Page 98 of Every Last Breath

Growling, Castle climbed to his feet.

Reece swept in front of Castle. “Look, man, Cole is right. I get you’re pissed at this dude. I gather he hurt Maddox pretty bad back in the day, gives you a right to be angry. But you need to table this shit. We need to work together to find her. Once we do, she’ll handle her issues with Lover Boy.”

“We’re on the same side.” Gideon clasped Castle’s shoulder. “We’re all fighting for the same thing.”

Castle scrubbed a hand over his face, regaining his composure. Jaw tight, he finally nodded. “Let’s go inside. Find my sister.”

Chapter 27

Gray Box Headquarters, Northern Virginia

7:19 a.m. EDT

In the conference room, Cole told the story twice. Once for the guys and a second time when Castle thought it best to bring in Sanborn, Harper, Amanda, and Cutter.

“You said you saw the van, right?” Harper asked. “Did you get a plate number?”

“I did, yeah.” Cole nodded. “Partial. X-ray, Lima, Delta. A District of Columbia plate.”

“We might get lucky,” Harper said. “Land a hit from a traffic cam.”

“I’ll run the plate.” Cutter hopped to his feet and shot out of the room like there wasn’t a moment to spare.

The doe-eyed analyst’s expression of furrowed brows and pinched lips mirrored Cole’s, but for different reasons. His appreciation for the kid’s gusto was slow to rise.

Everyone’s motives had to be questioned, offers to help examined, suggestions scrutinized. First, Novak knew Maddox’s name and that she would attend the auction. Next, he found out where she lived somehow and kidnapped her.

A compelling argument that an insider was helping him was snowballing.

“Cole, walk us through everything again.” Sanborn stroked his smooth chin. “Slowly. We’re missing something. I know it.”

How many times did he have to go over this? Replaying it wasn’t helping. It only made the vein in his head throb harder. Maddox was out there somewhere, Novak had the upper hand, and they were wasting precious time. The longer it took to find her, the lower the probability that they ever would.

And it was Cole’s fault for being too prideful to sleep on a sofa.

He gritted his teeth, hating himself. “I left her place a little after one in the morning.”

“Stop.” Sanborn lifted a hand. “Close your eyes. What cars were parked on the street? Was the white van there?”

Closing his eyes, Cole retraced his steps. “Yes. The van was parked further back across the street, but I didn’t notice anyone inside. I wasn’t focused on it.”

“Okay.” Sanborn folded his hands. “So the bastard was there, waiting. How did he find out where she lived? I still can’t understand that.”

Furtive glances were exchanged. Sanborn’s eagle-eyed gaze seemed to notice, but he said nothing. The silence dragged, the tension in the room building along with the pressure in Cole’s chest, prodding him to vomit the truth.

You have a mole. Someone in the Gray Box sold her out like a commodity. Not once, but twice. Someone entrusted with classified information violated that trust and stabbed her in the back.

He put his elbows on the table and pressed down hard while biting his tongue.

Janet breezed into the conference room with a pot of coffee and a large box of doughnuts. She set the box down and plugged in the electric carafe. “Should I notify Mrs. Kinkade about…what’s happened?”

Castle shook his head. “I don’t want my mother to worry. She doesn’t need to know. Not yet.”

Their mother, Susan, was a sweet woman who wore her heart on her sleeve and doted on her children. Knowing what had happened to Maddox was a cruel burden she didn’t need to carry.

Janet nodded and left as Cutter hurried back into the room and sat.

“Negative on the plate. The Goodwill van probably hasn’t been reported stolen yet, but I have a search running through traffic surveillance cameras.”