Page 85 of The Liar

“Thank you.” He kissed my cheek. “I’m going to call my handler. Why don’t you ask Zeke to help with Sewell? That’s right up his alley.”

I nodded. “I’ll do that now.”

“Good. Let’s check in with each other in five minutes.”

I left the apartment and strode to the far end of the corridor, where I could be sure that no one would be able to overhear my phone call. I hit the redial symbol and waited.

“You two want to swing with us, don’t you?” Zeke asked, cheerier than earlier. “That’s what all of this is about. You just want to get closer to me and Fi.”

“Zeke…” I laced my tone with warning.

He sighed. “You’re no fun. How can I help?”

“Sewell did a runner while West and I were distracted. If I give you his phone number, can you trace him?”

“I’ll sure as hell try.” Rhythmic tapping signaled that he was on his computer.

I read him the number. “Should I call back?”

“Just let me try something first.” More tapping. Some muttering. Then a laugh. “The stupid asshole didn’t even bother to turn off his phone. I’m sending you his coordinates now.”

22

JOANNA

I rushed back to the apartment, a wide-eyed officer who’d recently arrived to guard the door getting out of my way as I breezed through.

“I have an address,” I called to West.

He pocketed his phone. “Let’s go.”

“Wait.” I held my hands up. “We should call for backup.”

“We can do that on the way.” He strode over to me and took my hand. “If Portia is in danger and there’s a chance that Sewell abducted her, then we need to save her.”

“We will,” I assured him. “But we don’t know what we’re walking into. We can’t do it alone.”

He nodded. “Come on.”

We left, passing the still-ruffled officer on our way.

“No one comes in or out,” I told him. “That includes Detective Sewell. Do you understand?”

His brow crinkled. “Ma’am?”

“This scene is now locked down. If anyone else tries to enter, call me. No one gets in without approval, even if they have a badge.”

The furrow between his eyebrows deepened. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later. Do I have your word?”

“Yes, ma’am. If anyone tries to get in, I’ll call you.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

West and I walked until we were out of sight, and then we flew down the stairs and across the parking lot. He pushed a button on his key fob to unlock the car doors and we both got in. I added the coordinates Zeke sent me to the GPS while West started the engine.

He backed out and then paused to hand me his phone. “Get in touch with Adam. Put it on speaker.”

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