He’d been relieved when she’d snuggled into him; his heart had thumped hard. The kiss had been special to him because he was never going to have another first kiss with her.
All of the team were in the room when he and Steff walked in. He’d wanted to be able to hold her hand when they entered, but he couldn’t hold the box and her hand at the same time.
He placed it on the table and then reached for Steff. He believed she would be okay, but they were about to open something that had been delivered to her by an unknown person.
“I know you gave us a brief rundown of the situation, but how about giving us a bit more detail about the box and how it came to be in Steff’s possession,” Ox said after he and Steff took a seat at the table.
He’d sent a message requesting a meeting with everyone while Steff had been in the shower. The response had been immediate, and they would all be there, ready to do whatever they could.
This was another thing he loved about working with Alliez. There was a closeness and willingness to drop everything whenever anyone had a problem that needed looking at. He’d experienced it with his team to a certain extent, but outside of his three closest friends, not many had offered their assistance.
Jag explained to the assembled group what had happened the previous evening with regards to how the box had been delivered, the label, and Steff’s full address being listed.
“I’m accessing the cameras in the area now to see if we can get a good look at his vehicle and a visual of him.” Cass tapped away at her keyboard, beside her, Irish was gently massaging the back of her neck.
Did she have another headache?
She’d had a lot when her brain was fighting the brainwashing that had been inflicted on her as a child.
“Thanks, Cass. There was nothing that stood out about the guy,” Jag stated. “He had a ball cap on. From memory, he didn’t appear to be in a uniform. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, as sometimes bigger courier companies contract out to independent people to do some of their routes.”
“Shouldn’t we open the box and see what’s inside?” Steff spoke up. There wasn’t a hint of fear in her voice, which he would’ve expected given the circumstances.
His girl was becoming stronger and stronger. Although he didn’t think she was over everything that had happened to her. That wasn’t going to happen quickly.
“Let me run a scanner over it to see if there are any signs of chemicals inside.” Angel exited the room to get the device.
“If there was anything sinister on the outside of the box, wouldn’t Dalton be suffering or showing the effects of it? He handled the box yesterday, as well as this morning,” Steff asked, looking at him with concern.
He took hold of her hand and squeezed it. “I’m fine. And you’re right, considering how the guy was holding it yesterday, if there was anything bad on the outside, he would’ve been wearing gloves, and he wasn’t.”
Jag went to release his grip on Steff’s hand, but she placed her free one over it, effectively keeping his hand firmly around hers. He had no issue with that, and clearly she didn’t have a problem with the rest of his colleagues seeing the connection either.
Not that it would come as a surprise to everyone, they’d seen how he’d been close to her at Teresa’s place, and the rest of his friends were well aware of where his attentions lay.
“We trust Jag to have taken some care yesterday, but it’s easy enough to rig something that would trigger when the tape is cut. We’ve got a device that will be able to detect if there is any powder, or any other residue that may be stuck to the tape,” Ox smiled reassuringly at Steff.
“There’s something that can do that?” Steff looked at Jag incredulously.
“Sure is. And you’d be surprised at what else we have here.” He winked, giving her hand another squeeze.
“I think I’d rather not,” she muttered, and settled back in her chair.
Jag had been impressed with some of the gadgets Alliez had access to. A lot had been developed by Cass. Not only was she a computer whizz, but she had skills that every government in the world would want. Fortunately for them, Alliez was her home, and she had no plans on going anywhere else.
The FBI also had access to technology that was beneficial to them. There were lots of things various agencies used that most people would think belonged only in the mind of Hollywood creatives and weren’t actually real.
“I’ve got a hit,” Cass announced, and Jag tensed, hoping that they would be able to solve the mystery of who the person was, and they could close this particular chapter in Steff’s story.
As much as he wanted to believe that, he suspected it wouldn’t be the case.
An image of the delivery guy showed up on the TV screen, along with camera footage of the vehicle he’d gotten in. It was a standard white delivery van that everyone used.
“Can you get a read on the van’s plates?” Jag leaned forward, studying the image of the man, as if he could see something different from when he’d been face to face.
Then again, at the time, Jag hadn’t thought there was anything unusual about the guy, except for his insistence that he hand the parcel directly to Steff.
“Plates are stolen. They belong to a blue Hyundai, registered to a Ruth Carson, seventy-eight years of age, who resides in Pasadena.” Cass relayed the information as if she was reading out her grocery list.
