Double Play (Nadia Stafford 3.5)

Jack yanked out his phone. Then he stopped and switched to the thug's prepaid.

"That won't help," Cillian said. "They know the number you were dialing. Her phone won't accept incoming calls unless they place them."

He hit the numbers anyway. The phone rang. A soft click. Then it continued to ring. He hung up and started dialing the lodge only to stop himself again. They could get access to the phone record and trace any call he made.

He'd have to get to a payphone. Or buy another cell.

Was that safe?

He'd make sure it was. He'd stop this before Nadia was in danger.

This is exactly what you always worried about. Exactly what you convinced yourself wouldn't happen. How long did it take, Jack-o? Six fucking months.

"It's too late, Jack," Cillian said.

Jack turned to him. That's all he thought he did--swung his gaze to the guy. But whatever Cillian saw in that gaze made him jerk back and the legs of his chair skittered on the ground.

Cillian swallowed. "I'm going to help you, Jack. Anything I can do, I will. I regret this. I really do."

"You have not fucking begun to regret this."

Cillian flinched. "I-I know but--"

"Talk. Make it useful."

"R-right. S-sorry. I know you're trying to figure out how to contact her, but it's too late. They took this Quinn fellow Saturday. Last night, that phone you use to contact her started moving."

"Bullshit. GPS is disconnected."

"Right. Or they could have used it to find her. That's smart, Jack. Got some high-grade tech there. Can't even imagine what that costs."

"Stop. Start again. Facts."

"They know she made a few calls on the phone last night. Which suggested she knew about this Quinn guy and was doing some research. Whatever you've got installed won't tell them where her calls are coming from. But they can tell the phone's on the move."

Because Nadia was going after Quinn.

Didn't matter. She'd have her real cell phone. She needed it to contact the lodge and--

And Felix had programmed that high-tech phone to let her make and accept calls to her legitimate cell number . . . while still rerouting that signal so she couldn't be traced.

If these guys knew the number Jack used to call Nadia and her real number went through the same device, could they block that? Fuck if he knew. He'd have to contact Felix--

Yeah, Felix, who was a known confederate of his. Same as Evelyn. Same as anyone who could help him get in touch with Nadia. If he called them, that call could be monitored.

Fuck!

There had to be a way. It was a fucking phone call. Or he could send a text. An e-mail. Something. Anything.

"Whatever you're thinking," Cillian said. "You can't take the chance. You know that."

Jack turned that look on him, the one that made Cillian quail.

"You want to be fucking useful?" Jack said. "Tell me something fucking useful."

"Just do the job. Your girl will be fine. She's busy chasing this Quinn fellow, and as far as these guys know, you and I are talking about a hit you'll do for me. You're supposed to spend a day or two on research, me having you check out this fake mark. As soon as they get your girl, they'll come and tell you what's what."

"Yeah?"