Page 90 of The Spy Ring

“You bugged them?”

“No. It’s one of the listening devices I planted in Tiffany’s apartment a month ago,” I said with a smile.

Tenn straightened but still held the phone up to his ear. “So, they have escaped—”

I waved my hands. “No. When I went to sweep for the devices there was one I couldn’t find. I had planted it in her kitchen. It must have fallen, and David found it. Tiffany just told me he was fiddling with it before the wedding.”

Tenn shook his head. “Even your fuck-ups save people. Let’s just hope someone mentions something that will give us a clue as to where they are.”

I was itching to grab the phone back and listen, but this wasn’t my case. I had to let Tenn take over. He yelled out for a headset and within a minute someone ran up with a pair. I hovered near him for what felt like hours but was probably a few minutes when he finally said something.

“They’re in room twelve thirty-two.”

I began to move toward the building entrance when a hand grabbed onto my arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” Tenn asked.

“To get that kid.”

“You don’t work for ITA anymore. You know I can’t let you inside,” Tenn said as his eyes softened.

“I’ve got to do something, Tenn.”

He held up my phone. “You have.”

“No, that’s not enough. I can’t just stand down here and hope these guys don’t fuck this up. Because if they do, I have to go over there,” I pointed to the café across the street, “and tell a woman who has been through hell and back with her son, that he’s gone. I can’t do that.”

Tenn looked down and wrinkled his forehead. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “There’s a fire escape in the back of the building. It only goes to the second floor. But if you get caught—”

“Then I tell them you forbid me from coming in the building but I didn’t listen. Like usual,” I said with a wink before I took off.

The escape was old and rusted but once I made it down the alley to the back, it was easy to spot. I had to maneuver a dumpster under it to reach up, but once it opened, I made it to the second floor. The door was locked but I knew how to pick a lock from my years going undercover with criminals.

“Thanks, Jonsey,” I said with a new appreciation for the best lock pick in the Midwest.

I got inside and immediately took off my coat and bowtie. Rolling up my sleeves, I knew it was going to be a workout making it to the twelfth floor. Especially since the stairwell wasn’t air-conditioned.

Old buildings were the worst.

Racing up the stairs until I thought my legs would fall off, I stopped to catch my breath.

“I need to work out more,” I wheezed.

When my breathing regulated, I stepped into the hall. Based on the numbers on the doors room 1232 was right around the corner. I moved along the wall and just as I was about to peer around to see if anyone else was there, something hard hit my head.

It felt like an explosion inside my brain and it seemed like I was falling. I saw a pair of black loafers just before I passed out.

---