chest.
“Yeah it was.”
We fell silent, letting our closeness communicate for us. Unfortunately, the silence let Frankie intrude into my thoughts.
I frowned. “What are we going to do, Blake?”
“About what?” He looked at me, not following.
“The stuff in my purse.”
He squeezed me close. “It’ll be fine. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ll take care of it.”
“How?” I wanted details, an action plan, something concrete I could wrap my mind around.
Blake shrugged. “I have friends and anyone coming after me is going to be in for a rude awakening.” He was silent a moment. “Did they give you anything besides the money?”
“A phone and a nasty drug induced hangover.” I put a hand to my head where a small headache still pounded.
He tensed beside me. “I should look at the phone.”
Taken aback by his reaction, I asked, “Why? It’s just an iphone.”
“Maybe, but they might have added some...enhancements to it.”
I pushed up on my elbow to better see his face. “Enhancements?”
His expression serious, he nodded. “Bugs, trackers, you know.”
My jaw dropped. “That sounds like spy stuff.”
“Does it?” He gave a non-committal shrug.
“How do you know about it?” I sat up fully and crossed my arms.
He held up his hands. “I’m a magician, I know a lot of things. Now, why don’t you go get the phone so we can see what we’re up against?”
Suddenly worried about what was in that phone, I threw on my caftan and ran down to the dining room to retrieve my purse. Back in his bedroom, I handed it over.
Blake quickly removed the plastic casing, revealing the guts of the phone. He studied the electronic innards for a moment and then looked up at me with a frown. Tapping his ear with one hand, he mouthed the word ‘bug.’
My jaw dropped. Had they heard our entire conversation at the dinner table? Had I said anything bad? I couldn’t remember. Maybe it didn’t matter. The phone had been in my purse, surely that muffled the sound? I started to speak, but Blake put a finger to his lips and shook his head. I fell silent and watched him work.
Blake replaced the casing and tapped the screen on the phone. At the same time, he reached out and snagged his off the nightstand. Going back and forth between phones, he navigated menus I’d never seen before. I couldn’t follow what he was doing, his fingers moved so fast and there was so much code. He wasn’t working with an app I knew.
When he was done, he put on his pants and beckoned for me to follow him out of the room. We went into the kitchen where he pulled a small cardboard box out of the trash.
Wrapping the phone in a hand towel, he stuffed it into the box. “That should keep them from hearing us.”
“What are you doing?” I asked, keeping my voice low just in case.
“Keeping Frankie way too busy to find us.” Locating a marker in a drawer, he wrote an address on the box. “I’ll have the staff tape this up and drop it in the mail tomorrow.”
I leaned on the kitchen counter and tried to make out the address, but he’d written it all in Arabic, an alphabet I could recognize but not read.“Where’s it going?”
He smirked and capped the marker he’d used to write the address. “Oh, nowhere fast.”
I narrowed my eyes, still skeptical. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if they call me?”
Blake waved his phone at me. “Calls and texts will forward to me, but they won’t be able to track you or overhear conversations anymore.”
My eyes went wide. “Wait, they were tracking me? They know where we are?” The instinct to cut and run made my heart pound.
Blake held up a hand. “Don’t panic. I have a jammer set up, and they would’ve lost the signal before they found the house.”
I moved away from the counter, feeling uneasy. “Why do you have a jammer? Why do you know how to do any of this stuff?”
He cleared his throat looking distinctly uncomfortable. “I’ve found it useful to be
“Yeah it was.”
We fell silent, letting our closeness communicate for us. Unfortunately, the silence let Frankie intrude into my thoughts.
I frowned. “What are we going to do, Blake?”
“About what?” He looked at me, not following.
“The stuff in my purse.”
He squeezed me close. “It’ll be fine. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ll take care of it.”
“How?” I wanted details, an action plan, something concrete I could wrap my mind around.
Blake shrugged. “I have friends and anyone coming after me is going to be in for a rude awakening.” He was silent a moment. “Did they give you anything besides the money?”
“A phone and a nasty drug induced hangover.” I put a hand to my head where a small headache still pounded.
He tensed beside me. “I should look at the phone.”
Taken aback by his reaction, I asked, “Why? It’s just an iphone.”
“Maybe, but they might have added some...enhancements to it.”
I pushed up on my elbow to better see his face. “Enhancements?”
His expression serious, he nodded. “Bugs, trackers, you know.”
My jaw dropped. “That sounds like spy stuff.”
“Does it?” He gave a non-committal shrug.
“How do you know about it?” I sat up fully and crossed my arms.
He held up his hands. “I’m a magician, I know a lot of things. Now, why don’t you go get the phone so we can see what we’re up against?”
Suddenly worried about what was in that phone, I threw on my caftan and ran down to the dining room to retrieve my purse. Back in his bedroom, I handed it over.
Blake quickly removed the plastic casing, revealing the guts of the phone. He studied the electronic innards for a moment and then looked up at me with a frown. Tapping his ear with one hand, he mouthed the word ‘bug.’
My jaw dropped. Had they heard our entire conversation at the dinner table? Had I said anything bad? I couldn’t remember. Maybe it didn’t matter. The phone had been in my purse, surely that muffled the sound? I started to speak, but Blake put a finger to his lips and shook his head. I fell silent and watched him work.
Blake replaced the casing and tapped the screen on the phone. At the same time, he reached out and snagged his off the nightstand. Going back and forth between phones, he navigated menus I’d never seen before. I couldn’t follow what he was doing, his fingers moved so fast and there was so much code. He wasn’t working with an app I knew.
When he was done, he put on his pants and beckoned for me to follow him out of the room. We went into the kitchen where he pulled a small cardboard box out of the trash.
Wrapping the phone in a hand towel, he stuffed it into the box. “That should keep them from hearing us.”
“What are you doing?” I asked, keeping my voice low just in case.
“Keeping Frankie way too busy to find us.” Locating a marker in a drawer, he wrote an address on the box. “I’ll have the staff tape this up and drop it in the mail tomorrow.”
I leaned on the kitchen counter and tried to make out the address, but he’d written it all in Arabic, an alphabet I could recognize but not read.“Where’s it going?”
He smirked and capped the marker he’d used to write the address. “Oh, nowhere fast.”
I narrowed my eyes, still skeptical. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if they call me?”
Blake waved his phone at me. “Calls and texts will forward to me, but they won’t be able to track you or overhear conversations anymore.”
My eyes went wide. “Wait, they were tracking me? They know where we are?” The instinct to cut and run made my heart pound.
Blake held up a hand. “Don’t panic. I have a jammer set up, and they would’ve lost the signal before they found the house.”
I moved away from the counter, feeling uneasy. “Why do you have a jammer? Why do you know how to do any of this stuff?”
He cleared his throat looking distinctly uncomfortable. “I’ve found it useful to be
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