Page 80 of The Hacker
A text from Leland had come in ten minutes before.
The DEA bust is headline news. Your sound check is loud and clear but be VERY careful. This is going to piss people off.
She wished he had added something personal, an endearment, a sign-off, a little word of affection. It was hard not knowing what their relationship was, especially when she felt so anxious. Were they lovers or just working together but with benefits? Would they continue on after the case was closed or had this been a short, intense fling?
They’d had that moment at her kitchen counter when Leland had said he didn’t want to lose her. The look in his eyes had made her believe him. But it wasn’t exactly a commitment.
She tucked the phone back into her locker and headed for the treadmills, finding an empty one and turning on the screen to an all-news channel. As Leland’s text had promised, the news footage showed a rather mundane-looking house surrounded by an array of official vehicles, among which walked people in police uniforms or dark jackets with DEA printed across the back. The caption read: NOTORIOUS DRUG KINGPINGRISELDARODRIGUEZ CAPTURED IN SUCCESSFULDEARAID.
Dawn did a mental fist pump and flicked off the screen. Score one for the good guys in the war on drugs. Now they needed to take down her local arms dealers and she would be done for the day.
The question waswhen. Griselda was in custody so that cleared the way for a raid on the gym. Dawn’s heart started to race in an unpleasant way as she pictured the vehicles and agents from the television footage, only clustered around Work It Out. They would wait for night, wouldn’t they? To minimize civilian involvement?
She glanced around at the cheery, well-lit equipment room, filled with nothing more sinister than treadmills and ellipticals. About half were in use, mostly by women of all shapes, sizes, and ages. Some chatted with each other. Some stared at their screens. Some listened to music on their headphones. All worked out in serene ignorance of the illegal arsenal under their feet.
Dawn had found refuge here when she could find it nowhere else. She was pissed off that Chad, Vicky, and maybe Ramón had ruined that for her. She wanted to be like the women on the treadmills, not even questioning that they were safe.
A glance at the clock reminded her that she should meet her next client in the gym lobby. As she walked in that direction, Chad fell into step beside her, making her jerk sideways as apprehension spiked through her. “Jeez, where did you come from?” she exclaimed before she could stop herself.
“Sorry, I forget you have a reason to be jumpy.” His tone was syrupy with unwanted sympathy. “I finished restocking the water fridge and saw you walking the same way I was headed.”
“Right. Okay.” She made herself breathe normally despite her heart going double time.What would be an ordinary thing to say next?“Thank you for walking me home last night.” Even though she’d hated every minute of his company.
“I don’t like to see ladies walking alone at night.”
Because they might see you selling guns to drug dealers.Nope, not good to think those thoughts when Chad was a foot away from her. “Did Josh enjoy his party?”
“I’m pretty sure he did since he called in sick this morning.” Chad gave her a conspiratorial wink. “He’s still young and doesn’t know how to hold his liquor yet.”
As they walked into the lobby, Vicky emerged from the hallway to her office and stalked toward them, high heels tapping, gum snapping, and rhinestones on her nails flashing. “Chad, I need to talk to you.” She jerked her head back toward the hallway. “In my office.”
Chad raised his eyebrows at Dawn in exaggerated dismay.
“Sorry, Dawn,” Vicky said without sincerity.
“No problem.” Relief flooded Dawn. No further conversation with Chad would be necessary.
“That’s it,” Leland said as soon as he heard Chad’s voice. “I’m getting Dawn out of there.” He ripped off the headset, glad to be able to take some action. Sitting in the monitoring van, listening to Dawn go about her day without being there to protect her, made him want to punch someone. Possibly Tully, who was squashed into the back of the less-than-spacious van beside him.
Another van with five of Tully’s best bodyguards was parked around the corner, ready to leap out the moment Dawn spoke the word “Zulu.” Leland had insisted on being closer to the front door, overruling Tully’s request for less visibility.
“Hold on there, partner.” Tully clasped a hand on Leland’s forearm while he continued to listen to Dawn’s wire. “Let’s see how this plays out.”
Leland remained standing but he picked up his headset and held the earpiece to his ear. A slight wash of relief flowed through him when Vicky dragged Chad away. However, he now wanted to strangle Chad, slowly and with great relish, for bringing up Dawn’s past.
“Damn,” Tully muttered. “I wish we could ask Dawn to follow them to see what they say.”
“Are you kidding me?! She’s not going anywhere near those scumbags.” He was back to considering how good it would feel to have his fist connect with Tully’s nose. If Tully would let him, of course.
Tully’s cell phone rang and he glanced down. “It’s Alex from the FBI.” He brought it to his ear. “Tully here. Yeah. Yeah. Got it.” He put his phone down and tipped back to meet Leland’s eyes. “They’ve decided there are too many civilians at the gym, so they’re waiting until tonight after it closes to pick up the guns. They’ve got the names of the dealers from Rodriguez’s people.”
Finally, an answer. “Who are they?”
Tully shook his head. “The FBI is confirming independently so Alex wouldn’t share that with me.”
“Shit!” Leland combed his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I don’t want Dawn there when the raid happens.”
“Calm down. She’ll be long gone home by then.”
