TENACITY

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

After calling out his name a few more times, she hit the call button, but his number was out of coverage. What was he doing? And was he safe? She didn't want to add him to her list of worries, and she wasn't sure she could trust just anyone—not after what Trey had said about a possible insider.

She found Billy's contact and called him, heading back up towards Trey's office. "William Armstrong speaking," he said upon answering.

"Billy, it's Alexandra. I'm headed towards Trey's office with my spare key, and I'm calling you because I'll be there in a few. Think you have a moment to spare? I need help."

"Of course. See you then."

"Bye."

She hung up and went down the hall of the first floor, fishing out the spare key from behind a tapestry, then went down the far end to open the door. After locking it behind her, she headed for the bookshelf and did exactly as Trey had taught her.

Then she checked her phone. Those were the only messages he'd sent, and he truly was waiting for a response before giving further instructions. He was being extra careful, she realized.

And it's almost as if he'd known Trey wouldn't be around.

The elevator came to a stop and opened, revealing Billy waiting on the other side of the door. "Thank you for meeting me on short notice."

Billy directed her towards her office. "I was already here anyway so it's no problem."

"That's true. Have —"

"Not to be rude," Billy cut in, his voice low, "but I'd rather we got to either my office or the small conference room reserved for Trey's use before talking. We still don't know if there are more insiders."

"Okay."

Billy went in first holding the door open for her to come through then he closed it after her. "Yes. You were saying?"

"I was asking if you'd seen my husband—" she blushed lightly when Billy smiled amusedly, "I mean Trey."

"I know," he said, waving her into a seat as he headed for his behind the desk. "He's out of the house to look into a clue he found while reviewing camera feeds. I'm sure he'll tell you the full details later."

She chewed on her lips nervously. "I see," she whispered finally. "Then that leaves you to help me with this."

Billy's brows furrowed in concern. "What's the matter?"

She opened up the text and gave her phone to him. "Ethan is the one who contacted me; I'm sure. And since I couldn't find Trey, I thought I'd ask if you think it's a good idea to follow through."

"Absolutely not," came his immediate response. "Your husband would kill you and me both if we even think of it, because then he'd have to retrieve not just the babies, but you as well."

Frustrated his Chief of Security was just like Trey himself, she huffed out a breath. "What do you propose I do then?"

"Give me a moment. I'll try tracing the number to see if I can find where the number is currently." He used his foot to push him away from the desk to a smaller table with a laptop and set the phone next to it. "I need a couple of minutes. Hope you don't mind the wait."

"No."

*

Billy's head shake when he turned around told her all she needed to know before he spoke. "He spoofed his location to appear in multiple spots on the map simultaneously. I can't find which exact one it is."