The FBI agent’s eyes widened a little in amusement.
Justice had a glassy expression, and he didn’t seem to be able to fully focus. “I want my lawyer.”
“I bet you do. Thing is, this isn’t my case, so I don’t care about whatever charges you’re facing. I just want to know who took Simon and where they would’ve taken him.”
“Who?” Justice shrugged.
“Mr. Norris. Your math teacher. Guess what, kid. He was spying on you the whole time.” That was satisfying to tell him.
Justice said, “You lie.”
“I don’t lie about the school. That would make me a bad Resource Officer.” She went to fold her arms and nearly passed out.Distracted.She’d been shot before and could honestly say this time wasn’t that bad. But being shot was never good.
Cat said, “Where is the family estate?”
“How should I know?”
“So you’re just a wannabe? A hanger-on. Can’t get rid of the kid, throw him a bone once in a while. Or a party.”
He huffed. “They need me.”
“Where can I find Lance?”
Justice shuddered. “You don’t find Lance. Lance finds you.”
“Right.”
The agent shifted. Obviously, she was gearing up to cut off the conversation. There wasn’t much time left to get information that counted.
“Justice, who killed my partner, Sergeant Ellis?”
His lips peeled back into another sneer. “That was a good one.” He started to chuckle, turning far enough that she saw a phone in his back pocket. The FBI would confiscate that soon enough, but was it his personal phone or one of the devices Simon had identified?
Justice said, “Hayden’s lucky day.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There was a price on his head, so Hayden didn’t hesitate. He did what he needed to do, and he gotpaid.”
“And when you grow up, you wanna be just like him?” Cat challenged. “He’s dead.”
The FBI agent snorted. “If he says anything else, I’ll call you?”
Cat said, “Alvarez.”
“Got it.” She walked Justice past Cat.
Cat reached out with her good arm and slid his phone out of his back pocket. If he noticed, he said nothing. She tucked the phone against the front of her shirt and walked fast to the corner of the building.
She stood in the shadows and hit the power button. The screen lit up. Definitely not his personal phone because what teenager used a simple black background? But how would she get past his code?
She needed someone who could access the system.
Peter.
No. She needed someone who hadn’t dismissed her help and wouldabsolutelywant to be in the loop. Cat tugged out her own cell phone and opened the browser. How was she supposed to find the number that would get Simon’s friend on the phone?
She typedTaliaandNorthwest Counter-Terrorism Taskforceand prayed this would work.