Chapter Ten

I was putting the finishing touches on my disguise at 10 of six when the room's phone rang. Not sure what to do I decided to let it ring. A minute later it went to voicemail. Unfazed I continued about reapplying my facial hair, and then the phone started again. Two more calls later it was nearly six, no sign of Casey and I reached for the phone.

"Hello?"

There was silence on the other end before a dark laugh breathed down the line. "You both would have been better off if you died in Miami."

I could feel the color leaving my face. "Who is this?"

The laughter cut off with a click as the phone on the other line went dead. My hand visibly shaking I slammed the phone down.

Someone knew, though who I didn't know. It wasn't Serge, but that didn't mean anything. And if they knew where to call that could mean they knew where Casey was. I had to warn her. My fingers fumbling I flipped open the phone she had given me and searched for her number.

The call immediately went to voicemail. Not good.

My mind was in overload. What if whoever was on the phone had gotten Casey? What could I really do about any of this? I won't lie, I was freaking out. There was only one thing I could think of to do.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end was older and so obviously depressed, but still my Marti. I could feel the strings on my heart pulling as I blocked my nose and did my best to change my voice. "Hello, I am looking for Miss Casey McDonald."

The second pause seemed to stretch an eternity as I was sure she figured me out. Then in a quiet tone so unlike her usual bright self she answered me. "She just left about ten minutes ago; may I ask who is calling?"

"Nobody important." I heard my voice slip at the end, and a soft gasp on the other line. I hung up the phone and took a deep breath. Why did Marti have to pick up?

I cleared my mind of the guilt pulsing through and focused on Casey. Marti said she left ten minutes ago. If nothing had happened she should be back any minute. I reopened the phone to try her again when I noticed there was a number below hers in the contacts labeled H.

Not knowing what else to do I hit call.

It only rang once. "Hunter at your service."

"Hunter this is Derek. We have a problem." I said as quickly as possible.

"Why are you calling me?" His voice took on a more arrogant tone with me than I imagine he would ever dare with Casey. I didn't have time for geek squad on an ego trip.

"They found us and I can't reach Casey."

"That's not possible." His voice shifted immediately.

"By the unpleasant phone conversation I just had I'd have to disagree."

"Okay, hold on I'm tracking Casey. Can you tell me when exactly you got the call?"

"Couldn't have been more than five minutes ago." I could hear the tapping of keys on the other end.

The tapping slowed and then there was a loud curse.

"What? Where is she?"

"Derek, you need to listen to me and do exactly as I say. That call came from an unregistered cell phone, so I can't tell you who it was. But I can tell you that it came from a room on your floor." I nearly dropped the phone, but there was a more important question he hadn't answered.

"And where is Casey?" I made my voice as hard as I could at the moment.

"Derek I need to get you out of there." His voice seemed younger than ever, and as if it was losing authority by the minute.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where she is."

Hunter sighed. "I don't know, her cell phone has been disconnected and her internal tracking system isn't responding."

"What does that mean?" I was doing my best not to panic.

Hunter on the other hand seemed to be a bit panicked. "Well, she could have disconnected her cell battery. But I'm not sure how her I.T.S. could be offline."

"Why? What is that?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"It's a microchip that tells us where she is."

"Well maybe she just turned it off." That seemed like the logical answer.

He paused and took a deep breath. "It's surgically implanted."

My heart was hammering in my chest now. That wasn't good.

I was panting. "Where was the last place she was before it shut off?"

"The parking lot of the hotel, right after you received the call." That was all I needed to hear. I slammed the phone shut, and ran for the door. I didn't know what was waiting for me out there, but if there was a chance Casey needed me, it was time for me to return a favor.

Just before I reached the door there was a loud thump against it from the other side. At first I thought it was knocking, and then I heard the sound of a groan and another thump. I leaned in to the peephole in time for a round of knocking to begin.

I almost fainted in relief as I saw Casey standing before me. Then I noticed the blood running down the side of her neck and the figure holding her still. His right arm was raised and pounding the door with his elbow while his hand held a small black pistol aimed at Casey. "Open up."

Casey was instructing me not to, and since I've never really listened to her I decided not to start now. I stepped to the side of the door and opened it inward towards myself, placing the door between me and them. I saw them shuffle in and heard Casey struggling.

"Is it my imagination or did you get friskier?" The man asked in a laughing voice I instantly recognized.

"Why don't you untie me and I'll show you frisky." I heard her huff as it sounded like she was tossed to the ground.

He started walking towards my position still behind the door; I took it as my cue and slammed the door with both hands at him. He staggered backwards a bit as it clicked shut, but unfortunately still had the gun in his hand. Before I could make much of a move at him he was standing straight, pointing the gun at me and I finally got a good look at his face.

"Tyler?"