Page 39 of Deadly Threat
“I owe you that much.”
What an odd thing to say. “You don’t owe me anything.”
His eyes stayed locked on the road. Lights from oncoming traffic rolled over his features. “Mia, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you—“
His phone rang, echoing in the cab. The truck’s navigation system was paired with it, and the screen lit up with the caller ID—C Harris.
Another ring, and Mia glanced at Malachi. “Do you want me to answer it?”
He shook his head, released her hand, and pressed the connect button. “What’s up?”
Harris sounded annoyed. “Did you get Thomas’s message?”
“I did.”
“Are you planning on gracing us with your presence sometime before Christmas?”
Malachi laughed easily. Then he lied just as easily. “We’re on our way. Got caught up in some traffic. Must be important if you want us there in person.”
Harris continued to sound gruff, but Mia decided that was his norm. “I need to ask Mia more questions. What’s your ETA?”
She looked questioningly at Malachi. He hadn’t said anything about Thomas telling him to come to the office.
He didn’t look her way, keeping his focus on the road. As they made another turn, heading into an industrial area, he continued with his ruse. “Shouldn’t be much longer. Any chance you can ask her these pressing things over the phone?”
“No,” the Taskforce leader said. “By the way, they went to pick up King tonight, and he’s slipped his tracker. He’s in the wind. You need to be extra careful. He might come after Mia.”
Her stomach dropped.
The road became narrower with far less traffic. Malachi smacked the steering wheel. “Dupé should have never agreed to this deal in the first place.”
Harris ruminated for a moment and then said, “Agreed, but that doesn’t change the current situation.”
Another turn, and she saw a sign warning about private property. Malachi sped past it. “Tell me you have a plan to find him.”
A sign, half blown over, announced the landfill up ahead. Malachi pulled off and drove down a sandy side street.
“Law enforcement is on it,” Harris replied.
They wheeled behind a dilapidated building. The place looked like a metal works shop. As the headlights bounced from the rutted out road, they flashed off metal fencing. “That won’t be enough,” Malachi grumbled.
Most of the fence was covered by vines and climbing weeds. Scrub palms and cacti intermingled with the brush along the perimeter.
“No it won’t,” Harris said. “Which is why I have the go ahead from Dupé to officially hire Bondsmen Brothers to track down our fugitive.”
Malachi appeared unimpressed, parking behind the largest structure. He sat there a moment, that same intelligent expression on his face, as when he questioned her earlier. “Joe will handle the paperwork. See you in a few.” He disconnected before Harris could say anything else.
Mia pointed to the clock. “It’s almost time.”
His phone rang again. This time it was Caleb’s name that popped up. Malachi hit the connect button again. “What have you got for me, bro?”
“Something you need to look at. Sending the photo now.”
A ping came from the phone, and Malachi opened a text. “Leandro Lopez. What about him? Is the guy next to him our friend from last night?”
“I think they’re one and the same. I had Bobby use a software program to remove Lopez’s beard and then put scars on his cheeks. You’re looking at him, Mal.”
Mia grabbed the phone, eyeing the two faces that were side by side in the picture. The angled jawlines were a match, and the expanse of neck under them, complete with a mole, was what she’d seen last night when the half-masked man had threatened her. “But Lopez is Latino, isn’t he?”
