Page 53 of Crossover

My molars ground so tightly, I swear I heard a crack.

Seth’s voice was trying to be soothing. Too late after it had started a five-alarm fire. “It might mean nothing, but if they’re monitoring his calls, too, and if they’re using IMSI-catchers to try to triangulate, your position might be compromised.”

Fuck.

“If I were you?—”

“I’ll get her out of here. Thank you, Seth.”

I ended the call and approached Red.

“Open the door,” I demanded.

“What’s going on?” He positioned one hand on the gun in his back waistband, the other opening the door with his spare key, alert and scanning the surroundings for any sign of trouble.

I slammed the door open so hard, it bounced off the wall.

Ivy’s mother sat up in bed, startled awake, while Ivy bolted to her feet, her hand to her chest.

“What the hell?” Ivy’s eyes darted between me and Red.

I stepped into her space.

“Where is it?” I demanded, my voice low and dangerous.

“Where is what?” Ivy’s breath caught in her throat as she looked up at me, her features reflecting a mix of fear and something else.

“The phone.”

Her mouth parted, presumably in understanding, and I couldn’t help but let my gaze flicker to her lips for a brief moment.

“Give me the goddamned phone—now!” I snapped.

Ivy swallowed, her breasts rising and falling with each shallow breath. She opened the nightstand drawer and handed the phone to me with trembling fingers. Never breaking eye contact with her, I smashed it beneath my heel.

I couldn’t believe she had done something so reckless, something so dangerous.

“Now, get in the car,” I snapped, my voice rough.

“We’re leaving?” She scrutinized me.

“Thanks to your fucking phone call, there could be an army of men assembling outside with sniper rifles. Get in the car!”

Ivy and her mother exchanged a look, then grabbed their go-bags—the ones Red had put together in case we ever needed to flee fast—and took off to the parking lot with us following.

“Dammit, Red, we’ve got two cars.” I ran a hand through my hair. “If we leave one behind?—”

“They could find it and lay out a search radius with this as the center.” Red nodded.

“We’ll take both.”

“I’ll take the mother; you take Ivy,” Red said, cocking his gun.

“Split them up?” I asked.

“So they each have a dedicated guard.”

Right.