Marla checked her rearview mirror for the third time in less than a minute. Her nails tapped against the steering wheel as her SUV tore down the empty county road. The girl had slipped through her fingers.
Again.
And now the hospital had the nerve to claim she'd been released to family.
Family.
What a joke. Marla hit the call icon on her dashboard and dialed a number she wasn't supposed to know by heart.
It rang once.
Twice.
On the third ring, a voice answered.
Low.
Smooth.
Like oil sliding across concrete.
"Tell me you have her."
Marla swallowed.
"Not yet."
A slow inhale came through the speaker.
"Not… yet."
"She was discharged early," Marla said quickly. "Some biker trash grabbed her before I could get into the room. They must've known I was coming."
A quiet hum answered her. "They always know," the man said softly.
"Especially that one."
The boss knew Bear. Marla's jaw tightened. He'd always been a problem. Bear was always too observant too stubborn, too willing to shove his nose into places it didn't belong.
"Well?" the voice asked. "Where is the girl now?"
"I'm heading to the residence," Marla replied smoothly. "They'll need to collect her belongings eventually. If I intercept them there, I can retrieve her before they disappear."
She kept her eyes on the road as she lied. The man was silent for a moment. The kind of silence that made people sweat.
"And the information?" he asked.
Marla licked her lips.
"Still missing." Her grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
"My contact believes the girl has it. A drive, maybe. Something the stepfather didn't get his hands on."
She hesitated just long enough to add weight to the next words.
"Passwords. Crypto accounts. Everything."
Another silence followed. This time longer this time.
"If she gives that to O'Hare's club," the man said slowly, "we lose everything."
Marla felt her pulse jump. "That's why I'm going to the house."
"No."
His voice sharpened.
Cold.
"You're too late for the hospital. You'll be too late for the house. They move faster than you."
The humiliation burned in her chest. "Then what do you want me to do?"
"You will get the girl."
The command came out flat. It was absolute.
"You will follow them," he continued, "and you will bring her to me personally."
Marla nodded automatically, even though he couldn't see her.
"Yes, sir."
"One more thing."
His voice turned lazy. That somehow made it worse.
"When you reach the house, make sure nothing… incriminating remains."
Marla smiled.
"My associate failed to clean properly."
"Consider it done."
"And Marla?"
"Yes?"
"If O'Hare gets her to his clubhouse… if he discovers what she knows…"
The man's voice dropped to a whisper.
"…we will remove every last one of them."
A thrill ran down Marla's spine.
She loved that part.
"Yes, sir," she said quietly. "I understand perfectly."
"Do not disappoint me, Marla."
A pause.
"You know what happens when I am disappointed."
The line went dead. Marla's smile widened as she pressed harder on the gas. One little girl, she kept in that house and the stupis dickhead got it in his head to steal from the boss.
One flash drive was all she needed to find. One step away from everything they'd been building. And Marla intended to reach it first.