Page 55 of Home Again

“Well, I’m worried. It sounds like I’m going to be there awhile. Am I going to like it?”

“Jesus, you really are an uptight bitch, aren’t you?”

“Well, am I?”

“She needs to shut up,” Gideon murmured.

“That’s not her style,” Sebastian mumbled as he stared hard at the phone. But he so wished it was.

“Just shut up already! You’re working my last nerve.” This time his voice came through loud and clear.

“I’m just getting scared. Are you going to kill me?”

“Little girl, don’t be stupid. I already told you, you’re worth money. I’m leveraging your ass.”

“But I’m not worth money. I mean, I have some, but not much. I’ll need to go to the bank to access my savings account.”

“I’m talking about the big payoff. The kid will pay for you. Armand saw you. Now keep your goddamn mouth shut!”

They ended up with dead air again and Gideon took three long steps to grab his laptop and started pulling up different windows. Sebastian didn’t pay attention; he stared at his phone, willing Gianna to say something… anything. He didn’t know how long he was staring when he heard the distinctive sound of an incoming Skype call.

“Jada?” Gideon asked.

“Who are you?” Jada responded. “You’re sure not Sebastian the fourth. Where is he?”

“I’m Gideon Smith, one of Sebastian’s SEAL teammates.” Gideon turned the computer so that Sebastian could be seen on-screen. “That’s him. Sebastian, pick up the goddamn phone and get over here so we can talk to Jada.”

The suggestion seemed to rouse Sebastian out of his fog. He picked up his phone and sat down on the bed beside Gideon, his focus now on the computer screen. “Thank you for helping Gianna,” he said in a low voice.

“I haven’t helped her yet. We have problems. I have the three-sixty app on my phone and it’s connected to Gianna’s phone, but my flighty friend had only nine percent battery life left at twelve-thirty central time. I have her tracked on I-10 West coming up on the 76 Interchange.” Jada sucked in a deep breath. “I just don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to know where she is.” Sebastian could see tears glistening in her big brown eyes.

“Jada, you’ve done well. Now, what else did you hear before you conferenced us in?” Gideon asked.

Shit, why didn’t I think to ask that?

“The guy’s name is Fontenot. He owns the Blonde Bayou, it’s a bar. Gianna got his name off of Armand’s phone when she drugged him.”

Sebastian saw Gideon’s jaw clench as he sent him a hard look. “She went up there to check him out. We arranged for her to interview with him as a waitress. He was a sleaze, but she figured she could handle it. That was yesterday. She went back today because he said he would get her another job with one of his other companies.”

“Are you two stupid?” Sebastian cried out. “What the fuck were you thinking? And what the fuck was Gianna thinking getting in a car with some man connected with Armand that was a fucking sleaze?” he yelled. Then his glare jerked back to the phone that wasn’t making any noise.

“Lay off, just because you’re some kind of fucking super SEAL doesn’t mean anything to me, you got it?” Jada’s eyes sparked fire. “Do you want me to continue or not? Remember, Gianna’s life is on the line, you swinging your dick is not helping.”

“Jada, tell us what you know,” Gideon said in a placating tone.

“Fontenot went on to tell her about all of his businesses. He owns part of a construction company that gets contracts with the Louisiana government, he owns part of an ambulance company. Armand has managed to screw up both of his companies, and he’s pissed. Then Gianna tried to find out where he was taking her, but it didn’t work. In the end, he said that Armand had an idea about how he could use Gianna as leverage.” She stopped and took a breath.

“Then what?” Sebastian asked. He was more under control.

“That was the point I’d found your number and conferenced you in.”

He glanced back at the phone, then at Jada. Ah God, her fear was palpable.

“You can help, right?”

“Yes. It’s what we do.”

As soon as he said it, he saw the conference call end, and his heart stopped. Gianna’s battery must have died.