Web of Shadows

by Susan Sleeman

  “BECCA AND CONNOR will put out an alert for Ty,” Nina told Quinn, but he didn’t stop pacing to respond. His jaw was set, his lips pressed together in a grim line.

  She was frazzled from watching his frantic movements. She stepped in front of him. “Pacing won’t bring him back here.”

  “No, but it’ll keep me from going insane.”

  She rested her hand on his arm. “We’ll find him soon. With the alert . . .” She let her voice fall off as her phone rang.

  Hoping it was Ty, she looked at the screen. “It’s Becca.”

  “Maybe she has news about Ty,” Quinn said optimistically.

  “Let’s hope so.” Nina answered but was quickly disappointed. No news yet. Quinn resumed his pacing, his steps faster and more frantic this time. He was a doer, not a thinker. She knew he had to be ready to explode.

  “We basically struck out at the hotel,” Becca said.

  “Didn’t you find anything?”

  “We confirmed the hack was done with Ty’s computer and it originated at the hotel, but we didn’t find the computer. The place has a coffee shop with free Wi-Fi, so we suspect the hacker came in off the street, did his business, then left.”

  “What about security cameras?”

  “I’m at the office with Connor. We’re reviewing the feed, along with traffic-cam footage. But even if we catch Fagan on camera, it’s not likely to lead to his current location.”

  Quinn’s phone chimed, catching Nina’s attention.

  “Something seems off about this hotel, but I can’t put my finger on it,” Nina said to Becca while keeping an eye on Quinn as he typed on his phone. “I’ll do a little research on the internet and see if I can figure it out.” She disconnected.

  Quinn typed another message, then crossed over to her, his steps urgent. “The texts are from Ty. He needs me.”

  “Where is he?” Nina asked, trying to stay calm.

  “Back where this all started. Triple Falls.”

  Nina’s radar went off. “Odd place for him to be, isn’t it? Especially at this time of night.”

  “He received a text saying the computer had been left at the cache site. He went to check on it. Only he fell halfway up and is stuck. I can’t leave him there.”

  Nina’s bad feeling intensified. “He didn’t take the truck, so how’d he get there?”

  “He said he got a ride from a friend.” Quinn gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Will you be okay here if I go after him?”

  She would, but he wasn’t thinking clearly, and she needed to stop him from making a mistake. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to go? You don’t even know if Ty’s in control of his phone.”

  Quinn watched her for a moment. “You think Fagan has Ty and is trying to lure me up there?”

  “It’s possible. Is there anything you can text back to Ty that only he would know? Even if Fagan is the one texting you, we’ll at least know Ty’s with him, and you won’t be wasting your time.”

  “There’s no time. Besides, I’m going, no matter what.”

  She grabbed his arm. “Please do this. For me.” She hated to beg, but she couldn’t let him race into a trap when Fagan might have already killed Ty as he’d done with Hamid. Perhaps in the same spot.

  “Fine.” Quinn thumbed a message into his phone. “There. Now we wait.”

  They stood there, their gazes connected, her hand still on his arm. She tried to convey her concern for him—for Ty—in her gaze. He relaxed a fraction until his phone chimed, and his eyes went hard and warrior-like. He looked at the screen. “We’re good. It’s Ty.”

  She watched as he tapped another message saying he was on his way. She waited for him to hit send, then said, “I’d like to go with you.”

  He shook his head and clasped her arms. “If there was an alternative to leaving you alone, I’d take it in a heartbeat. But you’re safer here than with me.”

  “I can’t let you go alone. You need backup in case something isn’t right when you arrive.”

  His jutted out his strong chin. “I’m not letting you come with me and that’s the end of the discussion.”

  Nina fisted her hands and prepared to do battle. “But I—”

  He dipped his head, stealing her words with a quick, emotion-filled kiss.

  “Gotta go.” He raced for the door, stopping only to retrieve his rifle.

  Shocked at his swift departure, she stood for a moment before pulling herself together and charging after him. Dark shadows clung to the stairway, and she had to stop to let her eyes adjust before she started her climb. She heard him gun the engine, and by the time she reached the driveway, all she could see was the red glow of his taillights. She thought to jump in the truck and go after him, but he was a SEAL with a head start. She’d never catch up to him in time. Her heart creased with the same pain she felt each time he deployed. Her only solace was that he wasn’t doing battle with unknown forces today. She was certain Quinn could easily subdue Fagan.

  To keep her mind occupied, she returned to the houseboat and sat behind the computer where she connected to the internet. She plugged Diamond Hotel into a map program and reviewed businesses and sights listed in the immediate area. Starting near the Portland Saturday Market, she worked her way north, moving past Voodoo Donuts and the Skidmore Fountain, two local landmarks. The Shanghai Tunnels came next. When she’d first moved to Portland, she’d done all the tourist things and the tunnel tour was one of them, though she had to admit, it was a bit schlocky.

  The best she could tell, the tunnels ran near the hotel, but what if they ran under it? She remembered from the tour that unexplored sections of the tunnels still existed. Could Fagan have set himself up in one of them to use the hotel’s Wi-Fi? Could he even get a signal underground? Questionable, but possible with the right router. But how would he know about the tunnels? He might have worked at the hotel she supposed and discovered it that way. Kip Ulrich might know.

  She couldn’t call him from her phone. It was still too risky to let anyone know her number. She’d have Becca phone him as they’d done when they contacted Kip the first time.

  As Nina pulled out her phone to call Becca, it chimed with a text. She glanced at the screen and saw a text with a picture sent from Ty’s phone. She opened it and nearly dropped the phone.

  Ty was sitting on a stone floor, his arms shackled to wooden beams, a laptop on his knees. She enlarged the picture. The place resembled the Shanghai Tunnel she’d visited.

  The caption read. Come now. They’re going to kill me.

  Her fingers trembling, she typed. Where are you?

  Diamond Hotel. I need help hacking the NFL again. He said you have thirty minutes to get here or he’ll kill me. Come alone and don’t tell anyone. Not even Quinn. Please, Nina.

  She doubted Ty was the one typing this text.

  Then again, it didn’t matter, did it?

  Ty’s life was in danger, and Quinn was a good hour away by now. Exactly what Fagan hoped for when he’d sent Quinn on a wild goose chase, leaving her as the only person who could rescue Ty.

  QUINN ARRIVED AT Triple Falls and scouted the area. There weren’t any cars in the lot. As suspected, this seemed more and more like an ambush or a bust. But if Fagan was there, Quinn knew how to easily turn the tables on the creep. He was likely sitting up high, maybe with a weapon. The most important thing for Quinn to do was gain the high ground, something he’d learned in land nav training at BUD/S.

  Not that it was a revolutionary tactic or anything. All military forces knew that your field of engagement was better viewed from up high. It was a whole lot easier to fight your way downhill than up.

  He slung his rifle on his back, dropped a knife in his cargo pocket, then strapped on his night-vision goggles. Gripping his handgun, he slipped into the brush abutting the tra
il, moving swiftly but silently. In an op like this one, stealth and accuracy were everything. He’d have to slide past Fagan and strike with the speed and precision of a snake.

  If Fagan was even up there.

  He approached the midway portion of the trail. When he found no one, he kept going, his breath coming in little bursts in the night, rising up as mist over his goggles. The higher he climbed the more he started to believe Ty wasn’t there. Not only Ty, but Fagan wasn’t either. Which meant only one thing. The creep had wanted to get him away from Nina. Far away.

  Quinn picked up speed, moving as fast as he could without disturbing the brush. Time zipped by. It had been forty minutes since he’d stepped onto the trailhead. When he reached the summit, he was alone. And so was Nina. He had to check on her.

  He grabbed his phone, silenced for the climb. Found a message from her.

  I know where Fagan is. He has Ty. Forcing him to hack the NFL again. Going to meet him. Undercover. Becca will back me up. See you on the other side.

  “No,” he shouted, his voice reverberating through the trees.

  Adrenaline pumping, he raced down the path. He had to get to Nina and Ty before he lost them both.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  NINA PARKED THE pickup down the street from the Diamond Hotel. On the twenty-minute drive, she’d weighed her decision to put herself in a tunnel with Fagan and kept coming up with the same decision. The first rule of law enforcement called for her to protect the innocent above all. Ty may have hacked the database, but he was not to blame for this situation. He was just a boy, one without the skills to save himself. But she had those skills. Still, she wasn’t a fool either. She’d texted Quinn her plan before leaving the houseboat and called Becca for backup. Now she needed to put that plan into action.

  On one of the extra burner phones Quinn had bought, she silenced the ringer and dialed Becca. After Nina’s earlier call, Becca and Connor had headed for the hotel. Worried about Fagan seeing a police presence, Nina made Becca promise not to tell anyone but Connor about this for now and arrive silently. No sirens. No lights. No official police vehicles at all.

  “I’m at the hotel,” Nina said after Becca answered.

  “Don’t do this, Nina.” Becca’s plea was heartfelt. “It’s a trap, and you know it.”

  Nina wouldn’t let Becca sway her. “Ty’s life is on the line here. I can help him.”

  “Fine. But if I can’t stop you, then I sure hope you’ve come up with a plan.”

  “As much of one as I could put together in Fagan’s short timeframe.” Nina took a deep breath and launched into the details. “Once we finish this conversation, I’ll leave the call connected to you and hide the phone in my bra. I’ll put the phone that Fagan texted me on in my pocket, so when he searches me—which I’m assuming he’ll do—he’ll find that phone and not look any farther. Assuming he doesn’t find this one, you’ll be able to hear everything that goes on and can work up a rescue plan that won’t endanger Ty’s life.”

  “What if the signal isn’t strong enough underground?”

  “I believe he texted me from the tunnel, so I’m hoping my phone will work.”

  “And if it doesn’t? Or if he finds the phone? You’ll be on your own. Then what?”

  “Then I’ll have to find another way to communicate. We can assume Ty is using the hotel’s Wi-Fi to access the internet for the hack. I’ll try to get a message to you via the network if I can. Plus I have GPS turned on.”

  “Yeah, but the clear line of sight GPS needs to work will be interrupted. We’ll lose the signal.”

  “It’ll still give you my last location before I go underground. You can narrow things down from there. Were you able to get the blueprints for the hotel?”

  “Connor’s got someone working with the City on it, but the fact is, these tunnels aren’t on most plans. So even if there is one under the hotel, it may not show up. I hope the hotel manager knows something. I’m about five minutes out.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Becca blew out a deep breath that carried over the phone. “Have you thought about what happens if you and Ty can’t hack the NFL again? Fagan could decide you’re both useless and kill you.”

  “I’ve thought of that. I raided Quinn’s magic bag of tricks and found a mini revolver with an inside-the-waistband holster. I’ve put it under a visible holster to hide it. I also have an ankle gun. Again, I’m hoping Fagan’s inexperienced enough that he’ll take the obvious weapons, think he’s found my backup, and stop searching.”

  “Nina, please don’t do this.”

  “Enough, Bex. We can argue this all day, but my time is running out. I have to go. I’m stowing it for a sound check.” Nina dropped it deep inside her cleavage and adjusted it so it didn’t show. “Okay, stowed. Can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” Becca’s voice came from Nina’s chest. Despite the tension, she smiled at the idiocy of the idea.

  “Please reconsider,” Becca pleaded.

  “Don’t worry, Bex. We can do this. I’m stepping outside now. Mute your phone so nothing comes through on this end.”

  “Going silent,” Becca said, sounding very reluctant.

  A moment of unease stopped Nina, but all she had to do was think of that picture of Ty. She’d do anything for that kid. She shoved her actual phone into her pocket, tossed up a prayer that Fagan wouldn’t find the gun and phone, then climbed from the car.

  She headed down the street wet from the recent rain. The few pedestrians on the sidewalks had their heads down, their shoulders hunched against the cold whistling wind. Fagan hadn’t instructed her to go inside, so she waited in the cold and resisted tapping her foot on the damp concrete. Her back to the building, she watched both sides of the street. She heard the barest of whispers behind her, and started to turn when the barrel of a gun jabbed in her back.

  “Don’t react.” Fagan’s voice slithered over her shoulder like a snake, bringing back unsettling memories of him. “Just start walking. To your right. Quickly now. Ty’s waiting.”

  He stepped to her side, his arm coming around her back and tugging her closer, the gun now lodged in the soft flesh of her side. He had a musty smell, the kind that lingered on clothes after storing them for a long time. She had the impulse to disarm him, but she had no idea where he held Ty. She would have to go along with his plan until she did.

  At the corner, he pulled her around the building, shoved her down a deserted street and into an alley. He pressed her up against a wall, and she got her first look at his face. She gasped at the copious scars she saw. Anger flared in his eyes, and she immediately regretted her response.

  He slammed his forearm against her neck, pummeling her head into the rough brick. The gun came up to her temple, the barrel icy and hard. “Take a good long look. This is your handiwork. Might as well have been you who took the shiv to my face.”

  She struggled to breathe, but her attention was still on his scars. He was so close, she could see each line. Each scar. Hundreds of them crisscrossing like a road map above his beard that she suspected covered additional damage. The pain he must have experienced. She actually felt sorry for him until she looked in his eyes. Years’ worth of anger was stored behind irises the color of darkness.

  He pressed closer, his coffee-scented breath fanning over her skin. His arm lifted, allowing air to flow to her lungs again.

  Please don’t find my phone. Please. Please. Please.

  “I . . .” She started to speak to draw his attention, but she didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make him angrier, so she kept quiet and peered at him, making sure her horror for what he must have gone through didn’t show.

  “I thought that’d shut you up.” He stepped back, his free hand going to her gun and jerking it out, then shoving it in his waistband. He ran the same hand over her body in curso
ry sweep, making her gag with revulsion. He slid it down to her ankles. Found the other gun.

  A look of superiority lit his face as he pulled it free. “Clasp your hands behind your back.”

  She did as asked, praying that the awkward position wouldn’t reveal the hidden phone. He pulled out thick cable ties and bound her wrists, jerking the heavy plastic tight and cutting into the tender flesh. Next came a long, dingy cloth that he’d rolled and forced into her mouth. It smelled musty like him. Her gag reflex kicked in. Dry heaves plagued her until she got control of it.

  He laughed. “This is only the beginning, sweetheart.”

  He ran his hands over her body again, discovering the phone in her pocket. He dropped it on the ground and crushed it. She expected he’d yell at her it for bringing a phone, but he jerked her by the cable tie and pushed her toward the hotel’s back wall. “In the small opening between the buildings, slide in. Face toward the hotel.”

  The narrow opening ran the full length between the hotel and another building. It wasn’t more than two feet wide and was a long space with no end. She wedged her body inside. It closed in around her, and fear for her life kept her from moving. He stepped in, the hoodie and shadows from the wall masking his face, making him seem more threatening.

  Was she wrong? Did he want to kill her too and the whole setup was a ruse for making her let her guard down so he could get to her? After all, he’d likely killed Hamid and the psychiatrist. Maybe his parents, too. Or maybe, this was simply the way he accessed his tunnel.

  He nudged her forward. “Keep going until I tell you to stop.

  She slid. Step after step. Down the wall. Her arms cramped as she moved, the rough brick snagging on her jacket. The faint glow from the streetlight disappeared. Deeper and deeper they went. The space was black, pitch black. She started to regret her decision and thought Becca might have been right. Nina was going to her grave.

  “Stop.”

  She stopped. She felt him hunch his back, heard something groan, then a rush of air swept over them.