Making the Rent the Hard Way - 34

 

Orchid and Rocky made it back around seven. They came bearing gifts, if you can call good take-out gifts. I did. I was starving and what Luca had in the fridge… Let's say there wasn't much and leave it at that. As he'd said, he had stuff in the cupboards, but the idea of canned spaghetti didn't turn either of us on, starving or not.

We ate then moved on to the question at hand. How to let Farnham know where Luca and I were hiding out without making it look like that's what was happening.

"The easiest way would be you getting in touch with him, Cade," Rocky said. "Technically, you're still working for him, right? Call with an update about… Well, you'll figure something out. I presume your phone has GPS."

I nodded, getting where he was going with this. "Right now, my phone is off, so I know I can't be found through that."  Apparently Orchid didn't understand, because she asked.

"Farnham's probably got, or can get, access to a way to track a phone using its GPS," Rocky explained. "Cade calls, pretending he's got new info on Luca. Farnham either keeps him talking, or tells him to call back. Bingo. He locks on to Cade's phone and knows right where the call's coming from."

"Whoa. I didn't know that. Is that why people use burners?" For someone who was good at breaking and entering, I was surprised she didn't know. But maybe she never called anyone while she was working.

"Yep," Rocky replied. "They think they're safer because they can get one without a contract or giving the store personal info. The phones are only really safe if you make a call then toss the burner right after. They're relatively cheap, so crooks are willing to do that."

"Would Farnham think Cade's so stupid he wouldn't know the call could be tracked?" she asked.

"He might," I told her. "After all, he didn't hire me for my brains but for my ability to spot who's a shifter. At least, if we guessed right about that."

"Do you always talk with him on your cell, not the office phone?" Luca asked.

"Yep, when I call him. It's easier."

"So he probably already knows your number."

"Probably."

"Good," Luca said. "Then he won't get suspicious when you call him this time."

"Nope. He'll continue to think I'm a dumb, second-rate detective when I tell him"—I rapped a knuckle on my teeth—"Yeah. I tell him I've located you."

"Which, as we've said, he'll have figured out already because of the leaked info," Rocky pointed out.

"True, but I'll say Luca wants to talk with him face to face, or he'll reveal even more evidence he has about what he knows."

"Implying he's willing to back off if Farnham pays him to." Rocky frowned. "He's going to know it's a setup."

"Maybe," Luca said. "But with his ego, he'll also think he can grab me, and Cade, without any problem."

"And bring along half his goons to do that," Orchid said. "We need backup, too."

"Not a problem," Rocky told her. "I can pull together a team like that." He snapped his fingers. "What's the terrain like around the house?"

"Corn fields and more corn fields," I told him.

"That could work to hide them. Chances are Farnham will send in one guy to get the lay of the land. Once he's got a visual, he'll teleport back, show it to everyone, and they'll arrive en masse."