Page 161 of Don't Say a Word

“Then why haven’t you left the country? Ticktock, Manny,” I said.

“You have something I want. Teresa, darling, please.”

He pushed Tess into her office. What did we have? I was tied up in the middle of the office, Mom was tied in her office, and now Tess was in her office with Ramos.

What information did we have that he wanted?

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Peter pulled it out and looked at it. “Mr. Manny? Someone named CR is calling her.”

Cal.

Ramos said, “Just watch her, we won’t be long. Now, Teresa, I am tech-savvy. So no tricks. Download the files—every file—you have on me.”

“We have backups,” Tess said, her voice cracking. “We have—”

“I don’t care, I want them, you don’t need to ask questions.”

We had something he didn’t have. Did he think someone other than Webb ratted him out? Or was he looking for someone else?

I thought back to everything we’d learned over the last week, about Elijah and the Bradfords and John Brighton and the Webb/Ramos network.

The Bradfords. Did Ramos think we knew who made the anonymous call? Did he think that’s how we were clued in to his operation? Or that we knew about a mole in his organization?

If he heard Kayla’s voice, he would know it was his niece. Would he hurt family?

Yes, he would. He would because she hurt him. John was the “good” son. But Kayla had taken down his operation with one phone call.

My phone vibrated again. Peter called out, “Now someone named Jack is calling.”

After Mom pressed the panic button, the security company would first try her phone, then Jack’s. If neither answered, the police would be called.

Our office was on a busy corner, set back from both streets by a narrow strip of grass and trees. But there were windows in everyoffice, and the conference room looked out to the parking lot in the back. If the police showed up, Ramos would see them.

Jack would know that. Jack would keep it under control, stage outside of any line of sight.

But what if Ramos took my sister as a hostage?

He couldn’t get on a plane, but he could drive. The border was three hours south. They could monitor it, but he could slip through. Or drive anywhere in the country. He had resources. Even if the feds managed to shut down his network here, he likely had accounts they didn’t yet know about.

“You should have stayed put and took your chances with the legal system,” I called out to him. “It could be years before the police prove anything.”

Ramos ignored me. “Good, thank you, Teresa, this is what I need. No, no, don’t get up.”

He tapped on the keyboard.

Kayla’s voice came out of Tess’s computer.

Ramos’s face reddened.

The ding on the door alerted all of us that someone was coming in. I turned. It was Cal, dressed in tactical pants and a polo shirt. He didn’t quite look like a cop, but close enough. He probably hadn’t had time to change. At least he didn’t wear an obvious gun and his badge was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, Margo, wanna get an early dinner—”

Ramos stepped out of the office with Tess in tow, gun still on her. “Hands up,” he told Cal.

Ramos didn’t appear to recognize Cal, but if Cal served the warrant when Ramos wasn’t there, he would have no reason to know that he was a federal agent.

Cal’s eyes widened and his hands went way up over his head. “Hey, hey! I didn’t mean to—”