Page 145 of Guarding Grace

“Good girl,” Mr. Evil said. “You’re going to need to hurry, because I’m getting tired of this whiny bitch here.”

Marci sobbed in the background. “Please don’t hurt me.”

I had to get to her.

“You hear what I have to put up with?” He was a true monster. “A phone and a small box are taped under the bench to your right. Pull them out and take them with you. A Yellow Cab will arrive in a moment.”

“What?”

“You heard what I said. Get the phone and box and be ready for the cab. You’ve seen them—Yellow Cab, like the color. Do not hang up on me.”

I located the items under the bench and yanked them loose from the tape right before the Yellow Cab pulled up.

The cabbie lowered his window. “Grace Brennan?”

“That’s me.” As I climbed into the back of the taxi, my hand started trembling again.

“For such a long fare, I’m going to need a credit card in advance,” the driver said. “You understand.”

“Sure.” I pulled out my Visa and inserted it into the reader he held over the seat back. Paying a fare to be abducted was a new twist.

When the taxi left the curb, the driver looked in the rearview mirror. “Settle in. It’ll take a while.”

“Tell him yes,” Mr. Evil demanded.

“Okay, thanks.”

As soon as we started off, a phone started ringing in my purse.

“Answer it,” my tormentor demanded.

It was the phone I’d just gotten from the bus stop bench. “Hello?”

“Now end the call on your cellphone and slide it under the seat in front of you.”

I hit the end button as requested. This was my one chance to contact Terry, and I took it.

ME: He has Marci

Then I added.

ME: Find me

If this was a movie, the cabbie would be working for Mr. Evil, so I slid the phone under the seat as instructed.

Terry

Jordy’s fingersflew over the keys as multiple windows opened on the various screens on his desk and walls. His room looked like the pictures of a NASA space control room.

“Anything?” Winston asked.

“Patience.” Jordy snorted. “Even greatness takes time.”

Winston rolled his eyes, but we both knew the value of Jordy’s talent and had long ago stopped kidding him.

Jordy was an odd bird—a nerd who also hit the gym and the dojo.

Cables ran between the laptop Winston and I had secured from Rudi’s hideout and one of Jordy’s large computers. Far be it for Jordy to be satisfied with one computer. He had five operating around the room, plus one opened up on a side workbench.