Kissed Blind (Hot Pursuit #2)(48)

Rationalizing was going nowhere fast. “What do they want?” I asked, hoping if I took a different path, it would lead us down the right road.

“Ten million dollars. Ten. Million. Dollars.” Her eyes bounced back and forth between my face and Vance’s, searching for some level of understanding. She looked up to the vaulted ceiling and was silent for a few beats and then spun around. “I’ll pay you extra. Double what Oliver is paying you. Triple!” She rubbed her face and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’ll give you both twenty thousand dollars if you bring him back to me. Oliver needs to be on set, but after today, I can come up with an excuse. But any more than one day will create problems. Filming will be delayed, heads will start to turn, and it’ll cost the production company tens of thousands of dollars. We won’t be able to leave this building without pushing through hundreds of people all wondering what’s wrong with Oliver.”

“But…” I attempted, but Camille didn’t let me finish.

“No ‘buts.’” You don’t understand. We won’t be able to sneeze outside of these doors without thousands of pictures being taken, and then those pictures will be smacked across every tabloid headline. This story will be devoured. Chewed up and spit out. Even Cici will agree with me on this. This isn’t the kind of attention Oliver needs. Trust me, I know him, and we might disagree on lots of things, but he’d agree with me on this. He does not want this.”

Cici reluctantly nodded her head. “She’s right. Oliver wouldn’t.”

Vance chewed the inside of his cheek and looked to me for an answer. I didn’t have one but knew what he was thinking. Twenty thousand dollars was a drop in the bucket to Camille, but to Vance it would help his family in a way he’d otherwise not be able to. He weighed the options.

“Do you trust us enough to try this knowing this isn’t our area of expertise?” Vance asked.

“You both are supposed to be the best. Absolutely, I trust you. You already saved us once. You can do it again. You will do it again.”

I laughed to myself. No pressure there. Yes, we had handled a couple incidents while working this assignment and the outcomes had been favorable, but despite them, Vance and I had never done anything like this. We had a lot of training, but it would be a clear breach of protocol.

“I appreciate your votes of confidence, but this is different. We don’t know how to find Oliver. He could be anywhere.” I wanted to help for her sake, for Vance’s, and for my own redemption, but there were a lot of variables. We needed to study the situation inside and out, backwards and forwards before making a move, but with what we faced, time wasn’t on our side.

Vance shook his head. “I know how to find him.”

I squinted. “How?"

“From the tracking chip card I gave him.”

“Oh,” I said through an exhale. “That’s right.”

Camille leaned in and hung on our every word. “You can track him?”

“Yes, we gave him a small card embedded with a tracking chip. It should be in his wallet.”

“So, can you find him?” Camille’s big, blue eyes widened.

“I haven’t tested it in the field yet, but yes, we should be able to, if he still has it on him,” Vance said.

“See. This is why Oliver chose you. That’s brilliant.”

In Vance’s eyes, it was obvious the scales tipped in favor of us rescuing Oliver. To the man whose family was everything, this was his answer to save them. He gave me a silent look that begged for a verdict, but I was on the fence.

“Would you mind if I spoke to Vance privately for a second?” I asked.

“Yes, please, go in there.” Camille pointed to a set of French doors on the other side of the room.

I led Vance into an office and shut the door behind us. “This is risky.” I leaned against a dark walnut desk and faced him.

“I know, but it’s worth the reward.” Vance sat on a quilted leather ottoman opposite me.

“Even if we get fired? You know this could end badly.”

He shook his head. “We won’t.”

“We might.”

"I know we can handle this. And… I need this money.”

I took a deep breath and crossed my arms. “If we turn the locator on and find him, we’ll need to come up with a plan quickly. And we only do it if it’s safe for both of us. If at any point I feel like we’re in over our heads, I will call the police. Clear?”

Vance agreed with a curt nod. “Clear.”

“Okay then, let’s do it.” We bumped fists and rejoined Camille in the kitchen.

She searched our faces for the answer she wanted. “So, will you do it?”

“Yes,” I answered.

Her shoulders relaxed as she exhaled. “Great. Bring him back to me. I told the men who have Oliver I’d give them whatever they wanted, but I’d need some time to gather the money. They gave me twenty-four hours. They’re supposed to call me and tell me where to drop it. You have to find him before that.” Her gaze briefly flicked upward. “It’s unbelievable. It’s like I’m living a scene from one of Oli’s movies.”

Vance patted her hand. “Lay low and don’t leave this apartment. We’ll be in touch.”