Page 81 of Nothing to Fear

Tomorrow, they just had to distract the account manager outside the office long enough for her to get onto their computer and copy the relevant files. To pull this off, every detail had to be perfectly synchronized.

Willow rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. Her sister should’ve made it to Virginia. Hopefully, she wasn’t in any danger and their father was recovering.

She needed to call, but it wasn’t safe to do so from a landline that would give away her location instantly if Laurel’s phone was being monitored. A voice-over-IP call through the computer, on the other hand, would be difficult to trace.

Laurel had the Viber app on her cell phone, same as Willow, allowing them to speak to Ivy overseas for free. The app also enabled VoIP-to-mobile calls.

She installed the necessary plug-ins on the computer for Viber along with a virtual private network software that’d hide her real IP address and assign a fake one tied to a country of her choosing.

Casablanca, Morocco, seemed plausible. Lots of flights in and out, large enough city to disappear, and the country had no formal extradition treaty with the United States.

Once everything was set up, she placed the call. The line rang and rang. Finally, her sister answered.

“Hello. Willow?” Laurel’s voice was brittle, sending a flicker of fear through her.

She prayed their father’s condition hadn’t worsened. “It’s me. Are you with Dad? How is he?”

33

Near the Potomac River, Virginia

Sunday, July 7, 10:10 p.m. EDT

Omega nodded, prompting the woman to continue.

“Dad is in a coma,” the bound woman said into the cell phone on speaker that one of his men held in front of her mouth. “They’re not sure what’s causing it. Where are you?”

“I can’t tell you,” Willow Harper said. “Thanks for driving out. I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important. I’m in trouble. Some bad people are after me. I think they hurt Dad, burned down the house. If you see anything suspicious, go to hospital security and call the police.”

Dead silence as the sister shut her eyes and pressed her lips in a grim line.

“Laurel? Are you okay?”

Omega had prepped the woman for this very call. Rho, his second in charge and topnotch techie, was ready to track it. Omega pressed the muzzle of his gun to the woman’s temple.

“Willow, I’m worried about Dad. He might not recover. I don’t want you to miss a chance to say goodbye. Where are you? When are you coming back?”

He looked to his tech guru. Rho shook his head. Omega went to him, out of range of the phone.

“What’s the hold up?” he mouthed.

“She’s calling over the Internet and masking her IP,” Rho whispered. “I need time.”

“I’m not sure when I’ll be back,” Willow said. “I can’t stay on the phone much longer.”

Omega gestured with his gun to keep the conversation going.

“Wait. Wait…I love you. I’m sorry for giving you a hard time when we were younger. I was pretty mean sometimes, and now I have kids…” The sister sobbed into the phone. “My sweet girls…I miss my girls. And Daddy might die. I’m counting on you to come home soon.”

Omega could tell Rho was close—the dude’s face was twisted in an intense expression like he was jerking off and about to blow a load as his fingers flew across the keyboard.

“I’m trying, Laurel. Thank you for—”

“What happened to the house? And to Dad? The cops are saying you did it. But you wouldn’t, would you? Mom loved that house. You were born there. And you’re Dad’s favorite—you wouldn’t hurt him. Would you?”

Rho threw his head back with an ecstatic look, raising his hands from the laptop. Omega would swear Rho enjoyed hacking more than fucking.

“I didn’t do it, Laurel. I have to go. Give Dad a kiss from me. I love you.”