Megan threw the car door open and stalked back toward the hospital foyer. The guy that had bumped into her in the lobby. He had to have lifted the flash drive from her pocket.
She couldn’t believe she’d been so dumb. Thieves were good, and the great ones could take things from you without you even noticing. Still, part of her had always thought she would notice it happening. Apparently not. She’d had all the answers, and now they were gone before she even had the chance to find out what Zimmerman wanted to tell her.
“Megan!” Adrian pulled to a stop beside her, breathing hard. Her breaths were coming fast as well. Evidently she’d pushed it to get across the street.
She kept going, scanning the ground in case she’d dropped it. Unlikely, but it was possible. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. “Whatever Zimmerman had to say is gone.” But even as she said it, she realized she didn’t want to give up. She wanted to find it somewhere.
Or find the thief.
An old man pulled open the front door of the hospital. He started to head inside, then halted and backed up half a step.
Two men walked out, Sofia between them. One held her arm. The other stood close to her side. Her face was pinched, her big brown eyes even darker in her paled face.
Megan put her hand out to Adrian. He stopped beside her. They both drew their weapons, but Megan held hers out of sight.
“Sofía!” Megan put on her happiest face, a wide smile, and waved with her free hand. She strode toward the younger woman. “How are you? It’s so good to see you.”
The men glanced aside at her, but continued to hustle the young woman out of the hospital. Sofia whimpered as they turned onto the sidewalk and headed for the street. Vehicle parked around the corner? They couldn’t think that was less conspicuous than parking close.
“Hey!” Megan yelled again, like she was getting mad at being ignored. “Sofía!”
One of the men spun back, gun raised.
Both Megan and Adrian lifted their weapons.
He said, “FBI. Put it down. Let the woman go.”
The other man continued to pull Sofia along while his friend faced off with them.
Beyond the gunman, Sofía started to struggle. “Megan!” She kicked at the man’s shins, but he was bigger so her flat shoes had little impact on him. “They killed my son!”
Megan took two steps to the left. Adrian could take the first guy. She trained her gun on the man holding Sofía. “Let her go. Now.” Then she said, “And give me back the flash drive.”
Sofía whimpered against the man’s hold, her energy to fight dissipating. She sagged. That was good. A limp victim was harder to control and harder to get her to whatever vehicle they had parked nearby.
“Put it down.” Adrian’s voice was strong and full of authority.
The man who’d turned back first shifted a tiny amount. Megan braced for the shots that would surely follow.
Then he turned and ran.
Cut and raced away, determined to get out of there.
Adrian ran after him, and the two of them bypassed the second man still holding Sofía. Megan used the momentary distraction to run at the man holding her. She couldn’t see a weapon, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hiding one where she couldn’t see it. Where he’d have point blank aim on Sofía.
Sofía screamed. Megan barreled into the two of them, shoving so that she could put herself between Sofía and the man.
Security ran out of the hospital doors.
Megan shouldered the man into the ground, then put her weapon back into its holster. She grabbed the man’s arms and pinned them behind his back. Then she turned to the security guards, holding their stun guns. “FBI.”
She patted the man down, found his weapon in the back of his pants, and then pulled him to his feet. His hands weren’t bound. She held his elbow while she moved two steps to the guards. “Secure this man.”
“We called the cops.”
She nodded. “Good.” They would have handcuffs at least—better than the plastic ties the guards had. And they’d be able to take this guy in. Get Sofía’s statement.
Megan needed to find Adrian and the other guy. She turned to go, and Sofía slammed into her. “Thank you. Oh, thank you so much.”
Megan patted her back, not sure what else to do. “What happened?” The question was automatic, nothing but a reflex.
“They were in José’s room. He coded and the nurses ran in. They dragged me to the elevator.” She sucked in a breath, panting from the adrenaline of nearly being kidnapped.
Those two men tried to kill José?
Sofía whimpered and clutched Megan harder. “He’s dead.”
She didn’t know what to say. Likely nothing would ever be all right for this woman. Not for a long time. Megan wanted to comfort her, even while she realized she didn’t have time to stick around that long. And did she want to befriend the wife of a man who’d been part of the worst days of her life?
Megan was ready to get out of here.
See if Adrian needed backup.
Sofía ran her hands down her face. “I don’t even know what to do. Though I guess I have to call Ernesto. And send an email to the man to tell him José has passed.” Her lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears.
Megan shifted to face the younger woman, pushing aside her feelings about “Ernesto” and what Adrian had told her about José’s father and his connection to all this. She said, “The man?”
Sofía sighed. “The one who is paying all our medical bills. He’ll need to know.”
Megan waved the young woman to a low brick wall. “Would you like to sit?” Sofía nodded and settled onto it. Megan sat beside her. She didn’t want to burden the woman with questions. She’d just lost her son and then had almost been kidnapped.
As soon as Megan was done, she could let Sofía get back to the waves of emotion and thoughts that seemed to be barraging her. She said, “There’s a man who pays your medical bills?”
This was all linked to the blackmailer. Megan didn’t believe in coincidences. People were getting terrorized and pressured to do things or pay money…and Sofía’s family was receiving it.
Perhaps her husband was more involved than Megan had known.
And if he was, then they had a clear link between El Cuervo and the blackmailer.
Sofía’s face blanked. Megan was about to lose her to the fog of grief. “Ernesto said it would be taken care of.”
A police car with flashing lights and sirens pulled up to the curb. The security guards walked the apprehended man over to them, and they stood in a huddle. One of the cops glanced at Megan and Sofía. Megan pulled her FBI badge out of her back pocket and waved it. The cop lifted his chin, then turned back to the security guard.
“Is there someone you can call?” She didn’t want the woman to be alone right now. It wasn’t good for her. And it wasn’t safe.
Sofía nodded.
“The police will want your statement. Then you can go back inside.” She would likely rather be with her son, saying goodbye. “Have the security guards go with you, I don’t want you to be alone right now. Okay?”
Sofía nodded, her eyes glassy. She seemed almost dazed. Was everything catching up with her?
Movement down the sidewalk caught her attention. Megan stood. Adrian was making his way back to her. He shook his head.
The man had gotten away.
Adrian gripped the steering wheel, headed for the airport. Hank’s voice came through the SUV’s speakers. His boss said, “Security at the St. Louis airport caught Zimmerman checking in for a flight to Chicago half an hour ago.”
“They’re sure?”
“It’s him,” Hank said. “Duffel bag that could contain the sonic weapon.”
Adrian wasn’t convinced that meant Zimmerman had boarded the plane. He knew the FBI would be notified if he was caught on security camera. They were watching all airports, train and bus stations. Zimmerman wasn’t dumb enough to make a mistake like that.
Unless he was trying to get caught.
Adrian couldn’t shake the feeling that Zimmerman had made these moves on purpose. Leaving the flash drive for Megan—a flash drive that presumably had been on the person of the man he’d chased. All the way to that waiting van.
Megan had a better result with her guy, and she’d safeguarded Sofía. She was a good partner whether she wanted to admit it or not. It was Adrian who had let the side down.
And yes, he thought he was the weak link even though the van’s driver had shot at him, and he’d been forced to dive to the ground. FBI didn’t shoot at vehicles fleeing the scene—it was too easy to hit an innocent doing that. But he’d sure wanted to.
Megan hadn’t asked him about the tear in his pants on his left knee. And he was pretty sure he had road rash on his elbow, but he was ignoring that.
“We’ll keep an eye,” the SAC said. “They have security scouring the footage to see where he went after he checked in. We’ll find him.”
Megan shifted in her seat. “Hank, can someone send me a picture of Sofía’s husband?”
Silence.
Adrian listened while Hank blew out a breath into the phone. The SAC said, “You sure?”
“Yes.” Megan’s voice was hard, the word short. “She called him ‘Ernesto,’ but I want to know who he is. And my guess is the blackmailer is the man Sofía told me is paying their hospital bills. I want to know why there’s a connection between the person behind all this and El Cuervo.”
Adrian glanced over, but she didn’t meet his gaze. He looked back at the road. She’d fought this so far. Now she accepted the link, and it was costing her. How far would she bend before she broke?
Hank said, “Zimmerman is the blackmailer.”
“I’m not convinced of that.”
Adrian said, “Neither am I.” Megan shifted. He saw it out the corner of his eye. Adrian continued, “I think Zimmerman knows who it is. But I don’t think it’s him.” An idea had been floating around in his head the past few hours. “I actually think he used this connection to reveal the truth to Megan, but the blackmailer found out. Likely when we did.” He was in Double Down’s tech—their email and computer system. Maybe he was in the FBI’s also—or he had a mole in their department feeding them information.
Megan said, “But we didn’t get the flash drive.” No accusation in her tone.
“So it didn’t work,” Adrian said. “Zimmerman gave it a shot, but it failed. Though maybe he won’t know that unless we put it out there somehow. But either way, now he’s back on plan. Doing the blackmailer’s bidding is my guess.”
“And what is that?” Megan sounded eminently frustrated.
Adrian glanced at her. He wanted to…squeeze her knee or something. Would that even help?
Hank said, “What I have from our profilers indicates Zimmerman is out to destroy the government he works for. That he’s disillusioned and attempting to strike back because he’s frustrated and angry.”
Megan said, “Or he’s frustrated and angry because the blackmailer is pulling his strings, and the one that’s striking out is this mystery man whose identity we still don’t know.” She balled her hands into fists on her knees and rubbed them up and down.”
“Every time our computer people think they’re close to uncovering something more in Zimmerman’s computer, they realize there’s another firewall…or a back door,” Hank muttered. “My guess is he’s giving them the runaround.”
Adrian wondered about that. “Or he has someone else on his payroll. A hacker. Someone with the skills to breach Double Down’s firewall and plant whatever he wants in Zimmerman’s computer.”
That meant he could get into their phones as well. And maybe even the FBI’s system. He could even be listening right now.
There had to be a way they could use that to their advantage. Not the first time he’d had the thought about feeding the blackmailer misinformation. That had been in order to let the blackmailer know the sick child was no threat to him. But the blackmailer had the child killed. Maybe that was a mercy. In some states it was legal. But not without the mother’s consent.
This was murder, pure and simple.
And one part of a big mess they had yet to unravel.
Megan said, “So if he’s disillusioned and striking back at authority, whether he’s the blackmailer or Zimmerman is simply following orders, where is he going to strike?”
Adrian had driven to the freeway, and he was heading in the direction of Chicago. It would take a few hours but if that was the flight Zimmerman had boarded, then Adrian wanted to be as close as possible.
Eventually he and Megan were going to have to stop and rest. The day was waning, and he wouldn’t be able to drive through the night. He was already exhausted. And he figured Megan wasn’t in a much better state than he was.
“That’s the question.” Hank wrapped up and ended the call.
Megan shifted in her seat. “All that for nothing?”
“The hospital?”
She nodded. “No flash drive. The cops have to interview the kidnapper but if the blackmailer had him come here to clean up, then I highly doubt he knows anything.” She sighed. “This guy is too good to let something like that slip through the cracks. He probably has safeguards on his safeguards.”
Adrian shifted his grip on the wheel. Cruise control was on, but he didn’t want to lose focus. Especially not when he was this tired. One thing she’d said stuck with him, though. “Clean up.”
“Huh?”
“Well, that’s what those guys were doing burning Zimmerman’s house down. They didn’t want us to find anything there. Cleaning up all the blackmailer’s loose ends.”
“But we thought the blackmailer was Zimmerman,” Megan said.
“Now that we think he isn’t, we can surmise that the blackmailer is burning Zimmerman’s life. To make him some kind of scapegoat. He has the sonic weapon, he’s the obvious fall-guy. Recently divorced. Not doing well at work.”
“So what does the blackmailer have on Zimmerman that forces him to do what he says and potentially destroy something, kill people?”
Adrian worked his jaw side to side in that way his mom had never liked. He could hear her reproof in his head, he’d heard it so many times. “Whatever it is, he tried to circumvent the blackmailer and get you a message.”
Megan shook her head. “This makes no sense. It’s not like we know each other. Why pick me?”
Before Adrian could suggest something, his phone rang again. Zimmerman could’ve picked Megan for several reasons. She was a kindred spirit to him. Or he felt like owed her. Or he wanted to hurt her, by dragging her in.
The call was from an agent he worked with. He tapped the SUV’s dash screen. “Walker.”
“Hey.” The man’s greeting was short. “Call just came over the wires. A think tank contracted by the government just exploded outside of Peoria, Illinois. We’ve got destruction and death. Emergency services just arrived on scene and the word is the place is a total mess. The whole building collapsed.”