Page 100 of S.O.S. Billboard

“I’m hiding back in the woods, and my mother is headed home. I called her first. Before you,” he added, somewhat guiltily.

“That’s fine, Ethan. You need her to be safe, too, so listen to me. You may not be secure at your house. Call your mother back and have her meet you down the street. As soon as she shows up, I want you to get in the car and have her drive to SOS headquarters. Mizzay will be waiting there for you.”

He glanced down apologetically at the petite woman who’d accompanied the group down to the garage. He knew she wanted to join them in getting O’Shea back, but…

“Yah. Fine,” Mizzay huffed, holding the elevator door open while she stayed inside. “But youze all owe me. And you better bring O’Shea back in one piece, or I won’t be responsible for who I send in to cap that rat bastard, Barnie.”

Billboard’s sentiments exactly.

“You understand everything I said, Ethan?” Billboard questioned, getting back to the boy.

“I do. I’m moving now so I can see my driveway.”

“Good boy. And if the bad guys come back…”

“I’ll hide again, then call my mother and warn her not to come at all.”

“Perfect,” Billboard praised. “Then you’ll get right back to me and we’ll send someone to find you both and keep you safe.”

“Got it.” Ethan didn’t hang up. “Billboard? Call me when you get O’Shea?”

“Will do, Ethan. Now, I gotta go.”

Billboard disconnected, then looked at his crew who were all waiting for details. He gave them a condensed version of the story as they walked to their stable of vehicles. Del was already bringing something up on his phone.

“The tracker we put in the safe says O’Shea is at a location on the outskirts of town.” He rattled off the address. “I’ll drive. Sarge, call Daire and Brent and have them meet us there. Have them bring ropes and climbing equipment in case we need to breach from the roof.”

“Got it, boss.” Sarge was immediately on his phone.

They all piled into one SUV. It was tight, even for six of them because they were all so big, but they weren’t going to waste time figuring out the coordination of a caravan. Billboard and the rest knew that every second counted.

Andit was time to give Del kudos.

“Thanks for putting that tracker in the safe, boss,” Billboard spoke gruffly. “If you hadn’t…”

“Then one of you would have,” Del answered seamlessly.

“I’m not sure about that, Del,” Sarge put in. “That FBI agent was pretty damned aggressive about wanting that safe in her custody.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t argue too much once you agreed to give her the documents inside,” Perk interjected a little testily for him. “She was just doing her job.”

If Billboard weren’t so on edge, he’d tease Perk for coming to the defense of the prickly agent, but…

All he could think of was O’Shea, and what she was possibly going through.

****

“Bring her. And the safe.”

O’Shea recognized the voice, even though the bag was still over her head. Not that she was surprised at who was speaking. She’d known that the two goons who’d snatched her were working for Barnie Jakes,andthat she’d be taken to the arrogant prick. It’s just that the trip had been a whole lot shorter than she’d imagined. They had to be in the same town where they’d started, even with the one very quick stop they’dtaken for some unknown reason. It just went to show you how untouchable Jakes thought he was, to do his dirty-work right under everybody’s noses.

And speaking of assholes, he was talking again.

“You’ll regret leaving me, Anna,” Barnie’s smarmy voice said from somewhere in front of her as she was led down some stairs. Even with her head covered, she could smell the dampness. They were taking her to a basement. That didn’t bode well.

“And you’llreallybe sorry you stole those papers from me,” Jakes continued. “Because as soon as I’m sure they’re all accounted for, you, my dear, become expendable,” he told O’Shea cheerfully. “The question is, do we make your death look like an accident, a suicide, or maybe…?” He addressed his minions. “Have you already roughed her up?” They paused on the stairs. “You two actually look like shit.” O’Shea assumed that Jakes had looked back.

“She fought us, boss. We couldn’t help but take a few punches, and you didn’t tell us not to.” The one who’d answered sounded a little worried.

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