Page 95 of Ozzie

“He’s leaving the hotel.”

Lightning jumps up. “How much you want to bet he’s sneaking out to party with friends?”

I stare at my phone. “Looks like someone picked him up in a car based on how fast he’s moving.” I show him the screen.

He frowns. “We need to get a car.”

CHAPTER 28

Ozzie

Tryingto find a cab when you don’t have a set destination is harder than you might think. Lightning had tried the honest approach and said we were following someone. That didn’t work.

Once JB’s phone finally stops moving, we are able to get a ride.

“It’s an apartment building,” I say as I stare at my phone.

“I hope you can narrow it down more than that,” Lightning says.

“Yeah, he’s in the right corner.”

The driver frowns at me through the rearview mirror. We are silent for the rest of the ride. The last thing we want is to get kicked out of the cab.

He drops us off in front of what appears to be anabandoned apartment building. There are condemned signs on it, and the front door has plywood nailed over it.

“How can this be? No one has gone in this way anytime recently.”

I check the tracking app again. “Wait. It looks like he’s either on the far-right edge of the building or the left edge of the next one over.”

We walk to the next building. It appears to be a commercial space, and the main door is unlocked.

“Well, at least we only have four options to search here.” Lightning is standing next to a listing of the businesses in the building. A dance studio, an accountant’s office, a law firm, and a tattoo shop.

“They’re in the accountant’s office,” I say.

Lightning turns to me. “How the hell do you know that?”

I shrug. “It’s the only one that would close by five.” Since it’s long past five, they likely have the office to themselves.

“Good call. Let’s check that one first,” Lightning says.

I chuckle. I’m right, but he isn’t willing to admit it.

We take the stairs up one floor and quietly make our way to the office. Complete silence fills the air, causing me to doubt my judgment.

When we reach the door, it’s ajar. I glance at Lightning, and he nods. He sees it too—a man standing with his back to the door.

A phone rings. “Hello,” the man in the room answers. He has no accent. “Yes, I have it here. Is he there yet?” Hesighs. “Secret Service was harder to lose than we anticipated. But yeah, we can meet you there by midnight.”

I lean a little to see inside and find a man holding a phone to his ear with his back to the door. I spot the bright-red phone case in his other hand. He’s holding JB’s phone. But where is JB?

“We have some time before we need to meet up,” the man says.

“Good, I’m hungry. Let’s go find something,” a second man says.

“We’ll have to take him with us,” the first guy says.

“It’s okay, I can wait here,” JB says.

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