Page 25 of Locked and Loaded

“Maybe,” Dragan smiled. “Okay. Tell it to me all again.”

Ali was about to protest when Dragan held up a hundred-dollar bill—an American hundred-dollar bill. Ali launched into his story one more time. “She bought the stuff and left, man. I don't know what else to tell you.”

“How did she pay?” Dragan asked.

“She paid in cash.” And then he stopped. “Wait. She paid in cash mostly, but at the end she threw in a couple of pairs of shoes and a purse, and she didn't have more cash on her, so she gave me a credit card.”

“Can you dig that up?”

Ali was already behind a stack of clothes, digging in a box. “Yeah, man. Here it is.” He started to hand it over, then pulled it back.

Dragan handed him another hundred, and Ali still stared at him. Dragan could've argued, could've pulled the receipt from the kid, but the kid had to make money too. Dragan pulled out another fifty. Ali took it and handed over the credit card receipt.

“Donna Abbington?”

“I don't know, man. That was the card she gave me.”

Dragan nodded. “Okay.” He took the paper and shoved it in his pocket.

“Wait, man. I need to get paid.”

“Ali, or whatever your name is, you need to live. Other people are gonna come asking about this. Trust me when I say you do not want to tell them anything else. You tell them she paid in cash and that's it.” He held Ali's eyes. “Be honest, because that's the truth. Just don't tell them anything about this. These guys play for keeps.”

Ali stared at Dragan and then nodded. “Okay.”

Dragan handed over another fifty. “I'm sure that more than covers what you paid for this crap, Ali.”

“You know it, man.”

“All right, kid. Take care of yourself.”

Dragan walked back down to the alley and pulled out his cell phone. If he had the time, he'd go back to his own hotel and dig into the information himself, but time was of the essence here. He didn't like the idea of Lennox out there on her own against whoever this was. He wasn't lying when he told Ali they played for keeps. He just hoped the kid would be smart. He hit a number on his phone.

A voice on the other end said, “Callahan Security.”

“Hey, Mick.”

“Dragan! What's up, man?”

“I need you to run a number for me, and I need to know where else this credit card number pops up.”

“No worries. Give me the number.”

Dragan pulled out the piece of paper and read off the name and number of the card. There was keyboard clicking on the other end.

“How are things going there, Mick?”

“Not bad, man. You know, the usual organized chaos.” Mick laughed.

Dragan snorted. “I hear that. Any word on Dani having the baby?”

“Not yet, man. This place is completely jacked. Everyone's on edge.”

“No doubt.

“I think Logan's about to pop a stitch. You know he doesn't do well with these things. He wants to control it all.”

“Yeah, you'd think by now he'd learned you can't control everything. Certainly not a baby.”