Page 82 of Bulletproof Love

“Wait,” I say, grabbing his hand. “There!”

One word stands out from the rest.

QNS4721ASTIND

“This entry’s different.” I highlight the text. “See how the other codes are all six characters? This one’s longer, and it only showed up in the most recent transfers.”

My hands shake as Leon moves his chair closer. “It could lead us to an address. Let me run it against a few of the property records I was able to find under Orlov’s shell companies.”

I crack open another can of Red Bull, ignoring my already racing pulse. Jasper comes to the door, poking his head in, but I don’t bother turning to look at him. I can’t lose this train of thought.

“You need anything?” he asks. I know he’s feeling antsy, which often leads him to trouble. I glance his way for a moment.

“We’d love a pizza,” I say. “Right, Lee?” Leon nods, face still glued to his screen.

“I can do that. Anything else?” The happiness in his voice at being given a task is endearing.

“I think the girls are low on food too,” I add. If I can get him out running a few errands, hopefully by the time he gets back, we’ll have good news.

His arms wrap around me from behind, and I melt against him. He brushes a quick kiss along my jawline, before reaching my lips. “I’ll be back in a few. Text me if you think of anything else.”

Before he leaves, I hold my arms out for another hug. “Grab my credit card from my wallet.” I can see him wanting to argue, so I narrow my eyes until he relents. Good boy.

Now that Jasper’s gone, I go back to the task at hand. With the amount of property records, it’s a shock we haven’t found any of them occupied. They’re all broken down homes, or warehouses, most scattered throughout the country.

My fingers stop mid-scroll. “Holy shit.”

“What is it?” Leon asks.

“I found a possible match.” I pull up a map of the property. “It’s a warehouse in Queens, owned by one of their dummy corporations. QNS, must stand for Queens, the numbers are streets, and AST IND…” I zoom in on the photo. “Astoria Industrial.”

“Fucking hell,” Leon says, dragging a hand over his face.

“But look.” I scroll through the records. “This property doesn’t show up anywhere else in their system. Not on Brennan’s manifests, not on the inventory records. They’re keeping it separate from their usual operation for some reason.”

“Go back to the original inventory listing. Is there a name listed with that particular code?”

I jump pages, my mind scrambling to keep up. “Interesting. There’s a photo, but nothing else.”

“They’re definitely hiding something there.” He stands, pacing the length of my bed.

I open another window, finding Bailey’s photo in the database. #521. My heart clenches as I study her face. Somewhere in all this data is the key to finding her. We just have to keep digging.

“We should tell the others. Call Ray. I have a feeling this place is going to be it. Fuck, I want to hop on my bike and go there right now.”

“No,” I say. “We need to map this out.” I start backing up all my data to a secure drive, my mind swimming with different possibilities of what we’ll find there. “Why don’t I tell Blake and Damon, and you call Ray?”

“Yeah, okay.” He’s out the door before I look away from my screen.

I pull up the street views and schematics of the warehouse, and try to piece together the best approach. Something about the location makes me pause. It almost seems too convenient. All the puzzle pieces connect, but still, my gut tells me there’s something we’re missing.

I only hope I can figure it out soon.

“Don’t worry Bailey, we’ll find you.”

* * *

There wasno stopping the guys last night from doing a quick drive-by in Damon’s car. They promised they wouldn’t try anything, and surprisingly they kept their word. The place was exactly how it looked from the images I pulled up online. Quiet. Vacant. After watching for an hour or so and seeing no one coming in or out, they called it a night.

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