by Dee Davis
Hannah knelt, following the bottom edge of it with her light. “The dust is undisturbed,” she said, her voice carrying her disappointment. “No one’s been here before us.” She pushed to her feet, using the light to trace the other edges, clearly unwilling to accept the obvious.
“Hannah, there’s no way he could have gone this way,” Harrison said, already turning to go. “At least not without a blowtorch.”
“I just need to be sure,” she pleaded. “He’s fooled us before. And I owe it to Tina to be certain.”
With a sigh, he turned back and helped her finish the search, testing the metal by pushing and pulling on it. Finally satisfied, she shot him a grateful look, and they headed back to the main corridor, their lights dancing off the floor and ceiling as they moved. He watched her, marveling at her strength, knowing from experience that there was nothing he could do or say that would help. She had to find her own way through this.
Harrison sucked in a shuddering breath, remembering. He’d survived his sister’s death. But the cost had been immeasurable. It wouldn’t be an easy road for Hannah if the worst happened.
And the thought that this guy could be connected to her through him was almost more than he could handle. But there was no doubt that Walker was fixated on Hannah. Harrison had seen the pictures. And the thought of the bastard getting his hands on her was more frightening than anything he’d ever experienced in his life. Just the idea of this guy touching her… Harrison swallowed an oath, pushing aside his troubled thoughts. It never did anyone any good to overthink things.
Maybe the asshole was just a crazy fuck who’d stumbled on to Sunderland by accident. It really didn’t matter. Either way, Hannah was at risk. That much was clear. And if she kept pushing him away, there wasn’t a damn thing he was going to be able to do about it.
Caring about a woman was like diving headfirst into an abyss—forever falling, plummeting toward certain death, while waiting for that moment when you inevitably crash into the bottom anyway. It was worse than any nightmare.
With an exaggerated sigh, he pulled his thoughts back to the tunnel. The ground, which at first had been descending slightly, was rising sharply now. Ahead he could see a light and hear Simon calling them. They were almost to the end. But Hannah had stopped just ahead, her attention on one of the rotting beams, this one cracked and listing sharply to the left, a huge sliver extending into the corridor like a crooked lance.
“What is it?” he asked, coming to a stop behind her, instantly on alert.
She turned, holding out her hand, a tangle of red yarn on her palm. “It’s from Tina’s sweater. It’s her favorite. She always said it was lucky.” Hannah paused, staring down at the bit of wool as if she expected it to speak to her. To tell her where her friend was. Harrison’s heart constricted. And he started to tell her it would be okay—but stopped, knowing that the words were a lie.
“He’s got her,” Hannah said, her voice softer than a whisper. “He’s really got her.”
Hannah stared at her computer screen, trying to focus. The team had gathered in the war room to regroup. Harrison at his computer showing something to Avery. Drake and Simon sitting across from each other at the conference table discussing what they’d found at the scene. Tracy sat by Hannah, flipping through a stack of papers on the table in front of her. Medical reports. Jasmine and Sara reduced to chemical equations and statistics.
Hannah had seen a lot in her life. Both professionally and personally. She was a survivor. But she’d never felt so helpless. And to make things more complicated, she found herself actually needing another human being. Wanting him in a way that went far beyond physical desire. And it scared the hell out of her. She’d always dealt with life by running away. When she was a child, she’d found a safe place deep inside her. A place that no one could reach no matter what other parts of her they tried to possess.
She hadn’t talked for almost a month after they’d removed her from her house, the words lost as she tried desperately to hang on to the sanctuary she’d built in her mind. And from then on when she’d found herself in a difficult position, she’d just retreated. Withdrawn until she could summon the strength to deal. And even after all these years, there was still a part of herself that she kept hidden.
Except that now… well, now she’d let Harrison in. And more than anything she wanted him out again. Or maybe she wanted him to stay forever. It was all so damned confusing.
“All right, people,” Avery said, commanding everyone’s attention. “I want to know where we are. We’ve got a ticking clock as far as Tina’s concerned, and the more quickly we can distill the information we’ve gathered, the better our chances of finding her. Why don’t we start with what we’ve got on Reid’s death. Tracy?”
Tracy nodded, patting the papers into a neat stack as she ordered her thoughts. And Hannah marveled at how calm she was, considering that only a short time ago, she’d been cutting into someone they’d all considered a friend.
“So it looks like you were right about Reid following Walker and presumably Tina to the basement,” Tracy said. “The blood trail you guys were following definitely came from him. Most likely from the stab wound to the gut. My guess is that Walker thought he’d hit a major organ. A hit to the kidney or some part of the colon or stomach would have been consistent with the location of the wound, the end result being Reid bleeding out.”
“But he missed?” Simon asked with a frown.
“He did.” Tracy actually sounded surprised. “Considering this guy’s finesse with a knife, I can’t explain it. Maybe he was just in a hurry or maybe Tina interrupted him.”
“That follows if Reid was attacked in the hall and tried to make it inside to warn her,” Drake said. “If she walked into the middle of it all, Walker would have been forced to concentrate on her. After all, she was the prize.”
“Maybe Reid played dead,” Harrison suggested. “That would have given him the opportunity to go after Tina. And possibly gain the upper hand.”
“Except that it didn’t work,” Hannah said, hating the fact that she sounded so condemning. But the truth was that no matter how hard he’d tried, Reid had failed to protect Tina.
“What about the print?” Avery asked, ignoring Hannah’s outburst.
“The blood was Reid’s, but the fingerprint was definitely Tina’s. Which means we can place her at the scene after Reid was stabbed. In addition, we tested the blood and skin on the wall outside the apartment against a hair sample of Tina’s. And it looks like it’s a match. When we get the DNA back we’ll know for sure.”
“Son of a bitch hurt her, too,” Drake said, the words clipped in anger.
“Slammed her pretty hard against the wall,” Tracy agreed. “The cells from the skin were definitely from her scalp. Anyway, between the placement of the print and the blood in the hall, I’d say we’ve got pretty solid evidence to support the scenario the way you’ve laid it out.”
“So we’ve established that Reid was stabbed either outside the door to the apartment or just inside in the foyer, and that Tina walked into the living room at some point after Reid had made his way inside. What about Walker?” Simon asked. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that he left something behind as well.”
“We’ve already established that the blood we found belonged to Reid and Tina,” Tracy said. “And unfortunately we didn’t find anything to link to Walker. Not that I’m surprised. For all the disorganization in his attacks, he’s always been thorough at destroying anything that might definitively identify him.”
“How about the knife he used on Reid?” Avery asked. “Did you find it?”
“No.” Tracy shook her head. “Although I’ve got techs still looking for it. But I can verify that the width and thickness of the blade used to cut Reid’s throat matches the one used on both Sara and Jasmine. Which at least ties the three murders together. There was also the same degree of expertise present. Reid died almost instantly. As I said before, this clearly wasn’t the
act of a sadist.”
“Because there was no prolonging of pain,” Simon prompted.
“Exactly. Unlike the original cyber killer, this guy is all about power. The thrill he derives from killing comes from his ability to best his prey.”
“The main goal seemingly to stay one step ahead of us,” Harrison said.
“I think you have to be careful about making this personal,” Tracy cautioned. “Based on Walker’s background, there’s certainly some evidence to support the idea. But that could just be a spurious connection. In truth, it’s just as likely that he’s using us because we’re here.”
“Then how do you explain the pictures of Hannah?” Harrison asked.
“I’d say it’s a fixation. Tied to either the college or Tina. Or maybe, if he’s really trying to channel the cyber killer, to you.”
“So you’re totally dismissing the idea that this guy has some kind of issue with A-Tac?” Hannah asked, surfacing from her tumbling thoughts to try to shift the conversation away from talk about her and Harrison.
“I’m not dismissing anything at this point,” Tracy said. “In fact, I’d feel a lot better if Madison was still here. She’s the expert. Anyway, all I’m saying is that we want to avoid making any conclusion that isn’t supported by facts. It’s the easiest way for us to miss something else that might be important.”
“I think your point is well taken,” Avery agreed. “Assuming anything is always a mistake. We need to stick to what we know, not what we suspect. Even if in the end that turns out to be the truth. So what did we find at the tunnel’s end?”
“Nothing conclusive,” Simon said, his frustration echoing Hannah’s. “The grate had been removed, and we found footprints. Two sets. Possibly male and female.” He shot a look at Tracy and shrugged. “Definitely one smaller than the other. We also found some blood on the vent’s frame at the opening.”
Tracy sorted through her papers, pulling one sheet from the pile. “The blood has been identified as Tina’s. So at least we know for sure she was there. And when you factor in the wool Hannah found, we can say with a fair degree of certainty that she was in the tunnels as well.”
“The footprints petered out before they reached the parking lot by the girls’ dorms,” Simon continued. “We’ve got people canvassing the dorms now to see if anyone saw anything, but it was really late, and with so many people having left campus, particularly women, I’d be surprised to find a witness.”
“I pulled the security footage from the parking lot,” Harrison said. “And so far, I’ve got two vehicles that moved during the timeframe we’ve established. The first was a professor. And he’s already verified that he didn’t see anything.”
“And the second?” Avery asked.
“A student. She was leaving to go home. Took me a while to reach her, but she also didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. And I checked with both her parents and her roommate to make sure that she really was where she said she was.”
“So where the hell did he go?” Drake slammed a hand on the table, giving a physical presence to all of their anger.
“Maybe across the street,” Avery suggested. “The security cameras wouldn’t have covered that. My guess is that if he knows about the tunnels, he’s smart enough to have figured out how to avoid our security cameras. We’ve already checked everything we’ve got that shows the administration building, and except for catching the lights going out in the apartment, there’s nothing.”
“How about Tina’s phone?” Tracy asked. “Every time Walker has taken someone, he’s sent Tina an mpeg.”
“I’ve been monitoring both her phone and her computer,” Harrison said, tapping his keyboard for effect. “And so far there’s nothing. I’ve also got passwords for her social media accounts, and there isn’t anything there either. If this guy wants us to know where she is, he’s not trying to contact us through Tina.”
Hannah leaned back, rubbing her temples. She’d been multitasking, listening to the conversation while studying her notes, searching for something that maybe she’d missed the first time through. So far she hadn’t found anything new. But it wouldn’t hurt to go through it all again. She scrolled back to the top of the screen, paging backward to the beginning, and then just as she started to skim across the page, her computer beeped, the noise insistently repeating itself.
A small box at the bottom of the screen blinked in time with the beeping. And she frowned, trying to figure out what the hell it was.
Harrison materialized at her side, and she felt everyone’s eyes on her as she moved the cursor down to the flashing box. She paused, finger hovering, suddenly certain that she didn’t want to see what the box contained.
“It’s okay,” he said, moving his hands to her shoulders, and this time she didn’t shake him off. “I’m right here with you.”
“We all are,” Avery said, and just for the moment, Hannah forgot that she was afraid.
Holding her breath, she concentrated on the warmth of Harrison’s fingers against her skin as she depressed the mouse button. At first nothing happened, and then slowly the computer screen dissolved, the image forming both familiar and terrifying.
The footage was grainy, but there was no mistaking Tina tied to a bed, or the shadowy figure of the man with the knife.
CHAPTER 22
I don’t want you leaving her side, unless you get a direct order from me,” Avery said, his tone grim as they stood in the hallway outside the computer room. “Is that understood?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure I’m the best person for the job,” Harrison said, hating himself for his indecision. “She’s… we’re… ah, hell, it’s so fucked up.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Avery responded, waving aside his protests. “I’ve known Hannah a long time now. And she doesn’t trust easily. But she trusts you. And believe me when I tell you what a rare gift that is. She needs you, Harrison. Whether she knows it or not. And I’m asking—no, I’m ordering you to watch over her.”
“Not a problem,” Harrison said, “I’d have done it anyway.”
“Good. Right now our primary concern has to be finding Tina. But we can’t ignore the fact that Hannah is clearly on this guy’s radar. And I’ll feel better knowing that you’ve got her back.”
“So you really think he’s after her?”
“I don’t know. But even if there wasn’t a threat to her personally, this is still going to be hard on her. Tina’s part of her family. And if this son of a bitch kills her, it’s going to hit Hannah really hard. And we know this guy doesn’t play around. He killed Jasmine within eight hours of abducting her. The bottom line here is that Hannah is part of my family. And she’s been through enough in her life already.”
“I thought that…” Harrison broke off, not wanting to break her confidence.
“She’s never really talked about it.” Avery shook his head. “But the CIA does a pretty thorough background check on all applicants. And coming into A-Tac means even more scrutiny. I just never saw a reason to let her in on how much I know.”
“But you’re telling me.”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Avery said, his smile gentle for such a big man. “She did. I’m not blind, Harrison. And as I said, I’ve known her a long time. So you’ll watch out for her? No matter how much she resents you for doing so?”
It was Harrison’s turn to smile. “You do know her well.”
“All right, then,” Avery said, with a tight nod. “And for the record, this conversation never happened.”
“What conversation?” Harrison shrugged as he watched the big man walking away, for the first time feeling as if he were really a part of the team. He’d been lucky in his life. He’d had the opportunity to work with a lot of really amazing people. But he wasn’t sure that he’d really felt like he belonged. Not since Bree died. But maybe in A-Tac, he’d finally found a home.
The thought was comforting, and he wondered when he’d started letting emotion rule his life. But then
he thought of Nash with his son, Adam. Or Drake and his excitement over Madeline’s pregnancy. Maybe it was okay to need other people. Or maybe it was just about protecting family. And Hannah was family. Whether she liked it or not.
Shaking his head, he walked back into the computer room. Hannah was sitting at a console, staring up at the screen over her head, an image of Tina frozen on the screen.
“You’re just torturing yourself,” he said, moving over to sit beside her.
“I know,” she sighed. “But the only way we’re going to find her is if we study the video. It’s the only lead we’ve got.”
“So have you found anything?” They’d already been over the thing more times than he could count, but so far there was nothing to give them enough to identify a location.
“Nothing new. He’s really been careful with his angles. The only thing we can see is the bed and the wall behind it. And that’s just white plasterboard, which could be anywhere.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Where’ve you been?” she asked with a frown.
“With Avery. He had some things he wanted to talk about.”
“He asked you to watch over me,” she said, swiveling her chair to face him.
He held back a smile. Hannah never missed a thing. “He’s just worried about you. We all are.”
“I know. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried, too. It’s just that as long as he’s got Tina, I don’t think I’m in any real danger.” She paused, looking down at her hands, something she often did when she was nervous. “Anyway, I’m okay with you watching over me.”
“Really? I actually thought you’d be pissed. I mean you were pretty clear back at the apartment.”
“I was an idiot,” she said, raising her gaze to his, her eyes apologetic. “I was upset and afraid. And I lashed out. I know you were just trying to be kind.”
“Kind?” Harrison repeated. “Are you kidding me? It was a hell of a lot more than that, and you know it.”
