“Nathan? That pipsqueak little shit is behind this!” I bellow into the speakerphone when Den calls to tell me who’s driving the car that helped Simone escape with our child.

“I found him, Sebastian!” Elijah interjects. “I just saw his car’s taillights turn up toward Thirty-Fourth Street. How far are you from there?”

“A couple minutes or so,” Calder says, glancing down at his phone. “Turn left at that light, Bash.”

I gun the engine and my tires squeal as I take a fast left right through a light; I don’t give a damn which part of the traffic light is currently glowing. At three in the morning, the road is practically free of traffic.

“Give me a minute to find him on the street cameras,” Elijah says. “There are several ways he could’ve gone.”

“I never would’ve thought Nathan could go this far off the deep end,” Talia says across the line. “But it all makes a bit more sense now. Somehow Nathan must’ve discovered that my aunt was responsible for our engagement ending. If that’s what happened, he’d have every reason to want to hurt her.”

“But not you, Talia. He’s obsessed with you. And we know that Simone was stalking you and your aunt before the wedding,” I say as I turn down another street Calder points to. “Just how far back does all of this go?”

Talia exhales her frustration. “That part bothers me too. Nathan never let on that he knew about my aunt’s part in our breakup while I was still at the Tribune. If he knew, he hid it well. But Simone…at this point I can only assume that she cozied up to my father to get to me.”

“But why?” I say, curling my hands tight on the steering wheel. “If Nathan is behind all this, why has Simone been the one committing all the violence?”

“Do we know that for sure?” Talia asks.

“Okay, no…that’s weird, he turned onto Second Avenue going to the Lower East Side,” Elijah says.

“Go left at that light,” Calder says. “Okay, Elijah, I’m getting your text updates. We’re a minute away.”

“Yes, Simone’s behind it,” Den says, cutting in. “Elijah just matched Simone’s eyes with the brief glimpse of the eyes we saw in the video of the person who attacked Vanessa. Since both she and Nathan have brown eyes, we wanted to be sure. She’s also most likely the person in the video from the limo bombing. Based on the height of the person to the top of the limo, that person had to be under five-ten, which rules out Nathan who’s a bit taller.”

“I don’t believe Nathan’s a murderer,” Talia agrees. “But he did put me at risk on my last Tribune assignment just to try to one-up you in my eyes, Sebastian. So he’s not above sociopathic behavior to achieve an ultimate goal.”

“Which apparently includes joining forces with a psychopath willing to commit murder, acts of violence, and kidnap an innocent child!” I grate.

“There! Do you see the taillights?” Calder says, tensing beside me. I cut a calculating gaze Calder’s way. “Based on the direction we’re going, I wonder if he’s heading for the bridge. I have an idea how we can corral him, but we’ll need some help. I don’t want to risk the baby getting hurt. Banks is two minutes away.”

Calder’s eyebrows hike. “Do you seriously trust him?”

“Not for a fucking minute.” I snort and punch the gas harder to get closer to Nathan. The lack of good streetlights make it too damn dark to see past his tinted back windshield. “But as much as Banks dislikes me for past bullshit, he hates Nathan more for making his home the target of a police investigation. Call him.”

As Calder makes the call to Banks, Elijah says, “Sebastian, I checked a traffic cam Nathan just passed and I didn’t see anyone in the car with him as he drove under it.”

A heavy weight slams into my chest at the same time Calder hangs up. “Banks is in, Bash. It’s going to cost you, but his guys are already heading for their cars, ready to box him—”

“What the hell, Elijah?” I cut Calder off. “Is there any way to confirm that Simone and the baby aren’t in the car with Nathan? Maybe they’re in the back seat?”

“With one-hundred percent certainty?” Elijah asks. “Not without a thermal imaging camera pointed at them.”

“Which you have,” Den says calmly.

“No, they don’t,” Elijah argues. “It’s not something they carry around in their back pocket for a rainy day.”

“I said, you.” Den’s accent grows stronger as he continues, “Ever since the recent Ebola scare, cameras throughout New York have been quietly replaced with more advanced technology. The airport cameras were done first, but later, all cameras throughout the city were slowly being changed out with thermal imaging technology able to detect heat signature, which could indicate if a person has a fever and potentially carrying a lethal disease. If we’re lucky, all you need to do is hack into a camera and turn that scan capability on.”

“How does he know this shit about our own city and we don’t?” Calder grumbles under his breath.

I shake my head, countering in a low tone, “Should we be surprised?” then answer Elijah, “Find out if it’s possible. I need to know if he’s being a decoy right fucking now! And if so, I’m going to go after him with all I’ve got.”

“Not too hard,” Talia jumps in, panic in her shaky voice. “If Simone’s not with him, Nathan may be our only way to find out where she might’ve taken Jocelyn.”

“Okay, Elijah,” Calder says. “I got the text with Nathan’s number.”

“I’m going to call him. Elijah, keep updating Calder via text, especially if you get that thermal camera feature working.” Hanging up, I steel myself, then nod for Calder to dial Nathan’s number, hoping like hell I don’t explode the moment I hear the sick shithead’s voice.