Page 69 of Secrets Along the Shore

“I’ve got a man on your six, Reid,” Gage warned over the earpiece coms.

Tyler shifted, his Glock holstered at his hip. He rested his clasped hands on the table. Tension filled his muscles. He may have done this before, but he always worked with people he knew. He hadn’t known Von’s team for twenty-four hours.

“He’s armed.” The sound of Adele shifting in her spot in a nearby building came through the coms.

“Where’s the second man?” Von asked. Although safe back at her house, she used Patrick’s drone as a way to keep an aerial view of the location.

Tyler spotted a man in black pants and a t-shirt a block down from the restaurant. If he wanted to make himself obvious, he couldn’t have done a better job. “I see him.”

“The first guy took up position on your eight o’clock,” Gage added.

Bad spot to be in. Gage was standing back in a far corner with a drink at that exact spot. Which meant that the mechanic could easily kill him. And with the second man now taking up a seat in front of Tyler, both men were vulnerable.

The man in black eyed Tyler. He sneered as he tugged aside the left part of his jacket to reveal his pistol. Maybe that was supposed to be a threat. Didn’t turn out as one. Tyler now knew where he could expect the weapon to be pulled from.

“Your boss is a tough negotiator.” The man didn’t offer his name. “Where is the money?” He glanced around, his gaze pausing at the spot where Gage stood with the man’s partner. Hopefully, he hadn’t noticed the mechanic.

Tyler frowned. Did he really expect to get the money immediately? “I want proof of life.” If he didn’t get that, the negotiations were off. He needed to confirm they were alive before they agreed when and where to transfer the payment. After that, they had to make sure they got Elara and her son, and that Viktor didn’t kill them once he got the money. Tyler wasn’t taking Koen’s dead daughter back to him.

The man laughed. “The dad spoke to her two days ago.”

Taking a deep breath eased some of the tension in Tyler’s jaw. He kept his eyes on the Croatian. This guy needed to know that he meant business. “I want proof of life from the last twenty-four hours, or there’s no deal.” This negotiation was challenging. They didn’t have the upper hand here. Unless Viktor needed the cash, he could walk away from this.

The man’s response would show how much Viktor wanted that two million.

“Proof of life.” The Croatian chuckled. “You have no trust.” He pulled a photo out of his inner jacket pocket and handed it over.

Tyler took it and frowned. The dark image revealed little. A woman stood in a small room. Her face was heavily shadowed. A small form beside her might have been Rian, but it was too dark to tell. Perhaps the lighting hid Elara’s injuries. Or worse, it wasn’t Elara, and Koen’s daughter was already dead. The other major problem, though, was that identification of the time wasn’t in the image. No clock, no date. Tyler tossed the image onto the table. “This isn’t proof.”

“It is proof.” The Croatian tapped Elara’s form in the picture.

“This isnotproof.” Tyler held his ground.

“What, is he playing us?” Von asked over comms.

“It just looks like a black sheet of paper,” Adele replied. Of course, she had the perfect view through the lens of her sniper scope.

Tyler couldn’t respond while sitting in front of the Croatian. He grabbed the paper again and wadded it in his hand. “I want real proof. I want to see their faces. I want to see a date.”

The man spat at him before withdrawing his phone from an inner jacket pocket. He dialed a number and held the device to his ear.

Who was he calling? Viktor? Tyler stretched his jaw. He unclenched his left fist on the table. When had he clenched it? With a huff, he satback. He’d lost enough in the past. The anger in his chest came from that pain. Viktor was playing games, and Tyler didn’t have the patience.

After glaring at Tyler, the man rambled off in Croatian. His voice rose as he spoke rapidly to the person on the other end of the line.

“What’s he saying?” Gage asked.

Tyler had no idea. He didn’t speak Croatian.

“He’s talking about a video,” Von supplied. “I think he’s trying to get a video recording of Elara and her son.”

“Maybe we’re getting somewhere then,” Adele replied.

The Croatian huffed as he lowered the phone.

“Wouldn’t bet on it,” Tyler muttered.

“You want video, I got video.”