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"There's just one thing I need before we can move. I think I might need just one more, small kiss before I can make the SUV move."
Lane laughed. "Umm hum, I wasn't born yesterday. One small kiss leads to one bigger kiss which leads to another and the next thing I know we've spent half an hour at the rest stop."
Ben groaned.
She turned toward him. "You promise just one small kiss and then we'll be on our way?"
He nodded as he leaned toward her and brushed his lips lightly over hers. He fastened his seat belt and put the SUV in reverse. "Okay, on the road."
Lane hit play on the stereo; they were streaming Ben's Frank Sinatra station on Pandora. She was greeted with Frank Sinatra singing, "I Could Write a Book.”
Chapter 7
Seek and you shall find
Ta
“So I talked to a contact on the Saint Louis force.” He said as he took a seat behind Lane. “They suspect that drug traffickers are using abandoned warehouses in the area to store meth and other drugs as they make their way to the streets.”
Ben and Lane were both silent as Ta
“It’s locked up tight.” Ta
Lane looked from Ben to Ta
The men both laughed. “No, a slim-jim is a device that car thieves, law enforcement, and tow truck drivers use to open a locked car door.” Ben explained.
“Before you do that, I have an app on my phone that allows remote access to a locked vehicle. If Maggie has Jeff’s keys, she can download it, and we can get into the car by less – mmm – shall we say shady means?”
Lane called Maggie to see if she had Jeff's keyless entry fob. And, after getting an affirmative answer, she explained that if Maggie clicked the unlock button into her cell phone that Lane could point her cell phone at Jeff's truck and voila, magically the doors would open. It took a couple of tries, but soon Ta
"There's some good news." Ta
Ben looked back to his SUV where Lane sat. "Yeah, let's hope that's what it means. Before we go back, tell me, you've been here all night, if we have to do a building by building search, where should we start?"
Ta
Ben nodded and walked back to talk to Lane. She put her phone on speaker so Maggie could hear as Ben related the plan. Then Ben called the broker and arranged to meet him at the building in two hours. They dropped Ta
When Ben and Lane returned to the warehouse, Ben unlocked the console and removed a 9mm handgun. Lane just looked at him as he inserted a clip and put the gun in a holster he had clipped on his belt at the small of his back, and then reached in the back seat for his sport coat.
Who is this guy and when did he start carrying a gun? Lane wondered.
"We don't know what to expect in there, Red. Better be safe."
Unable to speak, as though she was suddenly mute, Lane just looked at him. Yeah, Ben with a loaded gun, safe.
Ben opened his door, walked around, and opened Lane’s door. They walked to the building and met a muscular man who was about five feet seven inches tall, and had dark hair combed back from his face.
Ben reached out his hand. "Joe Parillo? Ben Bellini with Luciano and Bellini." The men shook hands and Ben motioned to Lane. "This is my client Mrs. Parker." Lane shook the man's hand. He had a firm grip and something about him gave her the creeps.
Mr. Parillo unlocked the door and motioned them in. "Mrs. Parker, what are you pla
They'd been in the building about twenty minutes when his cell phone buzzed, signaling he had a text. He checked it. "Got Jeff - smack se corner 2 flr cld cops go now"
Ben handed his phone to Lane and looked at Joe Parillo. "Thanks, Joe. I think that's all we need today. We're looking at a couple of other places. I'll give you a call sometime next week."
They walked back toward the front of the building. Still keeping his hand on Lane's back, Ben hung back letting Joe walk in front of them. Joe is either ignorant about the drugs & kidnapping or he’s a good actor. Ben thought and he’d bet that it was ignorance not good acting; he'd been too willing to let them move around the building.
As they exited the building two men in suits, who flashed badges and addressed Ben and Lane by name met them. "Mr. Bellini, Mrs. Parker, we got a call from Roy Ta
Ben nodded and held up his hands. "Hello, detectives. I have a glock in a holster in the small of my back." He turned so the detective could get his gun. "I have a permit to carry concealed. It's in my wallet, left breast pocket."
Lane hadn't said ten words in the last twenty minutes and she just stood by dumbfounded as the detectives patted down both Ben and Mr. Parillo. She was surprised to find that Mr. Parillo also had a gun, however apparently he didn't have a concealed carry permit. At least he hadn't said a word.
The detectives looked at Lane "Mrs. Parker, I'm going to assume there's no need to pat you down."
Lane smiled as one of the detectives continued. "Your friend is alive, but unconscious. We have a bus on the way. We need for you to stay out of the building."
She saw the other detective return Ben's gun as she heard the click of handcuffs and one of the detectives recited the Miranda warning to Mr. Parillo, who indeed had no permit to carry the gun he had in his waistband.
While it seemed longer, it was only minutes later when the EMT's had Jeff, on a gurney with I.V. fluids started, out of the building and were loading him into an ambulance. They asked if Lane wanted to ride with them.
Ben brushed her hair away from her face and lightly kissed her cheek. "Go ahead, Red. Ta