Chapter 16 #2
“We’re not calling this in.” Emmet put himself in the other man’s personal space with a slow back-and-forth slide of his head. “Not yet. Not until you can guarantee me it won’t put Janie’s life at further risk.”
A pair of nurses walked past, their expressions leery as they watched the tense interaction between the two men.
“Maybe we should wait outside for your team.”
Without a word, Emmett turned his back on the D.C. detective and walked away. His mind filled with a slew of racing thoughts as he worked like hell to process what happened. Guilt assaulted him, knowing she’d been taken under his watch.
You can kick your own ass later, Shaw. Right now, you need to stay focused on finding Janie before it’s too late.
Easier said than done, but the voice in his head was right. As he stepped through the automatic doors leading to the outside, he filled his lungs with the cool, night air.
Boone stood beside him, but neither man spoke again until Blake arrived. Several long minutes later, the entire team had gathered outside the E.R. entrance.
With Blake’s truck parked by the curb a few feet away, they used the tailgate as a makeshift desk. While the tech analyst opened his laptop and began typing across the keys, Emmett rushed through all he and Boone knew. When he was finished, his attention returned to Blake.
“Tell me you can find her.”
“We’ll find her.”
It was the reassurance Emmett needed. But well-intended or not, the words meant nothing without results.
“I’m in.” Blake continued working the keys. It only took him seconds to locate the footage from the bathroom hall. “There she is.”
He enlarged the recorded image of Janie as she was coming out of the women’s restroom. Emmett’s heart felt like a giant fist had grabbed hold of it and was squeezing it tight.
A man came around the corner. Tall. Dark hair. Light blue scrubs. Nothing especially unique stood out about him other than the fact that he was pushing a wheelchair with no occupant.
When Janie saw him, she flashed him a quick, friendly smile. Emmett’s chin quivered at the sight, but he pushed his emotions back and regained his control.
“Hold up.” Blake hit a few keys, zooming in closer while asking, “What’s that in the guy’s hand?”
Gwen leaned forward. “Is that a syringe?”
A wave of helplessness fell over him as the man on the screen approached Janie from behind.
Son of a—
The asshole raised the syringe and inserted its needle into the side of Janie’s neck. She slapped a hand at the spot, but by then, it was too late.
Her body swayed and the man in scrubs guided her into the chair. He spun them around and walked away casually. As if he hadn’t just taken away Emmett’s entire world.
“Smart bastard.” Gwen stood tall. “He blended right in with the hospital staff.”
Blake blew out a breath when another image appeared. A video of the man loading Janie’s unconscious form into the back of a black panel van.
From his right, Boone said, “That van fits the description of the one involved in the attack on Janie’s friend.”
Lucas gave a hard shake of his head, his anger clear as day to see. “Asshole rolled her right out of the place, and no one gave them a second glance.”
“CCTV?” Emmett looked to Blake.
“Already ahead of you, boss.” The man typed at a rapid speed. But then, “Dammit.” He pushed away from the tailgate a few inches. “I lost them four blocks away.”
“What do you mean, you lost them?” Emmett growled his frustration, not at his friend, but the situation.
“They pulled the van into an area without cameras.”
“If they didn’t come back out, then they should still be there,” Draven pointed out. “Right?”
But Blake was already shaking his head. “Not necessarily. That particular area of the city has several ins and outs. And as you can see, there’s non-stop traffic, even at this hour of the night.”
“If the van didn’t take one of the exits, doesn’t it stand to reason they’re still somewhere around there?” Gwen offered a plausible theory.
“These guys are too smart to get caught that easily.” Emmett hated that it was true.
Blake agreed. “They most likely switched vehicles while still in the blind spot.”
“So she could be anywhere.” Gwen’s worried gaze lifted to Emmett’s before falling to the bag in his hand. “Is her phone in there, or did she have it with her?”
He looked down, and with a curse, and rushed to the other side of where Blake stood and began dumping its contents out on the downed tailgate. “I was so stuck on using the security cams to find her, I didn’t even think about tracking her phone.”
Just as he said it, Janie’s cell fell to the lined tailgate with a heavy thud. And with it, any hope of using the device to find her.
“It was worth a shot, boss.” Gwen took the empty bag from his loosened grip. She quietly began picking up all the discarded items, placing them neatly back into the purse.
Emmett stood between her and Blake, feeling more lost than he’d ever been. They didn’t know who’d taken Janie, where they were planning to go, or what they’d do to her when they got there.
In short, he and his team didn’t have jack shit.
“We need to call in Ryker,” Lucas suggested. “Maybe there’s a way Homeland can help.”
“What’s this?” Gwen asked no one in particular before anyone could respond to Lucas’ suggestion.
They all turned the demolitions expert’s way as she held up a flash drive.
“Probably Janie’s notes for a story,” he guessed, blowing off the discovery as non-consequential.
“I found it in the lining, Emmett.” Gwen sent him a pointed stare. “I felt it when I was putting her wallet back inside the purse. There’s a tear there, so I went looking and . . . voila.”
Blake took the drive from their teammate’s hand. They all watched with bated breath as he inserted it into the side of his laptop.
With a few taps, the genius had the downloaded files opened. And when Emmett scanned the information that filled the computer’s screen, it took his brain a few seconds to process what his eyes were seeing.
“Is that—”
“The names of every CIA operative currently working undercover across the globe?” Blake nodded. “Sure as hell looks like that to me.” He did a bit more scrolling. “Names, locations, mission specs . . .”
“So basically, everything our enemies would need to wipe out the agency’s entire clandestine division,” Draven surmised.
“Holy shit,” Boone exclaimed, raking his fingers through his hair. He looked at Emmett. “And your girl had this with her the entire time?”
She didn’t know.
If she did, she would have shared that information with him.
“I don’t think she knew.” Gwen stole Emmett’s thoughts.
“I’m really good at reading people, and she and I spent several hours alone together when I was keeping an eye on her at your place.
We talked a lot during that time, and not once did I pick up on anything other than her genuine desire to uncover the truth. ”
Blake typed some more and another video appeared on screen. A CCTV recording showing Janie and Amy Weaver outside the Washington Post.
“What are you doing now?” Emmett was momentarily confused.
“Remember how Janie said Amy knocked her purse to the sidewalk when the two first met?” He fast-forwarded the recording to the moment the two women bent down to start picking up the strewn items near their feet.
Blake paused the video and pointed to the screen.
“There.” He jutted his index finger forward.
“Right there, you can see the drive in Amy’s hand. ”
“See?” Gwen smiled. “Janie had no idea.”
From over his shoulder, Blake’s blue eyes turned Emmett’s way. “I don’t know how an entry-level press intern got her hands on something like this. But I’d be willing to bet this file is the reason Amy Weaver’s dead.”
“And now the people who killed her think Janie has it.” Draven’s expression was that of dread.
He couldn’t begin to explain the fear he had for the woman he loved. The only silver lining to the whole, horrifying mess was knowing Janie was still alive when she was abducted.
“That man could have easily killed her,” Emmett spoke the terrifying thought aloud. “Instead he drugged her to ensure he could get her out of the hospital without incident to take her someplace private.” He swallowed. “They’re going to try to get her to tell them the flash drive’s location.”
“She can’t tell them something she doesn’t know,” Lucas pointed out the obvious.
Rather than turning to the man who’d just spoken, Gwen’s worried gaze slid back to Emmett’s. The look on her face sent another wave of heaviness into his chest. Her next words were as ominous as any he’d ever heard before.
“They think she does, though.” Her soft voice was a stark contrast to the lethal machine Emmett knew the woman to be. “Which means they’ll do whatever they believe is necessary to get Janie to talk.”
I know.
He didn’t say the words. He didn’t have to. They all knew.
Janie would likely be tortured in various ways until she told them what they wanted to hear. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t tell them a damn thing about the drive. They’ll beat her just like they did Devon, assuming her denials are lies.
“We have to find her.” Emmett’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat before looking at Boone and his team. “I can’t let what happened to Devon—” A rush of gut wrenching emotion clogged his throat.
“It won’t, brother.” Lucas put a hand to his shoulder and squeezed.
“He’s right.” Gwen lifted her chin. “We will find Janie,” she vowed.
Blake turned his way. “And when we do, we’re going to make every one of those bastards pay.”
Words seemed to escape him in that moment, so rather than speak, Emmett shared a solemn glance with every person there.
This was his team. His friends. And they were willing to risk their own lives to save a woman who owned him, heart and soul. Boone wasn’t his teammate, nor was the detective his friend, but he was here and seemed as determined as the rest of them.