by Natalie Dean
She’d gone through all her emotion. She’d gone from terrified for the girl to furious at the kidnapper to simply numb. Now, she was starting to level out. She knew the facts of the game. Now she just had to play better than Jacob Jackson. In a few minutes, her emotions would have cooled down enough for her to start tracking, for them to start tracking Jacob. Her emotions would probably be back to normal by the time she got to the apartment.
On the way out of the parking lot, Adrianna caught Stone’s disapproving eye. He could tell she was going to ignore him. She was way too easy to read, and Stone had known her for years. He probably had no doubt that she was off to get weapons to chase him down. Very solemnly, he tipped his head in respect. He’d probably give her a day to get started before he “realized” she was gone. He was a good friend. A bit of a jerk, and quite a blowhard, but someone that she could count on in a firefight.
It wouldn’t be easy. Tracking in a more populated area never was. There were just too many auras to pick out one and follow it. As Adrianna drove them back to the apartment, she tried to figure out a good way to find Jacob. He must have had help. John had told David that someone had driven the truck, so there were at least two people to worry about. The bowling alley was right by a stop light, and kidnappers rarely stop for a red light, so they could probably identify the truck’s license plate through the cameras above the light.
“We’ll get her back,” David said as they drove.
And they would. Adrianna didn’t know how, or when, but she did know that this Jacob guy had bitten off more than he could chew. When they got back to the apartment, she found exactly what she was hoping for- a note slid under the doorstep on the inside of the apartment. A note meant ransom, and ransom meant Ellie was still alive.
David ripped open the package to read the note. Adrianna looked at it with him. Neither one said a word as they read.
Your girl is safe for now. If you want her back, follow these directions: in two days, the Governor is coming in. Kill him, and we’ll let your girl go free. If you fail…you had better look into adoption.
There was, as was to be expected, no signature.
David took the paper to the shredder and put it through. A few moments later, the note was no more than confetti. If the FBI searched their apartment and found that note, David and Adrianna would be detained for protection/questioning. “So…what do you think?”
Adrianna wasn’t entirely sure what to think. She’d been hoping for a simple ransom: pay this amount of money and get her back. Easy peasy, done in fifteen minutes. Killing the Governor was entirely too hard for mere grunts. The Governor had bodyguards for a reason. But for a power couple like Adrianna and David, the bodyguards wouldn’t be able to do much, especially since they were something of celebrities in Calidad. They could get up close and personal like few others could do.
“Well….” Adrianna sighed. “We have two days to find them. If we don’t, I say we kill the Governor.”
He gave her a funny look. “Well, that went a different direction than I was expecting. Let’s stick with finding her.”
And with those words, the search began.
Chapter 5
The first thing Adrianna and David needed was ammo. If they found the guy, they needed a way to nab him that didn’t involve the police. If it came down to it, as an officer of the law, Adrianna could shoot and kill him. Honestly, given a choice between shooting to kill and shooting to incapacitate…
Let’s just say someone had better think of good things to say at his funeral.
She grabbed the chrome handgun that her father had given her. She’d lost it the year before while trying to survive The Owl, but the cleanup teams had found it and returned it to her.
David went off into another part of the house and returned with his own gun. He slid it into his pocket, which is when Adrianna realized she needed to change. Wearing a dress into battle wasn’t too logical. That’s why she tended to wear jeans and a shirt for her FBI work. It was tough, efficient, and stylish at the same time. Sure, she probably looked more sophisticated with a dress, but sophistication didn’t matter when things got real. Sometimes she even wore a bulletproof vest, but she didn’t own one herself, and she doubted the FBI would give her one right then.
She grabbed her good jeans, her worn combat boots, and a long sleeve shirt. It was winter, and where she was from it tended to get quite cold. The last thing she needed was to freeze while tracking. She was just hoping that it didn’t rain or snow. That tended to really jack up her extra senses.
By now, she was less worried. They had two days until Ellie was in true danger. They had to be subtle, of course. If Jacob learned that an FBI agent and MMA fighter was right on his doorstep, he might do something drastic. Other than that, he probably didn’t expect them to find him in two days. An average person couldn’t. Without her tracking abilities, it’d take her at least a day to get access to the necessary tapes and another day to start tracking.
Having this sixth sense had its advantages.
Come to think about it, she really had no idea why she had this sixth sense. Neither of her parents had it. When she’d told her dad, he’d just shrugged and said “some of us got more gifts than others. That’s life. Life just gave you a whole bunch of lemons.” But lemon analogies aside, it was something she liked having. She’d only been wrong once back in high school before she’d really started honing in on her skill. Every other time, she’d been able to get a perfect read on a moment’s notice. The agency had been surprised by her prowess and her ability to track people down at first. When they’d finally decided to question her about it, she chose not to tell them about her sixth sense. She just said she had a hunch about what direction to look. They knew there had to be more to it, but chose to look the other way.
She’d ignored the agency only once before. They had ordered her to bring David in, back when he was accused of murder. She’d realized he was innocent and disobeyed them. It ended up okay, but that was her one straw. She doubted they’d be so understanding the second time around. Few agents had disobeyed them even once. None had ignored their instructions twice, especially not twice in two years. Agent Stone might give her a head start, but then again- it was his job on the line. If he got caught giving her a head start, he’d be in major trouble. He might be waiting outside the apartment to catch her. She had no idea. But she knew she had to try.
“I can’t believe this craziness is happening again,” David grumbled. “I’m starting to think you’re bad luck.”
There was just the slightest hint of humor in his voice. He was as mad as she was about his daughter being taken, but he was trying to stay calm. Staying furious would do nothing short of getting him into a bunch of arguments with Adrianna. They both were stressed. They were both eager for revenge. They needed to work together. David knew more about The Owl’s group, and Adrianna knew how to track better.
“Where are we headed?” David asked as they got into the car.
“Dunno yet.”
By that time it was late- just before midnight. Adrianna had never been good with staying up. She could get up bright and early, but at about 10 p.m. she was zonking out. Because of this, if she tried to drive, they were probably going off a bridge. David, on the other hand, could stay up all night and be happy as a clam. David took the wheel as Adrianna tried to isolate the aura.
“You getting anything?” David asked as they drove back towards the bowling alley.
She tried to find the aura, she really did, but trying to isolate it was nearly impossible. She knew her own limits. It had been too long, and there had been too many people there to truly get a good reading. She might have been able to see it if she’d been there to witness the kidnapping, but between the auras of the policemen, the FBI agents, the parents, the kids, and the kidnappers, she got a general taste but not enough. It was like tasting a meal and knowing it had some sort of meat in it. What kind? Chicken? Beef? Pork? Sometimes hard to tell.
Th
ey would have to rely on methods other than her failing sixth sense.
Luckily, she knew exactly who would have those resources.
“We’re heading to the agency.”
David looked over at her. “The agency? Are you crazy?”
“Crazy like an actress.”
“I think you mean crazy like a fox?”
“I prefer actress.”
Nevertheless, he steered towards the agency. Adrianna could tell he had no idea what she was thinking. He’d been there when Stone had told her to stay away from the agency. Adrianna wasn’t planning to go straight into the main complex, anyway. She was headed to her friend’s section in the tech department.
As they drove, she told David what her plan was.
“I have a friend in the tech department. She always forgets to lock her door. I mean, nobody usually cares because her department is just surveillance and nobody ever busts in there, but it’ll be helpful for us.”
“You’re talking about breaking into the agency.”
“I’m talking about going through an open door in the agency. No law against that.”
But they both knew the truth. What they were doing was illegal. Sure, it might hold up in court, but Stone could easily just arrest them on suspicion right then.
Fun stuff.
The agency was illuminated. It was always open, throughout the entire day and night. Sure, there were times when ordinary civilians couldn’t go in, but Adrianna had the keycode. They’d let her in, and David could follow her.
“I hope this works,” David whispered to her as they strode across the parking lot towards the agency.
“You and me both….”
And with that, they went through the doors into the agency.
The first part went smoothly. Adrianna went through the doors to find a couple of guards there. They recognized her, but she still had to show her identification. One heart-pounding moment later, they nodded, and they were through. She saw a few people, but nobody who would be onto her like Stone. Typical workers and even some other Hounds wouldn’t say anything to her. She just smiled at all of them, and they smiled back. She was always friendly around the workplace. Even in an agency as large as the FBI, she recognized many of the faces.
After walking for what seemed like forever, they came to the IT department. It was by far the loneliest branch and one that Adrianna rarely went into. There was a bit of a rivalry between the information department and other departments. Hounds and techs rarely got along well, which is why Adrianna only had ever worked with one. She’d been assigned to Cathy (that was her friend’s name), and from then on, the two were inseparable. Cathy had even taught Adrianna a few of the tricks of how to work the equipment. Adrianna was banking off the hope that it was enough.
She remembered the first time she’d been in the IT section. Everything seemed…wrong somehow. It was like she’d left her nation and hopped over to another country. The atmosphere was different.
Cathy had walked right up to Adrianna. She was shorter and heavier than the agent, but she had a funny little spark about her. She carried herself like she was ten-foot-tall and made of solid steel.
“So,” she’d said. “You the hound?”
Adrianna had never been approached by someone like this before. Cathy never really understood personal space. She was an absolute genius, but she could never quite figure out how close to stand to someone. Because of this, she was entirely too close to Adrianna. “Um… yes. Adrianna,” she’d said, sticking out a hand.
Cathy had looked at her hand for a solid five seconds before shaking it firmly. “Cat. And don’t expect me to bow down and worship you. I know, I know. You’re the prize agent. Don’t expect me to treat you like a princess.”
“No expectation of princess-treating here,” Adrianna assured.
Cat was lovable, but only once you got past all her gruffness. Adrianna thought she had always been just a tad jealous of Adrianna’s position as a Hound. Just thinking about her made Adrianna smile. Cat was a feisty little thing.
They got to her part of the department. She had a separate small room with a computer complex inside. Unlike many of the other techs, she had her own room that was locked down. Or at least it was supposed to be. Cat could never remember to lock it.
“This it?” David asked, looking over his shoulder. Nobody was nearby. By that time, it was one or so in the morning. Most everyone had left hours ago.
“Yup,” Adrianna said and pulled the door open.
Or at least that was the plan.
What actually happened was that she put her hand on the handle and tried to pull it open. The door didn’t budge.
Cat had finally remembered to lock it.
“Uh-oh,” Adrianna said. She pulled again. She didn’t know why. Those doors didn’t open without the proper code, period. She could tug all day, and it wouldn’t do a thing other than probably set off the alarm. “Uh-Ohh….”
“It’s locked?”
“It appears that way.”
“I thought you said it would be unlocked.”
“I thought it would be unlocked,” Adrianna snapped. “Okay, I got this.”
She wracked her brain for the code. She’d seen Cat put it in a couple times. Typically, at about two or three in the morning, someone came around to check everything- lock doors, check for intruders, all that stuff. So although Cat always forgot to shut it down, someone else didn’t. Cat had to enter her passcode every morning, and Adrianna had seen her do it maybe ten or fifteen times.
Adrianna was the kind of person that liked to memorize codes. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she was trying to be rude. She just really, really liked knowing codes. Her friends’ passwords for their phones. Laptop passwords. Door codes. She never did anything with them, but she could break into most devices that she’d seen with any frequency.
She tried to enter the code. It was a four-digit code, attached to the wall with a little panel. The buttons depressed with smooth touch. When she’d entered the last number, she pulled her hand back and waited.
It flashed red.
Wrong.
She didn’t panic. It wasn’t rare for an agent to enter their own passcode wrong. She was pretty sure she had three chances before someone came to check. Of course, she wasn’t sure which one of the four she’d missed, or if she’d been completely wrong and butchered the entire code.
She wracked her brain. One, seven, nine, three… right? Or was it one, seven, nine, two? She’d remembered Cat’s password, but she hadn’t ever expected to actually have to use it. The pressure was extremely distracting. If she messed it up two more times, the gig was up. Someone would be sent to lock down Cat’s little room until she returned the next day. By that time, Adrianna and David would probably need to find a different way to do it, or at the very least wait until the next time Cat was gone to break in. By that time, they’d be already a day behind. They needed every minute they could get.
“Do you know it?” David asked as she put her hand back towards the panel.
“Hope so,” she replied. One. Seven. Nine. Two.
There was a long moment.
And then the panel flashed green. Both her and David let out a loud sigh of relief.
“Oh thank the Lord,” Adrianna breathed.
The locking mechanism inside buzzed as the bolt slid open. They were in.
Chapter 6
Inside the room was exactly as Adrianna had last seen it- a fleet of computer monitors, a fast, powerful, sexy computer that looked like it had been designed by Nasa, all packed into a small room.
“Wow,” David said. He’d never seen the place before. He looked about as amazed as Adrianna had been the first time.
“Pretty cool, no?” she pulled the door shut and fired up the computers. They were on in a second. They were top of the line tech.
The password popped up. This one Adrianna remembered. As she put her fingers on the keyboard to type it in, she hesitated. She wasn’t a cri
minal yet, but the moment she used the government's computer without their permission, she’d become one. Getting into the room wasn’t illegal, but accessing government files without permission was.
She looked over at David. He was thinking the same thing.
She typed in the passcode.
“Okay,” she said as the computer unlocked. “Keep your ears open. If you hear someone coming, let me know.”
She fired up the street camera footage, which was a tricky little thing that Cat had taught her in exchange for Adrianna going to the shooting range and giving her some tips. She typed in the address, and boom…they were looking at the camera view from that traffic light. She narrowed down the time frame to sometime around the kidnapping and hit play.
The video was painfully boring, even sped up. All that happened was countless people driving in, then driving out, then driving in, then driving out. They kept their eyes peeled for a truck. That’s all they knew right then- the kidnappers had used a truck. Luckily, their town didn’t have too many trucks. For some reason, most people had cars.
A truck pulled in, and Adrianna inhaled. But then someone she knew got out and dropped his kid off at the party. A few false alarms later, there it was: the kidnapper’s truck. Although the camera couldn’t see the actual footage of the nabbing, they caught the truck roaring off, spinning its tires and spitting up gravel through a red light. A couple of vehicles swerved to miss it.
“That’s our man,” she muttered, freezing the frame and zooming in. The frame inched closer. Cat had not told her how to control the viewing of the camera footage. In fact, Adrianna had never instructed on how to do it. It was easy enough, she just used the mouse to zoom in. The truck was a nice one. It had a glittering black paint job, which was fairly recognizable.
