Page 122 of The Innocent

“What do we get out of it besides some intel?” Cypher asked.

Ace shifted his gaze to Jekyll. “He gave me the name of the guy who killed Imogene’s dad on the inside.”

What the…

“He just gave it to you without having a deal in place?”

Ace slowly nodded.

Oak scoffed. “Then what’s the point of taking a deal with them if we already know who it is?”

Ace narrowed his eyes. “’Cause if we do, Axel will tell us who ordered the hit. And it came from the outside.”

Someone ordered it? Jekyll had not expected that.

“Let’s take a vote.” Ace raised his hand, and everyone else followed.

A united front.

“We done?” Gent asked.

“Yeah. Need everyone in Lawry tomorrow night. Inez wants us at her place to finalize the meeting with Oz.”

This couldn’t have worked out better.

Chapter Twenty

How could I be so stupid?

In fairness, it was her job. She’d taken precautions. They were meeting in a public place. However, that ended about twenty minutes ago when all the patrons left, along with the owner since Logan was closing. Then they were alone. He’d locked the door after the owner walked out and tucked the key in his pocket. It was a red flag, and she didn’t ignore it. She’d insisted on heading home. And he’d insisted she stay.

Thankfully, he hadn’t put up much of an argument when she asked to use the bathroom. It’s where she’d been hiding for the last few minutes trying to come up with an escape plan. Her first thought was to call Jekyll. She had no idea where he was, but she’d hoped not too far away. Of course, all her calls went to voicemail, and texts were left unread.

She circled the small room, scanning every inch. For all its craziness, she did try the window, but it had solid bars on it. There had to be a back exit, but she had no idea where it was located or if it was unlocked.

Imogene slumped against the wall and tried Jekyll again. Straight to voicemail. She scrolled through her contacts, pulling up her cousin. Again with the damn voicemail. She left the same instructions she had for Jekyll. She told them she was meeting a client and something was off, giving the address. Imogene had even tried calling Judy with the same result. Doesn’t anyone answer their phone anymore? She tapped her screen and true panic started to set in. She was out of options. Imogene didn’t have many people she could call. She glanced down at her contact list and her eyes widened. She completely forgot she had his number.

“It’s worth a shot.”