Yet to think the cops had been that close to finding him trying to steal her, then he figured that it was all good and for the best. Now he would track down his friend Nico, who was still not responding to his messages. With the cops now safely out of his way, he sat back, his front door locked, and was back on his laptop and signed in to the chat. He talked to a couple of the other guys, just general conversation to see if anything was there from Nico, and there wasn’t.Hey, anybody seen Nico lately?
Not since your conversation with him, one of the other guys wrote.
A couple new guys were in the group, which always made him go quiet for a while, as they figured out just who they were. He sent Nico a couple messages and got no response. Finally realizing that it was fruitless, he logged off. He sat back in his mostly clean apartment and smiled.
“Looks like I’m the man,” he said, and he rubbed his hands together. “Just means I need to find another friend.” He got up, found his list, and drew a line through Nico because there was absolutely no point in returning to his place, if the child had already been collected.
He did want to find out where Nico was though. He had a vague recollection of seeing him somewhere else but couldn’t place where it was. When he heard adingfrom his computer, he walked over to see a message from Nico.
On the run.
Why?
Cops onto me. Was coming home, saw them at my place.
Shit.
Got a couch to sleep on?
He thought about it for a quick second and typed,You can’t come here. I’ve had the cops here because my truck was stolen.
I’m going underground.
I can meet you somewhere.
What good will that do?Nico typed.
I’ve got a bit of money I can give you. I could pull out some traveling money.
Money would be good. I really appreciate that.
Have they frozen your accounts?
Jesus, I hope not, Nico typed.I’ve got several.
Maybe pack and I’ll meet you on your way out of the city or something.
How about a coffee shop?Nico suggested.
Okay, so I’ll meet you at the Starbucks on the way out of town.
And, now that he had his truck back, he could do this. He waited until he heard back from Nico that it was a go. He got up, slipped on his shoes, and grabbed his keys again, his mind buzzing to identify his options. One of the things that he really wanted to know was whether Nico had accessed his bank accounts and how much he’d taken out.
He wondered what it would take to get that same information, so somebody else could take money out of that account on another day. Maybe he should suggest that Nico make it look like he was still in town. As Nico’s good buddy, he could wander all around town and take out a little bit here and a bit there. It could be a hell of a pot. Something he desperately needed for himself.
He hopped into his truck and slowly started down the street that led out of the city. His mind churned with possibilities.
Chapter 24
As Kate steppedout of the observation room, Owen looked at her and said, with a shrug, “I don’t know what to say about him.”
“The question is whether there was anything to find or not,” she said briskly. “Personally I believe him.”
“That’s a turnaround for you, isn’t it?” Lilliana asked. “Though I have to agree that nothing here suggests he was part of the ring.”
“But we’ve been wrong before,” Rodney said. “So let’s make sure we do our due diligence and see if any connection exists between him and any of these cases.”
“And he is right about the DNA,” Lilliana said. “His DNA should have been collected when he was rescued.”