars of drug money flowing through Colon’s hands. There’s even one entry for $20 million that looks like it might not have been collected. It was made the day before your brother was killed.”

“That could be another reason why Colon would be itching to get his hands on the ledger,” Kade suggested. “Maybe Josh hadn’t gotten around to transferring the funds yet.” Which would explain why there was no check mark next to that entry.

“Exactly.” Manny’s grin broadened. “But we still can’t figure out that two-letter abbreviation. We will, though, and when we do, we can trace it to all of Colon’s shell company accounts. This is all fun and games for the money geeks. They live for that shit.”

“That’s good news.” Just when Kade thought he was about to get out of there, Manny grabbed his arm.

“Wait. I need you to go to the Regional Bank & Trust tomorrow. The AUSA said she can get that warrant for the bank box signed first thing in the morning. I’ve got court, so you’ll have to serve it without me. I’ll call you when it’s signed, then you can come pick it up.”

“You’ve got it.” Kade opened the door. Now he had the ledger. Tomorrow, he’d have his hands on Colon’s money. Some of it, anyway.

He and Smoke headed down the stairs. Like Manny said, the forensic accountants would follow the rest of the money and track it through Colon’s dirty hands. For them, it really was all fun and—

Games.

On the bottom step, Kade froze. Smoke looked up at him, waiting patiently.

“Games,” he whispered to himself. It couldn’t be. But it was.

He’d just cracked Josh’s ledger code.