31
Ben opened the passenger-side door and was coming around the car. Alex couldn’t catch her breath, but she managed to do something she hoped would help her team find her.
Ben yanked her door open and pulled her out. Then he stuck the gun in her side with one hand and put his other arm around her to support her.
“Wait,” she said. “I . . . I can’t breathe.” The snow made her feet slip, and Ben’s grip tightened.
“You’re going to be all right,” he said. “The bullet hit your vest.”
“I think I broke a rib.”
“I’m sorry. I really am. But I can’t help you. I just can’t.”
He dragged her to the pool hall’s side door and knocked on it three times. The door swung open.
“We don’t have much time,” Julie said. “They’ll come looking for them both soon.”
“I know that.” Ben pulled Alex along as the pain in her chest increased. She fought to stay conscious.
“Put her over here,” Julie said. “It took you long enough.”
Ben helped Alex into a chair. “I got here as soon as I could.”
“Now get the van. We have to leave soon.”
“Okay. But we need to be careful. She says the others might be suspicious of us.”
As Alex fought against the fog that threatened to overtake her, she tried again. “Look, if he’s threatening you or your families, we can help you. Please listen to me.” She searched Ben’s face, trying to find a sign that she was getting through to him. But all she could see was fear.
When he walked away, Alex took in her surroundings. The fake town had been used just yesterday, but now it was deserted. Obviously Ben and Julie had been waiting for this.
She blinked several times, trying to clear her vision. She realized someone was in a chair a few yards away. Thank God. It was Kaely.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked her.
“Yes, I’m fine. So far. Tell me you brought backup.”
“No. Sorry. I’m sure Logan thinks I’m safe since I was accompanied by a trusted detective. Too bad he’s crooked.” Alex glared at Julie. “They’ll find us, you know.” The last thing she wanted Julie and Ben to know was that she’d left a note for Logan. She hoped he was on his way. She tried to take a breath, but the pain was too intense.
“I don’t think so,” Julie said. “We’ll be gone before they search here.”
But most of my team heard Ben say he wanted to see Hogan’s Alley.
“I don’t have it. I left it in my room. I was in such a hurry—”
“Liar.” Julie held a gun on her while she patted Alex down. If she wasn’t in so much pain, she could probably take her. But it was all she could do to try to stay conscious and wait for Logan. It was possible the bullet had cracked more than one rib.
Julie straightened up. “I guess you’re telling the truth.” She walked over to a nearby bag and took out a pair of handcuffs. While she wasn’t looking, Alex quickly left the same bread crumb she had in the car. It was a long shot, but she had to do something.
Julie walked over and pulled both her arms behind the chair. A sharp stab of pain caused Alex to cry out.
“Be quiet,” Julie said. She bent down and opened Alex’s jacket. “Guess the FBI’s bulletproof vests aren’t everything they’re cracked up to be,” she said. She removed the vest and tossed it on the floor next to them. The inside was red with blood. Alex looked down and saw blood on her shirt too. The bullet had actually pierced the vest. She couldn’t tell how bad her injury was. Julie put the cuffs around Alex’s wrists, then came around in front of her.
“You’re helping him,” Alex said. Her voice was weak. “Why, Julie? We checked out everyone who worked with John Davis, but we never thought we needed to run background on you.” She struggled to take another breath. “Why?” she asked again.
“For money. Isn’t it always for money? I make a little over forty thousand a year. I have two kids. My ex-husband isn’t paying child support because he’s a bum. My kids deserve a chance. To be something better than me.”
“I’m sorry you think so little of being a part of law enforcement. You help people. Protect their lives.”
“Save it. I made a decision. My son’s running with the wrong crowd, and my daughter’s on drugs. This is my chance to take them somewhere else. Start over.”
Alex could hear the anger in her voice. Julie hesitated for a moment, just long enough for Alex to see the pain in her face. She was struggling. Just like Ben, who probably had worse problems than losing his daughters’ college money. Leave it to a grand manipulator to find someone’s weakest spot and exploit it.
“Julie, he’s not going to give you anything,” Kaely said. “He’ll kill you once he’s done with you. Can’t you see that? He can’t afford any loose ends. Which is exactly what you are.”
“You’re wrong. He cares about me. He . . . he says I’m the daughter he never had.”
“Oh, come on,” Alex choked out. “You can’t be that naïve.”
Julie walked up to her. “If you don’t shut your mouth, I’ll put you in even more pain. Do you understand me?”
Julie was past reasoning. Alex prayed that Kirk had given the note to Logan. Where was he?
Logan waited in the food court for everyone to return. None of the guards had seen Kaely leave. The only people who’d checked out of the academy were supposed to, and none of the FBI cars were missing.
Todd and Robin came back first. He looked at them questioningly.
“Sorry. Couldn’t find her,” Robin said. “We thought she might be in the library, but she wasn’t. It was actually closed until a little while ago. We waited for the librarian, but she hadn’t seen her.”
“Has anyone heard from Alex?” he asked Todd, who shook his head.
“Ben asked to go with her to drive around the grounds,” Robin said. “He wanted to see Hogan’s Alley.”
“Alex isn’t a tour guide,” Logan said, frowning.
“She knows that,” Todd said. “It will probably take them a while to check out all the buildings. Ben will help her get it done faster.”
“They should only be looking for signs of life,” Logan said. “All the new recruits have cleared out by now.” He wanted to chew Monty out for not sending more people to look through the grounds, but it wasn’t his fault. Monty was doing the best he could with the number of people he had.
Monty, Nathan, and Bethany walked into the food court. “We couldn’t find her,” Nathan said. “Madison was locked up tight. The only people in Washington are the staff cleaning the rooms and gathering dirty laundry.”
“Where’s Alex?” Monty asked.
“Not back yet.”
“She checked out their room one more time before she left with Ben,” Monty said. “She wanted to make sure she hadn’t missed something. Maybe a note from Kaely or anything that could help us find her.”
“Has anyone seen Julie?” Bethany asked.
“I got a text from Ben,” Monty said. “All it said was that Julie is with them. Didn’t he text you?”
Logan shook his head. He took the phone out of his pocket and tried to check his texts. Nothing. “I think this thing is dead.”
“Did you charge it?” Bethany asked.
“Of course.” He sighed. “Great. If Kaely tried to call me . . .”
“If she couldn’t get you, she would have called one of us,” Monty said. He handed Logan his phone. “Take this. At least you can contact Alex if you need to.”
“Thank you.” Before his phone quit working, he’d tried to call Kaely several times, but the phone just rang and rang. “Anyone else try to call Kaely?”
“We all did,” Bethany said. “No answer.”
He didn’t like being out of touch with his team. He tried to call Alex with Monty’s phone. No answer. Maybe her phone was down too. At least she had police detectives with her. She should be safe. He really didn’t expect them to find anything. The idea that Kaely would find a way to leave the building without a car, and in the middle of a snowstorm, was ludicrous. But where was she?
“I checked with the guards,” Logan said. “Kaely didn’t leave the building through any of the gates. No cars missing. She’s got to be here somewhere. We’ll wait to hear from Alex, Ben, and Julie or for them to get back and let us know they found her.”
“Can we eat while we wait?” Robin asked. “I’m starving. I haven’t had breakfast.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Logan was hungry too, but he was wound too tight to eat. He checked his watch. If Alex couldn’t find Kaely, he had no choice but to call Washington. A missing FBI agent was a big deal and never taken lightly. He was getting more and more concerned. It was hard to accept that Kaely had somehow gone off by herself, but since he didn’t really know her, he just couldn’t be certain.
He glanced at his watch again. Then he tapped his fingers on the table while he waited for everyone to get food or coffee. Monty walked up to the table and put a plate in front of Logan. “I know you love bagels and cream cheese. Eat. You need your strength.” He smiled. “That guy who usually works the bakery is on break.” His gaze swung back to the breakfast bar. “His replacement is pretty cute.”
Logan followed Monty’s gaze. A petite blonde was working behind the counter. She smiled at him when she saw him looking her way.
“Too young,” Logan said.
Monty glared at him. “Hey, man. Don’t burst my bubble.”
Logan laughed even though he wasn’t in the mood. He picked up the bagel, gave thanks, and took a bite. Fifteen more minutes and that was it. Whether he’d heard from Alex or not.