Page 37 of Bodied

Jeff sat at a desk with three monitors sitting next to each other. “Does this have anything to do with the recent kidnapping by chance?”

“You nailed it,” Wesley said. “We have security footage of the van that took the senator. One particularly clear image got us the plate numbers.”

“Perfect,” Jeff held out a hand. “Give me the straw, and I’ll spin it into gold for you.”

“Cute.” Wesley handed over his phone with the image of the license plate. “I was just wondering if you could get us at least one name and an address connected to the plate. If they’re around here, we might be able to get to them before the police show up with a SWAT team and put everyone in danger. Right now, I imagine they think they’ve gotten away with it. They’re holding Anne alive for some reason, I think. If that hadn’t been the plan all along, they would have just assassinated her. They haven’t released any demands yet, but I’m betting they do soon enough.”

“That sounds about right.” Jeff’s fingers flew over his keyboard as he brought up the tools he needed to perform the requested task. “Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll have your information in no time.”

Wesley led Lauren to a couch that sat against the far wall and removed the clutter from it so she would have a place to sit. Then he sat down beside her. “It’s going to be okay, you’ll see.”

Lauren wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t seem to relax. “I hope you’re right.”

The wait was probably no more than five or ten minutes, but to Lauren, it felt like a lifetime. She was a wreck inside, and Wesley seemed to notice because he took one of her hands and squeezed it reassuringly.

Finally, Jeff came over with a piece of paper, which he handed to Wesley. “There’s a name and address there for you.”

“Any indication whether it was a stolen vehicle or plate?”

“Neither of these were reported stolen,” Jeff said. “Yet. There’s a chance these people just didn’t take surveillance into account when they came up with their plan. Hardly seems like much of a plan, if you ask me. Taking a senator in broad daylight. They got lucky, I’m sure. It’s the only way I can see this working. If I were you, I’d bank on their carelessness. That van belongs to one of them.”

Wesley read the note Jeff had passed him. “Excellent,” he said. “Thank you so much, old friend. I knew I could count on you.”

“You know I’m here when you need me,” Jeff said. “I’d invite you both to stay for dinner, but I assume you’ve got a lot going on today.”

“You assume right. But I’ll be back around when we’ve taken care of this mess. Maybe I’ll bring you dinner, huh?” Wesley slapped his friend on the back as Jeff walked them back out.

“Well, you know I’d appreciate that,” Jeff said, opening the front door for them. “Seeing as I can’t cook.”

Wesley laughed. “See, I knew your pseudo dinner invitation was bull. I’ll be back around with real food soon.”

Back in the car, Wesley and Lauren sat in silence, thinking. Lauren was grateful for the moment to breathe, but she was also worried that they had an unknown time limit. “The address…” she began. “Can we find it?”

Wesley was already searching. She watched him zoom in to a map on his phone and hit street view. “Not a problem.” He shook his head. “It’s an apartment. There’s a chance they’re holed up there, or if they aren’t, they might have left some clues behind.” He reached across the seats and gave Lauren the best hug anyone could manage from a bucket seat. “We’re going to find her, princess. Believe me. These people are keeping her alive to make demands of the government. Jeffrey is rarely wrong about that. The police force lost a great mind when he left them.”

Lauren hugged him back. No matter what he’d said to her in the past, he was here now, and she was so grateful she wasn’t having to go through this alone. “Thank you so much, Wesley,” she said. “I know you didn’t have to do this.”

He shrugged her gratitude off. “It’s my job.”

“Protecting my mom is your job. But helping me save her after she did what she did to us? That tells me what your priorities are.” She let him go and smiled at him. “You’re a good man, Wesley Pierce. I’d put my life in your hands in any situation. Just… thank you for everything.”

The expression on his face looked like relief, and she had to wonder just how much their recent argument had affected him. Did he really value her that much? It surprised her in the very best way.

Wesley started his car. “Let’s go get your mom, princess.”

CHAPTER18

WESLEY

For Wesley, finding the apartment building in question was as easy as plugging the address into his maps app and letting it tell him where to go. The problem was going to be in getting inside before anyone knew they were coming. He thought about using the fire escape, but when they circled the building, that seemed to be out of commission. So he parked and racked his brain.

The building looked so unimportant, considering what had likely been going on inside it for the last several weeks, at least, and considering what was likely going on inside it now. It was so quiet, so unassuming. It wasn’t even trashy looking. The place looked like one of those fancy apartment buildings that made Wesley immediately uncomfortable when he entered them. It looked, in other words, like Lauren’s apartment building.

“We need to get to the fifth floor,” Wesley said, glancing down at the address his friend had given him.

“How do you plan to get past the concierge?” Lauren asked. “This building is like mine. They’ll likely have locked elevators and staircases.”

Wesley knit his brow. “We’ll need to get past whoever’s got the keys. I could try to use my identification, but who am I protecting and why? I don’t have any connections to anyone here. Being insistent might work, but if it doesn’t we will have blown our only chance.”

---