Page 49 of Captivated with Them

Chapter Twenty

Kodee

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GORDON DROPPED US OFFoutside of our building.

The SUV had stayed hot on our tail and pulled into a space a couple of spots behind us. I hadn’t expected anything else, but at least if they were with us, it meant they didn’t suspect anything wrong with our visit to the office. I’d been concerned they might have felt the need to search the place after we’d left and potentially could have come across Dillon.

“Stay in touch,” Gordon said as the car idled. “You can always call the office number if you need to get hold of your friend. And if I can do anything else, please let me know.”

“Thanks,” I replied. “We appreciate that.”

His cooperation had surprised all of us. I felt bad that we’d dragged him into our mess, but if it meant Dillon stayed safe and we stood some chance of getting Rue out of Frankie Capello’s grip, it was worth it.

I opened the car door and climbed out before going through the routine of setting up Ryan’s wheelchair and helping him out as well. He wasn’t the only one who’d be pleased to get his prosthetic leg back—dealing with the chair was a pain in the ass—but the wheelchair was going to play an integral part of our plan.

We waited on the sidewalk for Gordon to pull away then turned back to the building.

Behind us, car doors slammed.

“Hey!” The shout came from the direction of the SUV. “What are you two playing at?”

Shit. What did they know?

I exchanged a glance with Ryan. We needed to play it cool.

I turned to meet the two men who were now approaching us. We were still standing out on the street, with cars and pedestrians passing by. We garnered a handful of curious glances, enough to prevent these men from shooting us out in the open.

I played it dumb. “What do you mean?”

“You’re supposed to be working on something for Mr. Capello, not be out gallivanting.”

“We had a medical appointment. That’s hardly gallivanting.”

“Well, I hope you’re done with what Mr. Capello ordered. He’s told us to collect them and bring them to him.”

They were talking about the three passports, of course. Two for the girls, and one for Rue. When we handed over the passports, it would mean Rue could be taken out of the country and far away from us. The only thing that would stop that from happening was if we got Rue away from Frankie Capello first.

“That’s fine. They’re already done. We were just waiting for you to collect them.”

The goon’s lips thinned. “We’ll come up with you, then.”

We’d only made one of the two passports for Rue so far, but all her details were stored on a flash-drive, which was well hidden. I hadn’t wanted to take the risk of making hers yet, in case Capello decided to search the apartment and found it.

Together, we entered the building and caught the elevator up to our apartment. I opened the door to let us all in, and then I left Ryan with the two men while I went to the office and unlocked the safe where I’d stored the three passports. I took them out, my stomach knotted, and carried them back to the others.

I handed them over.

The older man with the graying hair opened the first one and flicked through it. I was fairly sure he didn’t know what he was looking for, and there was little chance he’d notice the discrepancies we’d deliberately included. It didn’t feel like we were doing much to help those poor girls, but it was something. I hoped it would be enough. Rue’s passport, however, would work. We just had to rescue her before Capello got the chance to use it.

“All good?” I asked, nodding to the passports.

“Yeah.” He slipped them inside the pocket in his jacket lining. “But Frankie will need to look them over before you get the all-clear. You can be sure to hear from him if they’re not up to scratch.”

“They will be, but he knows where we are if he has any problems.”

His gaze flicked between me and Ryan, still sitting in the wheelchair. He seemed to be wondering if he should challenge us on something else but then jerked his chin at his colleague, and they turned and walked from the apartment.

I stepped forward and locked the door behind them. I pressed my back against it and let out a shaky breath.

“Good thing they didn’t search the wheelchair for this,” Ryan said, pulling the gun out from where he’d positioned it behind him and settling the weapon on his lap. “I guess you were right when you said it’s often those they suspect the least who prove to be the biggest threat.”

“Let’s hope that carries through to the courthouse,” I replied.

It wouldn’t do us any good to get cocky now. We still had a long way to go.

We would be up half the night creating Rue’s second passport, but we didn’t mind. We needed to make sure we were ready for the following morning.

Nothing was going to trip us up this time.

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