Double Play Read Online Free PDF Page A

gaze made him jerk back and the legs of his chair skittered on the ground.
    Cillian swallowed. “I’m going to help you, Jack. Anything I can do, I will. I regret this. I really do.”
    “You have not fucking begun to regret this.”
    Cillian flinched. “I-I know but—”
    “Talk. Make it useful.”
    “R-right. S-sorry. I know you’re trying to figure out how to contact her, but it’s too late. They took this Quinn fellow Saturday. Last night, that phone you use to contact her started moving.”
    “Bullshit. GPS is disconnected.”
    “Right. Or they could have used it to find her. That’s smart, Jack. Got some high-grade tech there. Can’t even imagine what that costs.”
    “Stop. Start again. Facts.”
    “They know she made a few calls on the phone last night. Which suggested she knew about this Quinn guy and was doing some research. Whatever you’ve got installed won’t tell them where her calls are coming from. But they can tell the phone’s on the move.”
    Because Nadia was going after Quinn.
    Didn’t matter. She’d have her real cell phone. She needed it to contact the lodge and—
    And Felix had programmed that high-tech phone to let her make and accept calls to her legitimate cell number . . . while still rerouting that signal so she couldn’t be traced.
    If these guys knew the number Jack used to call Nadia and her real number went through the same device, could they block that? Fuck if he knew. He’d have to contact Felix—
    Yeah, Felix, who was a known confederate of his. Same as Evelyn. Same as anyone who could help him get in touch with Nadia. If he called them, that call could be monitored.
    Fuck!
    There had to be a way. It was a fucking
phone call
. Or he could send a text. An e-mail. Something. Anything.
    “Whatever you’re thinking,” Cillian said. “You can’t take the chance. You know that.”
    Jack turned that look on him, the one that made Cillian quail.
    “You want to be fucking useful?” Jack said. “Tell me something fucking useful.”
    “Just do the job. Your girl will be fine. She’s busy chasing this Quinn fellow, and as far as these guys know, you and I are talking about a hit you’ll do for me. You’re supposed to spend a day or two on research, me having you check out this fake mark. As soon as they get your girl, they’ll come and tell you what’s what.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah, Jack. It’s real easy. You take a couple of days off. Hell, anything you want, it’s on me. Whiskey, girls, horses . . . not a bad way to spend a couple of days.”
    “So I do that. Drink. Fuck. Gamble. Wait until they take her. No big deal.”
    “Exactly. Live it up at my expense and—”
    Jack leaned across the table. “I lied. She’s more than my protégé.”
    Cillian only gave a sweaty smile. “Okay, so you really will be worried. But all the more reason to indulge, right? Get your mind off it. I know a couple girls—twins—who’ll get your mind off pretty much any—”
    “Take the pill.”
    Cillian blinked.
    “Count of three,” Jack said. “Take the fucking pill. Or I pull this fucking trigger. It won’t kill you. Just make you wish I had.”
    “But—”
    “Pill.
Now
.”
    “Jack, please. I—”
    “Anyone watching?”
    “W-what?”
    “Are there fucking eyes on us?”
    “N-no. Just my boy.”
    “Take the pill. It’s slow-release cyanide. You’ll have an hour. Swallow the pill. Walk with me. Tell me what I want. Everything I want. I might give you the antidote.”
    Cillian stared at the capsule.
    “Take it. Now.”
    Cillian picked it up, put it in his mouth and took a swig of coffee.
    “On your feet. Walk.”
    Cillian obeyed. Once they were in the alley, Jack spun and slugged him in the stomach. Cillian went down, gasping and hacking.
    “What the fuck, Jack?”
    “Making sure you swallowed it. Now get up. Walk.”

5 – Nadia
    I spent the rest of Sunday looking into the case Quinn was working. Well, that and conducting my lodge-hostess duties. I