“I hope he leads us straight to his fucking door!” Allister would be happy to walk right through it, kill the bastard dead, and let the cops ask questions later.
“You need to get your ass to Miami, Bane.” Draegan stated the obvious. “In the meantime, start talking. Tell us everything we need to know about this guy.”
Markie clutched the headrests. “How can we beat him at his own game?”
“That’s just it, boys,” Bane said, true sorrow in his voice. “We’ve always been a few steps behind him. Other than a picture or two here or there, we’ve never caught up with this guy. He gets in and gets out. He does clean work, vanishes for a few years, comes back, kills again, and—”
“And?”
“Give him a chance, hon,” Markie said, tapping Draegan’s shoulder.
“And he prefers to take jobs like these.”
“What do you mean?” Allister asked. “Explain that!”
“He likes group kills, Allister,” Bane explained. “With a price per head, he can get in and out and then disappear again. He only shows up on our radar when the price is high enough.”
Draegan stared at Allister. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Price couldn’t be much higher if he’s been contracted to take out most of Trouble.”
“That’s what we’re working on now,” Bane said. “You worry about finding everyone down there. We’re on lockdown here.”
“You listen to me,” Allister said, barely able to breathe, much less speak. “You go over the mountain and talk to Toms Vance. You see whoever you have to see. Pull whatever strings you have to yank, but you see Toms and you make him understand. If he doesn’t call off this hit, if he doesn’t stop this thing from going down, you tell him I will make it my dying promise to—”
“Allister, I can’t go in there making threats. Clearly the warden is in his back pocket. I’ll go see h
im, yes, but then I’m hopping on the first plane out of here and—”
“Don’t,” Draegan said, cutting him off.
“What?” Markie looked perplexed. “Well of course he’ll come. We need him here, darlin’. He’s the only one who can help right now!”
“Draegan’s right.” Allister hated to admit it, and they would feel the heat without Bane there, but he could do more from Tennessee than they could in Miami. “You know how things work, Bane. Tell us what to do.”
“Right now, just keep your eyes open. Watch for suspicious activity. Look in every car you pass.”
“They could be anywhere by now.” Markie immediately jerked one way and then the other. He rose to his knees and peered out the back window.
“You do realize we’re in Miami, right?” Draegan asked.
“Yeah, buddy. I know where you are and I’m sick over it. Miami PD is swamped. The only chance we have right now is if you guys hit a stroke of luck or maybe receive a ransom call.”
“What are the chances this guy will make a ransom call?”
The line went quiet.
“Bane?” Allister yelled. “What are the chances?”
“Slim to none, with better odds on none.”
“How often has he requested ransom, Bane?” Mac asked.
Allister swallowed. He didn’t want to hear the reply to that one.
“To our knowledge, he’s never abducted anyone and negotiated terms or asked for ransom. He’s never placed the first call. We believe the calls and texts that came in after the women were abducted may be the only leads we’ll have. He may have allowed the limited communication. It makes sense that he would. From what we can tell, he likes recognition for his kills. Maybe he wanted you to know he has our women. In all likelihood, he’d want you to think he’s coming for the rest of us next.
“Men, you need to prepare yourselves. I don’t think a call will be placed. As of this moment, we’re assuming the worst. We believe we’ve already received the only communication we’ll have with Seth or our women.”