Page 57 of Allison

Worm:She did, but something isn’t right

Tex:Care to elaborate?

Worm:She doesn’t have a plausible explanation for her disappearance

Worm: She seemed frightened and was tearful when she called me

Tex:This more than helping out a teammate?

Worm:Yes

Tex:Understood. I’ll get back with you soon.

Worm:Thanks

Worm places his phone on the console between the seats, starting the engine. He pulls out of the gym parking lot headed for home. All the while praying, Tex will find out what happened to Allison so he can help her out of the trouble she’s gotten herself into. He doesn’t understand this driving need to ensure her safety, but he can’t ignore it, either.

A few hourslater when Worm is arriving at PT, his phone pings again with an incoming text requesting that he call Tex. Tex doesn’t even say hello.

“Worm, I have some information for you. Your woman was dropped off at her apartment complex last night shortly before she called Emma and then you,” Tex begins without pleasantries. “I couldn’t get a license plate number. They had that well-hidden. The man who’d gotten out of the vehicle with her, was wearing a mask, so no facial recognition. From what I can tell, she’s still at her apartment and no one else who has entered or exited seemed suspicious. Everyone on facial rec, lives in the complex.”

“Thanks,” Worm replies with a heavy sigh, not sure what to make of this information or how it can help Allison.

“I’m not finished,” Tex continues. “I followed the car as it left on street cams as far as I could. It was headed into a very wealthy community. The vehicle pulled up to a large property and the masked-man got out of the back seat before the car drove away. I’m working on tracing the property owner to see if this will shed some light on who we are dealing with.”

“All right, so any suggestions on how to keep her safe in the meantime?” Worm inquires as he is nearing his fellow teammates. Hawk is standing with Wallace, Straw, and Tank. The men are in deep conversation. They turn to look at him as he arrives. “I’m on the phone with Tex.” The men nod and Wallace turns to face him.

“Why are you talking to Tex?” Wallace asks, for once in the last week not sounding pissed at Worm.

“I got a call from Allison last night after I spoke with Emma.” All of his friends perk up at this bit of information. “She sounded upset, but wouldn’t tell me anything more than she told Emma so I asked Tex to see what he could find out.”

“Did he find anything?” Wallace asks. Worm pulls the phone down from his ear and presses the speak option.

“Tex, I’m putting you on speaker. Hawk, Wallace, Straw, and Tank are with me.”

“Hey guys. I was telling Worm I got footage of where Allison was dropped off at her apartment by two in a dark vehicle. I didn’t get eyes on the driver, and the man who’d been in the back with her was masked. I traced the car to a property in a very wealthy part of San Diego, but haven’t found who the property belongs to yet. I’m still working on that.”

“Is she still in danger?” Wallace asks, looking at Worm as if he should know the answer.

“I don’t know,” Tex replies, “but I wouldn’t assume the danger has passed. I’ve been looking into Allison’s internet traffic, engine searches, and social media. It seems she has indeed been looking into missing persons cases, mostly underage youth. She has submitted several stories to outlets that have frequently published her articles in the past, but they’ve all been rejected in recent months—at least the ones related to the missing kids.”

“You think that’s important?” Worm asks, knowing it must be or Tex wouldn’t have brought it up.

“Yes. I’m still digging, but why would only the stories related to the missing kids be the ones that are rejected for publication when others she’s written are not? I’ve read some of the articles she submitted. The quality of her work, her sources, and the way it’s written are equal among both types of articles. So it’s obviously the topic she’s writing about, not her ability to write a good article,” Tex concludes.

“What can I do to keep her safe?” Worm blurts out the most pressing question on his mind, forgetting who is in front of. The men all raise an eyebrow at the near panic in his voice.

“Well for starters, she needs better security in the building she’s living in,” Tex begins. “There aren’t many security cameras inside the building. Allison doesn’t have any of her own, nor does she have an alarm system should someone breach her door or windows.”

“So I need to get her a security system installed,” Worm concludes. Again, his friends are staring at him wide-eyed.

“My brother-in-law can probably help you with that,” Ace declares as he walks up to where they have gathered. “I’ll call him later and ask if he can send one of his guys out there and set it up for her.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Tex confirms. “Luke’s company is excellent. He provides monitoring as well as the cameras and system. I can ask him to link the feed to me so I can watch for anomalies.”

“What about getting a tracker for her?” Hawk joins the discussion. “She’s already been taken once. We all know it could happen again, like it did with my woman, Deadeye’s woman, even Luke’s woman was taken more than once. These crazy fuckers don’t just kidnap a woman and let her go, then forget about her.

“There’s a reason they freed her. If that reason becomes obsolete, then Allison becomes a liability.” Hawk’s words cause a bigger knot to form in Worm’s stomach. He’s nearly lost his mind in the last three days. He can’t go through that again.

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