23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Brooklyn Sloane January 2025 Saturday — 7:48 pm
Brook shifted her legs until they were close to the space heater. The warm air was physically comforting, but it did nothing to stem her frustration. She had attempted to reach Barry Ackles several times since they had spoken on the phone, but every single call had gone straight to voicemail. Kitsis hadn’t touched base with her, either. It was the reason she had reached out to Theo, who had fortunately offered to drive to Miles Therapeutics with Sylvie. If the patrol unit couldn’t locate Claudia at her apartment, there was a good chance she was at work.
“Any luck?” Bit asked as he appeared in the doorway of her office. He didn’t have an energy drink in his hand. That omission alone accounted for his focus on locating Claudia. “I think we should attempt to get a warrant for all phone numbers involved, Boss.”
“Go ahead and call Kitsis. Include Barry Ackles’ number in the warrant.” Brook set her phone on the desk. “Once the request is in, go ahead and do your thing.”
Bit adjusted his knit hat while studying her expression. She didn’t blink. He slowly nodded his understanding of what she was requesting from him.
“I can’t reach Barry or Jordan, so I’m going to touch base with the surveillance team. Theo and Sylvie are getting ready to drive over to Miles Therapeutics. If Claudia is there, we can move on to other important tasks.”
Brook focused on her screen as Bit returned to his office. The initials AM practically taunted her from their place on her monitor. Allowing frustration to take hold wouldn’t do her any good, so she concentrated on reaching out to someone from the surveillance team. Since she had already programmed the number Alex had supplied them, she pressed the appropriate button and lifted the phone to her ear.
The first ring hadn’t even concluded before the line was answered, and Brook didn’t waste any time introducing herself. A man greeted her with his name, Reed Corley.
“Are you inside the building?”
“Yes, ma’am. There is a sitting area with newspapers and coffee in the foyer. Another agent and I have a variated schedule, so neither one of us is in the vicinity often enough to garner attention from residents or guests.”
“Has anyone visited Jordan since he returned to the penthouse?” Brook inquired as she heard the interruption of another call. She pulled the phone away from her cheek. Theo was calling, probably to inform her that he and Sylvie were leaving Georgetown to drive back to Bethesda. “Or any movement from Jordan himself?”
“No, ma’am,” Reed replied.
“Would you please keep me informed if anyone does pay Mr. Miles a visit this evening?” Brook requested, fully intending to express her appreciation before ending the call. But staring at the initials had her inquiring about someone else altogether. “Corley, when did you come on duty?”
“We have twelve-hour rotations, ma’am. I arrived at eighteen hundred hours.”
“Does that mean you were working last night when Miss Hart dropped in to visit Mr. Miles?”
“Yes, I was inside the lobby when Miss Hart arrived, which was the reason I switched positions with my partner, Dungi, right afterward. I exited the building and headed across the street to the café, where I monitored the front entrance until Miss Hart left for the night.”
“And what time was that, Mr. Corley?”
“Zero one hundred.”
“Did you notice anything unusual about her departure?”
“No, ma’am. Miss Hart walked the short distance to the parking lot on the south side of the building, entered her vehicle, and pulled out in the direction of her apartment.”
“Thank you, Corley. I appreciate the update.” Brook couldn’t bring herself to end the call. If no one had paid a visit to Jordan, there should be no reason he wasn’t answering his phone. “I do have one more favor. Would you or someone from the lobby confirm Mr. Miles is in his penthouse? I realize that you and the other members of the team are supposed to keep your distance, but I can’t reach Mr. Miles on his phone.”
“I’ll take care of it, ma’am, and report back to you.”
The silence in her office after she disconnected the call amplified her agitation. Theo hadn’t left her a voicemail, so she assumed he and Sylvie were on their way to Bethesda. Brook slipped her phone into the small pocket of her suit jacket. Grabbing her coffee cup, she stood and made her way out of her office, toward the kitchen.
“Boss, I spoke with Kitsis,” Bit informed her from his doorway. “No word from the patrol unit yet. He also wasn’t too keen on the phone warrants, but he agreed to reach out to a judge anyway. If he were to get one of the esteemed Honors to sign off, I’m sure the phone we would be most interested in would be turned off.”
Before Brook could comment, Bit’s cell phone chimed from somewhere deep in his office. She motioned for him to answer it before thinking through their options. It wasn’t as if she noticed Barry shutting off his phone during meetings, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. The bottom line was that too many people involved were unreachable.
Brook needed a moment to clear her mind.
She crossed to the counter and reached for the carafe, silently thanking Arden for his thoughtfulness. There was even a hint of his cologne in the air, once again bringing to mind a distant memory of her father. No one on the team thought of Arden as an assistant, because he was so much more than that.
The title triggered Brook to stop pouring her coffee. She slowly set the glass pot on the burner as the connection finally made itself known.
The letter A in the set of initials stood for assistant.
“Assistant's mother,” Brook murmured as she quickly turned away from the counter, leaving her coffee behind. “Bit, get Theo—
Bit was already standing in the doorway, holding his cell phone up in the air.
“Janet Hart works at Dr. Nash’s fertility clinic. Little T and Big T are driving to her house now.”
Brook’s phone vibrated, notifying her of an incoming call before the melodic ring reached her ears. Barry was about to get his wish regarding Jordan’s court hearing on Monday, but she wasn’t so sure the attorney had hoped for this specific ending.
“Sloane.” Brook didn’t break her stare with Bit as she listened to Corley explain that Jordan wasn’t in his penthouse. There hadn’t been concern Jordan would want to slip past his own surveillance team, giving the members no reason to station someone on a stairwell only used by residents with a special keycard. “It’s alright, Corley. I was the one to give instructions to keep a soft surveillance. We’ll take it from here.”
Brook advanced toward the doorway. This case reminded her of why she loathed active investigations. If she was wrong in the directives she was about to give, then Jordan Miles was as good as dead.
“Bit, contact Kitsis. Tell him there is a good possibility that Janet Hart just took three people hostages at Miles Therapeutics’ headquarters.”
“What about Big T and Little T?” Bit called out as he went to grab his jacket.
“Divert them to the Miles’ estate,” Brook instructed loudly as she crossed into her office. “We need to cover as much ground as possible. Janet Hart was able to convince her daughter, Jordan, and Barry to meet her at one of the two sites.”
By the time Brook had collected her coat and purse, Bit was waiting for her in front of the glass doors. His phone was pressed to his ear as he pushed on the handle, allowing her to cross the threshold first. She had also grabbed her winter boots. She would change out of her high heels when she got into the van.
“Bit?” Brook practically slapped the down arrow on the panel in between the two elevators. “Make sure they know that Janet doesn’t intend to let Jordan walk out alive.”