Page 95 of Knocked Up by my Best Friend's Brothers

“Spike was working for them on other matters, but even they were surprised to hear he had a computer setup in his home. He wasn’t supposed to,” I reply.

“That’s good,” Nathan says. “It means Spike was smarter than everyone else. God, I hope he was smarter than everyone, and that the last message he sent actually means something.”

“The Feds are looking into that, too. They’ve got a crew of analysts combing through Spike’s computer as we speak. They’re prepping subpoenas and search warrants for the Portland-based Mancini operations. Hopefully, it will lead somewhere.” I sigh deeply. “What about Teagan? Is she safe?”

Nathan nods once. “Yeah, I dropped her off at home. Tony’s with her. I made sure their security system is working. They know to call, whatever happens. But I don’t think they’re a target. Not yet, anyway. I think Alexandra and Vince are cooking up something.”

“For us,” I conclude.

“They have Christa, too,” River says.

“They don’t know what we know, though,” I remind him. “They’re spoiled little shits who have other people do their dirty work for them.”

It still doesn’t bring us closer to a favorable conclusion. I don’t even know where to begin a search for Christa. Nathan was smart to make backup copies of everything he sent to the Feds from Spike’s computer.

“I flagged a couple of folders,” he says as he flips open his laptop and boots up. “Turns out, Spike did some illegal research on the Mancinis’ presence in Portland over the past couple of days. He connected them to about a dozen shell corporations that have been operating in the city for about a decade. Each of these have properties listed among their assets.”

“It makes sense that Vince and Alexandra would take Christa to one such property,” I agree. “It would have to be abandoned, though. They wouldn’t risk taking her someplace where there are lots of people around.”

River leans in to get a look at Nathan’s screen. “They’re goons with money. No matter how hard they try to act as businessmen, they still use violence and intimidation to bend people to their will. They must have a few spots where they take the least compliant ones to persuade them.”

“I’ve got three possible locations,” Nathan says, pulling them up for us to see. “A warehouse in Ardenwald, a farm in Willamette Heights, and an apartment building in Sellwood-Moreland. All three appear to be unoccupied as per the last IRS filing, anyway.”

River gets behind his computer and opens a map of the city on the screen, going over each neighborhood in minute detail while I check my phone for incoming updates. We know whom andwhat we’re dealing with, but we don’t know where to find them, nor do we have the time we would normally need to search for them.

We only get one shot, and it needs to be the right one.

Nathan’s brow furrows even deeper. He stops typing and looks up at me. “They had a lot of inside knowledge,” he says, his voice low but calm. “About Christa, about Spike. About our security systems. I don’t think Christa is the only one they bugged. Especially since Alexandra has been right under our fucking noses the last couple months.”

“Okay, so from what I’m seeing here, the warehouse might not be the best option, but—” River mutters until Nathan cuts him off.

“Hold on,” he says and rushes out of the office.

“What’s he doing?” River asks me.

The knots in my stomach feel tighter with each passing moment, but when Nathan returns with a device in his hand, I feel like it’s lead weights dropping instead. “Fuck,” I hear myself mutter.

We’ve been so preoccupied with finding Christa and so overwhelmed by these recent discoveries that we failed to take a few details into account—surveillance being one of them. River and I remain silent as Nathan turns the device on and uses it to sweep the office for bugs.

The light goes from green to red when he points the device toward the front-left corner of the desk. We exchange nervous glances as Nathan goes around and under River’s desk, then plucks out a small listening device. It’s the size and shape of a coin, but I see the tiny circuits on one side. Nausea threatensto disrupt my focus until I’m briskly reminded of who we’re up against.

River starts typing a message on his phone, then sends it to us.

Let it run, he writes.Let them think we haven’t found it yet.

I nod in agreement while Nathan puts the bug back where he found it.

“What was that about the warehouse?” I ask River out loud.

“It’s our best bet,” he says, stealing a glance at Nathan as he turns the screen around to show us a different location. We’re not headed to the warehouse. “We should start our search there.”

“We’ll take my car,” Nathan replies.

Five minutes later, we’re downstairs and practically flying out of the building. My blood boils as I go over the following steps.

“She bugged our fucking offices,” I hiss.

“We need our gear for what comes next,” Nathan says. “We need to stop by the mansion first.”

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