Page 160 of Serving the Mogul

A familiar electronic chirp came from my phone. Dread filled me as I lurched toward my phone.

“Want me to get it?” Joyner asked.

“No.” I picked up the phone.

A text alert lit up the screen and I unlocked the device.

The number was listed asprivate,and there was no name. But one look at the text and I knew who had sent it.

Are you alone?

Gianni and Detective Joyner had covered this.

“They want to know if I’m alone.”

“Remember what we discussed,” Joyner said, coming out from behind the desk. She had one laptop in hand, eyes flicking from my face to the screen. “I’ve already got an alert on one phone,” she said. “It’s Cecil’s. The cell company is running the data as we speak, looking for the nearest cell tower to narrow the location.”

“I’ll tell him I’m with my sister, in case he has somebody watching.”

Joyner nodded. Her jeans and beat-up tennis shoes made her look more like one of Gianni’s investigators than a cop.

“We’re pretty sure they’re working alone, but just in case.” Gianni gave me a reassuring smile.

I typed the text.

No. I’m with my sister. Do you have my girlfriend?

For the time being, it was safer to act like we hadn’t figured out who took Tina.I ask the questions, Maximus.

“Prick,” I muttered.

I waited for another text. Time seemed suspended as I watched the digital time in the upper corner of the phone click to nearly a full minute.

We have your girlfriend.

I bit off a savage curse and fought the urge to hurl the phone to the ground.

“Stupid fuck,” I muttered.

If you hurt her, I will kill you.

It felt like an eternity before another response came through.

Pissing me off isn’t the best choice here, lover boy. But if you want to play that way, go ahead. Piss me off and I’ll see how much fun it is to rip off a fingernail with pliers. I’ve seen it in movies. Think it’s painful?

Blood roaring in my ears, I closed my eyes and sucked in a desperate breath.

You don’t need to hurt her. Tell me what you want.

The fucker sent a smiling emoji.

Creepy fuck.I wanted to shove the phone down his throat.

I want a trade. I get what I want, and you get your girlfriend unharmed. But if you go to the cops, all bets are off. Listen for my call. Two hours.

“Two hours?” Unbelievable. I jabbed at the screen, fumbling to open it.

Gianni covered my hands with hers. “No. We have to play his game. We need more information, more time. Two hours might be enough to track him down to whatever hole he’s hiding in.”

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