They followed the two officers to a control room where a bank of monitors was set up. An officer sat in front of the computer screens and pointed to a twenty-seven-inch monitor to his right. He scrolled backward, showing Maren and Colt entering Agent Spares’s room and leaving. Then, seconds later, the nurse entered the room and was in there for less than thirty seconds before slipping out just as Maren and Colt headed back to the room.
“Do you have cameras in the stairwells?” Maren asked.
“This one,” the officer said, gesturing to another screen. “We can see the person rushing down and exiting the building.” He pointed to another camera. “We can track the nurse to the parking lot. Then she ducked down between two large vehicles. No one else appears until you step out of the exit.”
“A silver sedan left the parking lot maybe a minute later,” Maren said. “Can you get a license on it?”
The officer scrolled forward showing the sedan leaving the spot and going out the exit. The license plate was missing.
Fisting her hands, Maren looked at Colt. “We need to talk to your SAC.”
He nodded, though the expression in his eyes was grim.
Colt had his gaze on the parking lot monitor. “Wait a second. Can you zero in on that blue van parked near the exit under the shade of that tree?”
The officer enlarged the photo to show a blue panel van. They could see that there was somebody sitting in the driver seat, but the visor was down, and the person’s face hidden.
“Is that—” Maren couldn’t believe it. The same panel van that had run her off the road. “But didn’t it burn?”
“Agent Spares was the one who told us that.” Colt’s voice reverberated with anger. “Looks like he was definitely dirty.”
“We need to get down to that van and see who’s driving.”
Even as the words left her mouth, the van pulled out of the parking spot and exited the parking lot, disappearing out of view. It too was without a license plate.
“This is not good,” Colt said. “One of our own was dirty. Maybe more agents are involved. I don’t know how high up this will go. Could Leo be on the take?”
The horror on Colt’s face combined with the thought of the DEA SAC in league with drug dealers stole Maren’s breath. “It could be how Shadow has managed to evade the DEA for so long. I’ll call Emmett and let him know what’s happening,” Maren said as she left the security office.
Colt was right behind her. “Can you hold off on that until I talk to SAC Herman?” Colt asked. “Leo’s been my boss the whole time I’ve been with the DEA. I can’t believe he’s in on this.” He winced. “I don’t want to believe it. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Give him a chance to defend himself.”
She stared at him, wondering if his judgment could be trusted. Even as the thought formed, she dismissed it. She trusted Colt. And she owed him this opportunity. Still, her loyalty was to the task force. “Let’s head back to Denver. You can talk to your SAC, but I do have to tell Emmett. I’m sorry, but my allegiance is with the Colorado K-9 Unit.”
Colt heaved a sigh and nodded. “I understand. And I would be the same way if the circumstances were reversed.”
She was glad he understood, but she couldn’t help feeling like whatever answers they discovered were going to hurt.
SEVENTEEN
When they arrived at the Rocky Mountain division offices of the DEA agency, Colt brought the SUV to a halt. A conflagration of emotions whirred within him. He was about to accuse his boss of colluding with, if not actually being, Shadow. Nausea rolled through him.
He turned to Maren. “I should do this alone.”
Her pretty eyes were sympathetic. “No way. We’re partners,” she said. “And for now, you’re part of the Colorado K-9 Unit task force as well. Where you go, I go.”
He appreciated her determination and her support. “I don’t know if he’ll talk to me with you there.”
“Colt, I know this is going to be hard.” She put a hand on his arm, her touch warm and solid. “But we do this together.”
Considering he wasn’t sure he could trust his own judgment, he nodded.
They retrieved the dogs from the back and headed into the agency. They passed through the metal detectors, showed their IDs and then took the elevator to the top floor, where the SAC’s office was located. Through the glass panel next to the door, Colt saw the Special Agent in Charge Leo Herman sitting at his desk talking to someone out of view. Leo was in his late sixties, tough as nails, with a buzz cut of gray hair and a square build. As a young man he’d been a marine, and had the same mentality in the DEA.
Despite the turmoil going on inside his gut, Colt knocked. And met Leo’s gaze through the window. Leo waved him in.
Colt opened the door so he and Maren could step inside with the dogs. Surprise arced through Colt to find Agent Daniel Russell sitting in a chair. Unlike the last time they’d seen Daniel, he was now dressed in a dark gray charcoal business suit with a red tie. He had one ankle crossed over his knee. His hair was perfectly groomed and his face clean-shaven.
“Your ears must have been ringing,” Daniel said as Colt shut the door behind him.
