Chapter 136

Riley sat straight up and smacked Kadeem in the chest. "There he is!"

"Was hitting me necessary," Kadeem barked. He threw Riley a hard glare before he straightened up in his seat and peered out the car window at Rayburn.

Their perp was walking out to a black BMW parked in one of the physician spaces in the clinic parking lot. In his slacks, light-blue button-down and glasses, he looked every bit the professional.

Kadeem and Riley watched while he got into his car. Kadeem put his sunglasses on and started his engine. The tail lights of the BMW came on, and Rayburn backed out of his space.

They followed him until he turned into a nearby gas station. Kadeem drove ahead and pulled in at a gas station at the next block, keeping his eyes peeled at Rayburn's vehicle still pulled in at one of the pumps.

"You're right," Kadeem said. "I think we should switch places."

"Told you."

Riley grabbed her door handle and they swapped spots, so Kadeem could keep low in the passenger seat to stay out of sight. Rayburn had only seen Riley once. The chance of him noticing her seemed less likely - and less risky if he did.

"Do not damage my car," Kadeem warned.

Riley scoffed. "Please," she said, just as she flew out of the drive to catch up with Rayburn, who had just passed by.

"And remember to stay covert," Kadeem ordered angrily.

She was whipping past a truck to edge closer to Rayburn.

"Keep a car in between!"

"Boss," she said. "I know. I'm a professional badass."

Kadeem gripped the grab handle and swore under his breath as she swerved to get on the bustling highway. He jerked upright in his seat.

"Why is he on 35? You're sure we're still following?"

"He's in that black car up there."

"Half of these goddamned cars are black," Kadeem snapped, looking at the monochrome sea around them.

"That one," she said, pointing to one, a couple cars ahead.

"If I'd thought we'd be in all this traffic, I wouldn't have had us switch. Totally pointless."

"Until he exits off," Riley reminded him. She adjusted her sunglasses and cast him a quick smile. "Don't worry. I got this."

She hit the volume dial and blared AC/DC, whipping in between lanes as they hurdled down the jam-packed corridor of the freeway, slamming the breaks whenever they bottlenecked - nearly sending Kadeem into a rage.

Finally, his head jettisoning like a whip in the red glow of taillights, he'd had enough.

"Get out of the car," he yelled.

He aggressively cut the music off, leaving them in an abrupt, tension-filled silence.

"What?!"

"You heard me!" He grabbed his door handle and pushed it open. "Get the hell out."

"We're in the middle of the road -"

"We're stopped for the moment!"

"As soon as we do-"

A blare of car horns came as the traffic started moving again, cars angrily going around them.

Riley cursed and jolted ahead, whipping Kadeem's head the opposite direction as he fought to slam the door closed.

"Remind me never to get in a car with you again," she growled.

"Trust me," he boomed. "There will never be a next time!"

"Shit," Riley yelled suddenly. "Where is he? I lost him!"

Kadeem groaned loudly, his eyes searching the road ahead of careening semis, and black SUV after black SUV. It was no use.

"Just exit off," he said, sighing.

She hit the blinker and squeezed into the right hand lane.

"Slow down," he barked, as she burst down the ramp like a bat out of hell.

She side-eyed him and tapped the brakes minimally, though not near enough, leading to another brake slam at the red light of the intersection.

He opened his mouth to cuss her out when the car ahead caught his attention. He leaned forward to make out the license plate number he'd memorized.

"That's him!"

Riley began to cackle in an excited relief. "Thank God," she said. "I was afraid you were about to have my head and replace me with Jason."

"Jury's still out," he snarled, jabbing his finger to alert her to the green light. "Just drive like a non-insane person."

She shot him a look, but eased her lead feet up a little on the pedals and followed dutifully behind Rayburn, letting a car pass in between them as they traveled along.

It wasn't lost on either of them that Rayburn was far from either property he owned - a downtown condo and a lake-side house whose address Miles had located.

They'd taken a look around the exterior of the lake front earlier that day and while it was kept up with meticulous gardening, neither Were detected any signs of fresh activity, including scent.

Rayburn hadn't been there for at least a few days, and Kadeem and his pack had been keeping a lookout on Rayburn's downtown property for months. Rayburn hadn't returned since leaving in May.

"Where do you think he's headed," Riley asked.

Kadeem adjusted himself in his seat. "Given the intel Layla shared and the fact that tonight is a full moon, I'm guessing somewhere remote for some kind of magic ritual."

"We're not exactly in the middle-of-nowhere yet," Riley said, as their car wrapped left around the highway at another intersection, setting them in the other direction.

Rayburn's right signal light flashed red and he slowly pulled into an overflowing parking lot.

Riley scowled. "A yuppie bar? Great." She turned in and shifted her car into an open spot.

"On a Tuesday night," Kadeem said. "And he seemed like more of the vineyard type..."

"Should we go in? He might see us - but, oooh! What if he's meeting someone? Keeping a low profile, maybe?"

"I doubt he'll spot us," Kadeem said. "It looks busy enough. Let's go."

It was a decision he immediately regretted.

The sight of a ghastly sign on the door caught both their eyes: "Karaoke Tuesdays! Bring on the Groove!"

"Son of a bitch," Kadeem groaned. He pushed open the door, wincing at the sound of tone-deaf wailing to "Living on a Prayer" already assaulting his ears.

"Riley," he yelled, trying to be heard over the caterwauling, "I'm sorry about what I said. You're chauffeuring me back, because I'm going to need several drinks to get through this auditory torture."

At his words, the look of horror on Riley's face - blinking in shock at the screeching "music" - was suddenly replaced by a look of intense determination.

"Not if I beat you to the bar," she retorted darkly, shoving him out of her way as she scrambled forward.

Kadeem growled and followed her lead.

In the end, they both knocked back a few. It was a matter of survival. They sat at a table in the back. Rayburn was alone at the bar. There was no sign of a secret meeting, unless chatting briefly with the bartender counted.

Rayburn didn't hold back on the booze, steadily guzzling down what was probably sherry or wine at first, before knocking back shots of an amber liquid.

Sufficiently sloshed, with a bombastic confidence that belied all reason, he belted out an exuberantly horrid "Bohemian Rhapsody."

And damn it all if Riley didn't join in, too, hollering along with the crowd, her lighter held aloft like a swaying beacon in the dim.

Kadeem took one look at her and finally burst into laughter - at her, and the entire ridiculous spectacle. His inner cynic hated himself for thinking it, but Jesus, with enough alcohol flowing through your system, this was semi-fun.