Already Gone (Laura Frost FBI)

Because, of course they were.

Laura copied and pasted the telephone number attached to the first one, then called it. She knew that the real Thomas Lacey, the one she wanted, wouldn’t answer. He was still on his way home. He would only just be getting in when the phone rang to tell him that Ed Bronston was outside, and then it would be too late. But the second man listed might answer, and then she would know—she could go to the other…

“Come on, come on,” Laura muttered under her breath, listening to the line ring and ring. She saw a flash behind her eyes of Lacey’s face, the way she had looked the last time they were together. Ed knew her daughter’s name. She closed her eyes briefly, swallowing down nausea. It didn’t matter. Lacey wasn’t in danger.

She was going to track Ed down and stop him, and she was going to do it tonight, before he ever got the chance to put his hands on her daughter.

Laura swore under her breath as she ended the call, realizing it was going nowhere. No one was picking up. She navigated back to the record and chose the other number, calling it with a rising sense of desperation. Pick up, she silently begged. Pick up. Tell me I can go to the other one.

A car screeched by her, honking its horn to show the driver’s displeasure at her choice of parking spot. Laura shook her head wordlessly. No one was answering.

She ended the call, feeling doubt like a ball of acid in her throat. She wasn’t going to be able to cover both of them.

If she chose the wrong one, the man was going to die.

She had nothing else to go on. No glimpse of an address on the envelope. No idea what the outside of the property looked like. She didn’t even know if it was an apartment or a house.

She couldn’t cover both of them alone.

Laura made a snap decision, inputting the first address into her GPS and swinging the car back out into traffic. There was another angry blow of a horn, but she ignored it and started to drive. While the GPS routed her, she dialed another number, letting it connect through the car’s Bluetooth.

“Laura? Where are you?” Nate asked, not bothering with a hello as the call connected. “I thought you were just stepping out for some air, but the car’s gone!”

“I found him,” she said, her voice too loud and sharp, the moment too urgent to moderate it. “I know who the victim is. But there’s two people with the same name. I can’t cover them both, Nate. I need you to go.”

“What?” Nate’s voice was a shout, but he hushed himself before he spoke again. Laura heard movement in the background, like he was walking out of the bullpen and into privacy. “How did you find her? Where have you been?”

“Him. It’s a male. Thomas Lacey.”

“Lacey…?” She heard his intake of breath. “You’re sure? You were convinced it would be Alex, and—”

“It’s Lacey,” Laura asserted, cutting him off. “Please, Nate. I’ll send you the address. Go and get a car right now. We don’t have any time for this. Just trust me.”

“I…” Nate hesitated, and for an awful moment she thought that he would refuse. That he would say she was out of her mind, and she had no proof. That she was going to have to somehow do this alone. “All right. Send it to me. I’ll see if I can take a deputy’s car.”

“Thank you,” Laura replied, ending the call quickly as she fumbled for her phone. It was dangerous, but she had no choice. There was a red light just ahead, and she pulled up to it quickly enough to still have the time to send the address as a message to Nate before she could drive forward again.

She felt a sick spike of fear hitting her stomach. Nate. Was she sending him to his death? Was this how he died? Killed by a random choice of which address to go to?

She fought for breath as the lights changed, swallowing down bile and putting her foot on the accelerator. No. She couldn’t think of it. She couldn’t let the fear rule her. If she found out that her address was wrong, all she had to do was go in the other direction as fast as possible. She might get there in time to save him. She wouldn’t let Nate die tonight.

She set her hands firmly on the steering wheel, looking ahead with determination. She was feeling good now. Clearer. Even the headache was starting to feel like it was ebbing away. She was…

She was on the wrong track.

The realization washed over her like spilled ink over a white page. The headache was ebbing away because the chance of a vision was. She was moving in the wrong direction.

Laura pulled over sharply to input the other address, her hands shaking as she typed it in. She had to turn around, get back over to the other side of the city. To the same address that she’d sent Nate to.

She just hoped that she’d realized in enough time.

***

Tommy pulled up in his parking spot, turning off the engine and resting for a moment. It was late; another shift that went on past his normal start time. There were getting to be too many of these lately.

He got out of the car, slamming the door shut as he walked past the side of the building and around toward the front door. He passed his mailbox on the way, opening it up and grabbing whatever the mailman had left inside for him. He leafed through it with minimal attention as he moved to unlock the door, realizing quickly that he could toss it all aside. Mostly just bills that he couldn’t pay. What was the point in opening them?

He tossed his keys on top of the pile of mail that was growing on the table by the door, shrugged off his jacket and hung it up, and left his shoes on the rack. A good cold beer, that was what he needed right now. Something to take away the stress of the day. He headed for the refrigerator, opening it and barely even glancing inside before he took out the one thing he wanted. Food could come later, when he had gained back enough energy to cook.