Page 79 of Lust
“I meant Liza.” Was she injured? Dead? “Do you have any idea where they took her?”
Parker’s silence was louder than any words, and when he eventually spoke, Joe’s resilience was at breaking point.
“Liza got knocked out cold. We don’t know anything beyond that. I planted a tracker in Daisy’s tattoo ink, but the technology is paired with AIMI. The same goes for the tracker in Liza’s suit. Until I get the system up and running, we don’t know where they’ve gone.”
Joe’s fist clenched around the cell. “That’s not good enough. We need to find her.”
“We’re trying. But in the meantime, we’ve got two injured parents. A woman in labor. And a dead computer to fix. We’ll be in touch.”
The call cut.
Joe blinked at the dead receiver. The bastard had hung up on him.We’ll be in touch?Hell, no.
“I’m keeping this,” Joe said to Lilo.
It had Parker’s number in it, or someone’s.
She nodded. “I’m sorry. They do that to me sometimes too. They forget we normal people can help. We might not be special, like them, but we have old ways of doing things that have worked for centuries. Every bit counts, right?”
His gaze landed on the woman with respect. “You’re right. We do have old ways of doing things.”
He was an investigator, so he’d find out where Liza was taken his own way. And that started back at the precinct, and with the man who’d caused her suspension.
“Get your footage on the air—”
“Already done.”
“Good. I’m going to see the captain.” He would need backup.
* * *
Joe burstthrough the Cardinal City precinct doors and made a beeline for the captain’s office. Even with the hour being past eight, he knew the man would be there. He may have the personality of a shark, but Morais also never stopped swimming. If shit went down, he was here.
“We need to talk,” he said as he let himself in the office.
In his dress uniform, the captain looked up from his computer screen, sat back, and steepled his fingers.
“Shut the door,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
This could go two ways, but Joe plowed onward. He shut the door and sat down.
“I need access to the person who raised charges against Liza.”
Annoyance flashed in Morais’ eyes. “I just got off a call with your director.”
Fuck.
Joe rested back in the uncomfortable wooden chair. Already steeling himself against the admonishment he expected, he was surprised when Morais spoke.
“That bastard has the gall to tell me how to run my precinct.” Morais’ desk phone rang. He picked up the receiver, then slammed it down again.
“What did he say?” Joe ventured.
Morais studied him. “He said you were acting out of orders. Is that true?”
“I have reason to believe the man who pressed charges against Liza is tied to the terrorists, and to the Ripper killings.”
“The terrorists haven’t claimed affinity to a known terrorist cell.”
