Total pages in book: 183
Estimated words: 174715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 874(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 874(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“I got there because one of the agents punched in a code,” he says. “I’ll get answers for you through my men. They’re unfortunately on high-risk jobs, and can’t call until they have a safe moment, but we have other men with connections. We’re working every angle. Go home. I’ll call you when we know something.”
“Make it soon,” I say, guiding Lori toward the door.
“I can’t believe this is really happening,” Lori says. “They just took her.”
“And I’m not sure we can save her.”
“Save her from what?” she asks. “What is this?”
I open the door to the car we have waiting for us. “I don’t know.”
Lori slides into the car and I join her, giving the driver the office address before dialing Reese. “Where are you?”
“At the office. Why?
“I need you. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Two hours later, Lori, Cat, Reese and I are all in a conference room with phones in hand trying to get answers. We get nowhere. It’s nearly ten when Royce calls and I put him on speaker. “Tell us something good.”
“It’s not good,” Royce says. “One of my men talked to an insider. She’s not even in the city any longer. He wouldn’t say what her status is, be it witness or suspect.”
“What if I hold a press conference?” I ask. “Will it pressure them to tell us where she’s at?”
“If you do that,” he says, “you tell the world her story that might be one she doesn’t want told. There’s more going on here than we know. Give us some time.”
Cat quickly chimes in with, “The media is brutal. This might be over in twenty-four hours, but this may haunt her much longer if you take it public.”
I share a look with Reese, who nods, before my gaze shifts to Lori, who nods, too. “Bluff, Royce. Tell them if I don’t hear from her in twenty-four hours, we’re going to the press. Tell them I only held off because you convinced me to.”
“The CIA doesn’t intimidate,” Royce warns.
Lori speaks up, “But they might not know what we know. And they might not want everything they think we know public.”
And there’s the reason she was made for a courtroom. She knows how to find an angle.
“I’m on it,” Royce says, hanging up.
“And now we wait,” I say.
“No,” Lori says. “Let’s go to her apartment. She came back from Paris, where she was with this man, who was her fiancé. Maybe there’s something there that tells us what’s really going on.”
Another good idea that has me standing up. “I’ll have Royce’s team get us in.”
“We’ll sit this one out,” Reese says. “But I’m still waiting for that friend of mine that has a CIA contact. I’ll let you know if he calls.”
It turns out that Smith has a key to Ashley’s place because of his part as her security detail. He meets us at her apartment and Lori and I wait impatiently while he unlocks the door. Lori squeezes my hand as he opens it as if she expects some kind of shock. Smith enters first and curses. “Holy fucking hell.”
I enter behind him and curse right along with him as Lori whispers, “Oh my God.”
The apartment is empty. As in completely empty.
Smith pulls his phone from his pocket and I hear, “Royce. Her apartment is wiped.” He listens a few beats and then disconnects. “Either she’s been put in witness protection or they really think she knows something or has something they need. They weren’t taking any chances they’d miss it.”
There is a dark spot forming in my chest, a heaviness on my shoulders. Ashley has no one in this world. I was supposed to protect her. Lori wraps her arms around me and looks up at me. “This isn’t your fault.”
I stare down at her, this woman who is my life, afraid that one day I will fail her as I have Ashley and I know this is a dangerous place for my mind to go. These demons are halfway back in their box. They need to go back in and stay in.
“It’s the CIA, man,” Smith says softly, and when my eyes meet his he says, “You didn’t do this. You didn’t cause this. And she’s alive. I will make the promise to you now that I’ll keep her that way. I’ll find her.”
There is something raw and emotional in his words, a sense of personal with Ashley that I’ve seen hints of before, that I am now certain runs deeper than a mere flirtation. They’ve bonded. He cares. He’s in her corner right along with us. “I’ll hold you to that. Let us know if you hear anything. Right now, I need to take my wife home.” I wrap my arm around Lori’s shoulders and walk toward the door, wasting no time walking us into the hallway.