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He started to speak and then abruptly halted as wariness interceded He stared at Aidan, his long, hard assess an internal battle over whether or not he should trust a total stranger, co or not

Aidan reaze steady as he waited for Vance to reach the inevitable conclusion that trusting Aidan was his only choice

Sure enough, Vance gave a hard s and an almost imperceptible nod

“My wifeI didn’t think anything of it at the time, but my wife has been concerned,” he said at last “Lauren’s phone calls have stopped So have her texts, other than a once-a-day, same-time-every-day check-in” Vance shifted from one foot to the other “In her last text, she told us that she was having a problem with the reception where she was Also, that her cell phone was fading in and out She was taking it in to be checked out, so we shouldn’t worry if she was out of touch for a day She said she’d call soon”

“Did her tone sound different?”

“You’re saying you don’t think she’s the one who sent those texts”

“That’s exactly what I’iven youDo you want to bring me into the loop so we can help you and Lauren? Otherwise, I can proain—at least not alive”

Vince winced at Aidan’s words “I can’t divulge company secrets,” he replied on autopilot “There has to be another way We’ll call the police The FBI The damned White House if we have to”

“And tell theible proof And there won’t be until we’re out of time and Lauren is dead”

Vance rubbed his hand over his jaw He was clearly waffling Aidan rose “I’ town in a few hours What’s your decision?”

Before Vance could reply, his red phone vibrated

Aidan’s gaze shifted and he gestured at the phone “Go ahead See what that is”

Reluctantly, Vance looked down and took his phone out of sleep s

“Texts,” he murmured

Each of the five texts appeared in a balloon e on his phone, all of them in rapid succession