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The phone disconnected, and the three of us sat silently for a few minutes, staring at the phone. Madison blew out a long breath and then stood up from the couch.
“Well, I am going to go and get some sleep before tonight. I have a feeling it will be a long one.” She stretched her arms above her head, rolling her wrists, and then dropped them at her sides.
“Are we meeting at your townhouse? Or Alexis, are you picking us up at our own places?” I looked between the two of them. I would prefer to be picked up, but if I had to get myself to Madison’s, then I would do it, of course.
“I’ll pick you up from your apartment, Chyler.” Alexis smiled, “I think we should all get some rest. Madison is right. It will be a long night, and we need to be prepared for anything.”
I nodded my head and got up to follow Madison to the elevators.
Pulling out my phone to check the time, I still needed to figure out what to say to Atlas about canceling our plans tonight. He was going to be just as disappointed as me.
CHAPTER 17
Atlas
Sitting behind my desk, I faced the windows, leaning back and staring out into the Minneapolis skyline. It was a mostly clear day, with a few scattered clouds in the distance. We were expecting thunderstorms tonight, and with the humidity in the eighty percent range, they would most likely be severe. I always loved a good thunderstorm.
Resting my elbow on my desk, I squeezed a foam stress ball in my hand. This case with Roman Atwater and now Michael August has been frustrating me to no end. There have been no new developments since we almost caught the suspects who tortured and killed Tyler Florentine. It’s as if they wised up and reevaluated what they were doing. I had to hand it to them; they were smart. Frustrating but smart.
“AJ.” Derek’s voice came from over my shoulder, and I turned my chair to face him. He stepped into my office and shut the door behind himself.
“Please tell me you are coming in here with good news and not empty-handed.” I sighed, dropping my forearm to the desk and squeezing the ball tightly, my knuckles turning white from the strain.
“Michael August is arriving in Minneapolis tonight at seven from LAX.” He pulled out the chair in front of my desk and sat down, dropping a sheet of paper on my desk with flight numbers and pick-up details for the private black car service Michael would be using.
“Do you think they will go after him as soon as he lands?” I picked up the paper and scanned the details scribbled on it, rubbing the back of my thumb along my brow.
“That all depends.” He shrugged his shoulders and casually leaned back in his chair.
“Depends on what?” I threw the piece of paper back towards him and leaned back in my chair, mirroring his position.
“On how desperate they are to get to him. We still don’t know exactly what they want.”
“I know for a fact that they are desperate, and I have a pretty good idea of what they are after.”
“And what’s that?” He sat up, interested in what I had to say.
“After looking deeper into the case details, I realized the answer was more obvious than we initially thought. They are torturing these employees in order to find Atwater.”
“How do you know that?” He lifted a curious brow.
“Because after doing some research of my own, I found out that Roman Atwater hasn’t been seen in public since these killings started. He’s been in hiding, and they are picking off his lab employees, who have all had some form of communication with him. And Michael August—he has the closest contact out of all of them. If anyone is going to give them the location of Atwater, it would be him.”
“Alright then, I’ll get Dean and Marcus on detail and see if we can’t put a tracker on the car that will pick him up from the airport. We will keep a close eye on him and his movements tonight.”
I ran a hand through my hair, “Fuck… this means I’m going to have to cancel on Chyler tonight.”
I bit my cheek, pulling my phone out of my pocket and staring at the lock screen—as if she was going to message me right now to tell me that she had to cancel instead. I really didn’t want to disappoint her and tell her that I had to work late.
“Well, I’ll leave you to figure out… that.” He pointed at my phone and got up from his chair. “Let me know if you need anything else before tonight.”
“I will, thanks, Derek.” I waved him off as he shut the door behind him, and then I blew out a breath, sat back, unlocked my phone, and attempted to tell Chyler the bad news about tonight.
Me: Hey, I’m going to have to cancel our plans tonight. I need to stay late at the office.
I sighed, running a hand down my face as I waited for her reply. We have spent a lot of time together these past few weeks, so one night shouldn’t be a huge problem. I am sure she can find something to do with her friends instead.
Chyler: That’s unfortunate. Did you want me to come over when you are done?
