Are you coming?

Carson paces by the car, looking up only when Misty comes. He shakes his head at her offer. “Nah, I’m not hungry.” He seems disinterested in anything around him, his nervousness growing.

Finally when his phone rings, it makes him jump, and he has to calm himself before answering.

“Carson here….yeah. Zane… Yeah, I got it….” Carson pauses, listening, his voice growing cold and steady. “Not so fast. I may get the cash to the drop off point, but how do I know the goods are safe?”

He stops again, grinding his teeth. “I want to know where she is. No good businessman would pay up before making sure the other end of the deal is secure, mate.”

Carson listens, beginning to pace. “No, you listen to me. I want proof she’s alive and unharmed, and you’re going to give me the time to check on that before I pay up. Got it?”

Suddenly he turns and steps quickly to the car, reaching in for a piece of paper and pen, fumbling with it as he uses the car’s hood as a table. Scribbling something out, he nods to the phone. “Yeah, I got both. Give me three days.”

He stops, glaring at the ground. “I need more than that and you know it. Look I got the money, I can’t perform miracles.” Pausing again, he listens. “Fine. Forty-eight hours. I’ll be at the drop off point.”

Flipping his phone shut, Carson is quiet for several moments, then finally turns his attention back to Misty, holding up the scribbled piece of paper. “I got an address on Danielle. We check out to make sure she’s still alive, then we meet Zane at the drop off point. But without the money, I can’t let him get away. We’ll need to take him down.”

Carson turns and opens the driver’s side door. “Are you coming to California with me?”


Reese shakes his head at Katie. “No, no…go on and get about your day. Check back here later, or I’ll call you.”

Once Katie is gone, Reese goes for his phone and picks it up, dialing Misty. “Come one, Misty…answer your dang phone.”