Page 81 of Rescuing Brinley

“I’ll go talk to the employees in the coffee shack,” Kodiak said. “I see a security camera there on the corner of the building.”

“I’ll ask around and see if anyone saw her car,” Grinder volunteered.

“I’ll call Cypress,” Echo said, as he pulled out his phone.

Shadow got out his own phone and clicked on Brinley’s name, holding his breath, hoping against hope that she’d answer this time. But just like when he’d tried to call her from the field, and the ten times since, it went straight to voicemail.

Minutes later, a whistle from the coffee shack got his attention, and Shadow saw Kodiak gesturing for him to get over there.

He jogged over to where his friend was standing. “They’ve got her car on video. Right around ten, when you said she was supposed to meet her client. Brace, brother.”

Shadow tensed but nodded as he squeezed into the tiny space in the coffee shack, joining the two employees and Kodiak. All his concentration was on the small TV screen, which was frozen on an overview of the parking lot.

The young employee clicked a button and the images began to move. Shadow watched intently as cars pulled in and out of the lot, and then he saw Brinley’s car arrive. She pulled into a space near the back of the lot, probably so she wouldn’t take up any spots from those waiting to buy a coffee. She was considerate like that.

He forced himself to concentrate on the images playing out in front of him.

To the untrained eye, or to someone who didn’t know Brinley, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen. But Shadow knew otherwise—and every muscle in his body seized as he watched that video.

A man walked up to the vehicle, tapped on the window, and got into the passenger seat. Then a woman got into the back seat, and Brinley drove off.

The whole thing probably took less than two minutes.

The footage was grainy—but there was no mistaking the woman who’d slipped into the back of Brinley’s car.

“Play it again,” Shadow ordered.

The second time he watched the video, he kept his gaze glued on Brinley. Even though she was parked a good distance away from the camera, he saw how stiff she looked behind the wheel. The way she glanced over at the man next to her…then down at something he was holding in his hand, before turning her gaze back to stare out the front window.

Shadow took a deep breath, his gut churning. “That’s Tamika. The woman who’s been harassing Brinley.”

Kodiak leaned in and squinted as he examined the screen. “Holy shit, Shadow. You’re right. I remember her. Wasn’t she hanging out with Brinley’s sister?”

“Yes. Tamika Black.”

“Fuck. Who’s the dude?”

“No clue. But at this point it doesn’t matter. We need to find them, Kodiak. Now.”

“Right. Come on, let’s grab the others. We need more help than we’ve got. We’ll get everyone we know to start looking for her car.”

Even as they were walking back to the truck, Shadow was shaking his head. “There’s no way we’ll be able to find her fast enough that way. You know as well as I do how big this state is. It’s been over an hour since they’ve been here. They could be holed up somewhere here in Fairbanks, but they could also be on their way to Anchorage, or they could’ve taken her to some vacation cabin in the wilderness. We need to track her.”

“But her phone’s been going straight to voicemail.”

By now, Echo and Grinder had joined them next to Kodiak’s truck and were listening intently.

“Right, so it won’t do any good to try to trace it.”

“So what are you thinking?”

Shadow took a deep breath. “There’s a guy other Deltas have mentioned. Remember when we were on that one mission with the team from Texas? I think Trigger was the name of the guy I talked to. He told me a story about a guy named Tex Keegan. Apparently, he’s some kind of computer guru. He was able to help Trigger and several of his teammates when shit happened with their women. Maybe he can help me too. Hack into the traffic cameras, the security feeds of businesses around here. If we knew what direction they went, at least that would give us a place to start.”

Shadow was grasping at straws. He didn’t know this Tex guy; why would he help him? But he was desperate. Brinley was running out of time. He felt it in his gut. He needed to find her. Now. But he needed a starting point. Even the smallest hint could be the difference between finding her alive and not finding her at all.

“How do we find this Tex? Get in touch with him?” Grinder asked.

“Havoc Six,” Echo said, as he pulled out his cell. “I missed whatever was on the security feed, but clearly Brinley’s in trouble. The lieutenant colonel knows everyone. He’s been around long enough to have connections. I bet he either knows this Tex, or he knows someone who has his contact info.”