Page 46 of Just Hide

Cami felt her pulse racing now that they were on their suspect’s trail. She just hoped that they would be in time. Was she tracking a suspect? Did one of the lookalikes live at this address?

At the rate Connor was driving, Cami guessed they'd be able to start getting answers sooner rather than later.

***

After a short, racing drive through suburbia, Connor hit the brakes outside number eight Cross Street.

"Let's get inside and see what's happening," Connor said, scrambling out as Cami followed.

Running up to the house through the worsening rain, Connor rapped on the door and waited, shifting from foot to foot. The house was a plain, stark, two-story home, small and square, in a row of other identical homes. But inside was Nadia—or at any rate, her phone, at least.

And then the front door flew open.

Standing there was an angry looking man, about forty years old, with mussed, dark hair, and a shirt that was wrongly buttoned. He looked as if he'd just jumped out of bed, and she noticed he was wearing a wedding ring.

Cami gawped at him in surprise. As her shocked brain started putting two and two together, she was realizing what was really going on in this home, and why the hot yoga had been used as an excuse for other hot, sweaty, and more illicit activities.

"FBI here." Connor was expressionless, not even raising an eyebrow at the sight of the man. "I'm looking for Nadia Becker."

As Cami had expected, the mention of this name didn't go down well. The man looked horrified.

"I … I don't—er—why?" he stammered out, then fell silent. Cami could tell that he didn't want to actually lie to the FBI, but there was no way he wanted to admit that Nadia was in his home. The middle ground he was coming up with was to say nothing at all. Just do a good impression of a fish out of water.

"We have reason to believe that she's at this address." Connor gave him a hard look. "This isn't going to go any better for you if you are lying to us. I'm going to have to ask you to let us in, or for her to come out immediately and speak to us."

Connor's tone was not inviting any arguments. The man looked flustered.

"Um, she’s … she’s not here," he said. "I don't … I don't know what you want with her. I do know her, and you can come in, of course."

"We'll talk about it inside," Connor said. "Come on, Cami."

Cami felt a sense of huge relief as she stepped inside the house. At least they were on the premises with the owner's permission. But where was Nadia? He’d said she wasn’t here, and Cami had assumed he was lying.

Suddenly, suspicion flared inside her. Was this cooperation he was showing them just a front? Or worse still, was it a delaying tactic?

Cami glanced down at her phone, which was still showing the location of Nadia’s device. When they knocked on the door, the phone had clearly been on this property. But now, it wasn’t.

Now, Cami saw the phone was on the move. It wasn't at number eight anymore. It was at number ten. And, staring at it in concern, she saw the location start to move faster.

She pictured Nadia, sneaking out of the back door in the rain to where her car was parked on a side road and then climbing in and speeding away.

"Connor!" Cami said, her voice breathless, turning the screen in his direction. "Look here! She's running for it!"

Connor did no more than glance at the phone and then he was out, banging his way out of the front door and rushing for his car.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Cami rushed out of the house behind Connor, hot on his heels. They dashed back to the car, jumped inside, then they were off, speeding down the street. Cami kept her gaze glued on the phone.

“She’s turning onto Argyle Avenue,” she said, and Connor checked the map, twisting the wheel to the right and speeding down a side road.

It wasn’t going to take long before Nadia realized they were chasing her. In fact, Cami knew, all it would take was her lover calling her to say that he thought the police were following her phone’s location. Then she’d turn it off in a flash, and they would lose her.

That could happen at any moment. They didn’t have much time to get close. She had no idea how long this phone would remain visible.

Connor obviously had the same idea because he was already on the radio. “Nadia Becker’s vehicle,” he said. “I need make, type, color, and plate. We’re tracking her phone, but we might not have it for long. We’ll need to get an APB out on the vehicle if she escapes the area."

As Cami followed the phone's signal, she realized that Nadia had turned onto the main road and was moving toward the highway. It was a straight run from here to the freeway.

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