Page 49 of Artemis

“Then we’ll figure it out. We’ve got time.” Finley rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “I’m sure Lucifer would be willing to help out.”

Artemis made a face. “I’m not sure how I feel about that. At least Mercury has a way of tracking his money and can get it back.”

“Then why would he say no?” Finley shrugged and opened the door for her, holding it wide so she could walk through it first.

Artemis had been expecting the warehouse to be dimly lit inside. She wasn’t really sure why she’d thought that. Probably because in movies, warehouses were always deserted or rundown. This one was brightly lit, from both lights and skylights spaced out across the roof. The walls were a clean white with the delivery service logo and motto painted brightly across them. People were working in various areas; sorting packages, loading boxes into a truck in the back, filing paperwork, doing something on a computer.

She spotted an office in the nearest corner, the door open, and walked purposefully toward it. Finley kept pace with her, his presence reassuring at her side.

Mercury greeted them distractedly, waving a hand at the chairs across from his desk without looking away from his computer screen. “Still working on the code,” he muttered. “Almost got it.” He frowned, fingers moving at lightning speed across his keyboard.

From Artemis’s position at the door, she could see the lines of code propagating across the screen, faster than she could decipher. Finley nodded at the chairs and she shrugged, silently following orders. Interrupting wouldn’t help anyone.

After about five minutes, during which her knee had started bouncing with anxiety until Finley had put his hand overtop, Mercury clicked decisively with the mouse and then focused on them, stretching his fingers one at a time. “I haven’t coded like that in years. I’m checking it before I apply it to your account. It’s removable after all this.” He gestured vaguely in the air. “I don’t want to continue to follow your transactions for the rest of our lives!” He laughed loudly at his joke.

Artemis couldn’t bring herself to fake a chuckle. “Will this help us find him?”

“Assuredly. The code I’ve written must be attached to a single dollar. You’ll have to empty your account before I attach it, so that we know that the correct dollar gets sent. The code will make your one dollar look like a million dollars in their account. This baby,” he patted the top of his monitor confidently, “will dig until it finds every detail needed to bring this guy down. And send all that data to me here.” He tossed a phone at her. “I’ve also already tagged him. Well, his clothing. Can’t tag a person. But clothing can be considered a package, right?” He grinned.

Artemis clutched the phone tightly in her hands, looking at the map of Purgatory with the blinking red dot on the far outskirts, the opposite direction from Finley’s house. “He’s there? Let’s go get him!” She stood, her chair scraping backwards with her motion.

Mercury held up a hand. “We need you to do the ransom transfer. We have to get this guy cleanly, or else he might try this again. Do you really want to be looking over your shoulder every second of every day?”

“But...” She could feel the tears welling in her throat. How could she be so close to getting him, and yet not able to go to him?

Finley put his hand on her arm. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes left until they call with directions. You have to answer.”

“You also have to empty your account,” Mercury reminded her. “Get going.”

Artemis sat again and pulled out her own phone. She put the one with the red dot, Alexander, on the desk where she could keep an eye on it while she logged into her account and moved all her money out of her checking account into her savings account. “Done. What else do you need from me?”

“Your account number,” Mercury said, distracted by his screen again. “Code’s good. This’ll work.” He looked up expectantly. It took Artemis a moment to realize that he was waiting for her information. She gave it and he clicked away on his computer for a few minutes. “Done.”

“And not a minute too soon,” Finley said wryly as her phone rang.

The caller ID was blank. Heart rate kicking up, she answered, “Artemis Chase.”

The modified voice, same as the previous one, started speaking in a monotone. “I am going to give you the account number. You will transfer the money. Once we have verified it, we will call you back with the location of your son.”

Artemis’s gaze flicked to the phone on the desk, the red dot blinking reassuringly at her, as she took the pen Mercury silently handed to her. “All right. I’m ready to write the number down.” With a mostly steady hand, she copied the numbers out.

“You have five minutes to get that money into our account,” the voice growled, making Artemis shake with fear.

“I already told you I was going to follow your instructions,” Artemis snapped, but the line went dead.

Mercury reached for her phone. “I’ll transfer it. You two have to gonow. The code won’t hold up if they try to split the money. I’ll give you as long as possible.”

She grabbed the tracking phone, just in case they decided to move Alexander, before exchanging a glance with Finley. As one, they surged to their feet and took off running for the door.

“I know exactly where that house is,” Finley said, unfairly sounding not out of breath. “Time is of the essence.”

He scooped her in his arms just outside the door, and she felt the uncomfortable sensation of his shift against her body, her stomach dropping from the sudden change in height and speed. She held onto his claws for dear life as the Underworld streamed past underneath them. Finley wasfast. It was more than a little terrifying, although she was grateful for it at the moment.

Less than two minutes after she had hung up with the kidnappers, they were landing in the backyard of a run-down house.

Back on her feet, Artemis took two wobbling steps toward the back door, unsure of what to expect from the dilapidated building.

“Let me go first,” Finley said in an undertone. “I wish we knew what floor they were keeping him on.”

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