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Alex stood alone at the entrance of the food court. No Logan. She tried calling him again, but he still didn’t answer. His phone just rang. She texted him once again, this time telling him more, but then she began to worry that his phone might not be working. Todd had said he’d been having problems with his. They were pretty new. She thought about calling someone else, but her theory could be completely wrong. She wasn’t confident enough to tell anyone except Logan, and besides, she wasn’t certain who she could trust.
Should she try to find him? But Kaely could be running out of time. She had to leave. She ran over to one of the staff working at the bakery, sure he couldn’t possibly be involved with Kaely’s disappearance. The guy had to be barely out of his teens. She asked him for something she could use to write a note, and he gave her a paper menu and a pen. She quickly scribbled a message, folded the menu, wrote Logan’s full name on it, and then handed it back to him. His name tag read Kirk.
“Please, you’ve got to give this to an FBI agent named Logan Hart. It’s very important. You can’t give it to anyone else, okay?”
“Okay, I guess. I mean, I just serve food. I’m not an FBI agent or anything.”
Oh, crud. “I realize that, Kirk. I just need you to get this to him. Please. He has dark blond hair, blue eyes, and he’s fairly tall.” She reached into her jeans pocket, then peeled off several bills and handed them to him. “I wrote his name on the note. Okay?”
“’Kay. Thanks for the tip.”
Alex took another quick look around. Still no Logan. But between the last text and this note, she’d done all she could. Throwing up a quick prayer, she hurried out the front entrance and found Ben waiting in the SUV. She opened the passenger side and stuck her head inside.
“Let me drive, Ben. You don’t know where things are here, and I do. It will be faster.”
Although he didn’t look happy about it, Ben got out and slid into the passenger side while Alex got behind the wheel.
He disconnected his phone. To think he’d almost called off the last part of his plan. But now things were back on track. No matter what, everything would work out just fine. They were just pressed for time.
He smiled at the small redheaded woman in the chair. “Just a little longer, my dear. Then I’ll be finished. I’m almost sorry I won’t be watching you die firsthand, but I’m sure you can understand I have no choice. I have to make my getaway.”
“You won’t get away with this,” Kaely said.
He laughed. “Oh yes, I will. I’m sure if you think about it, you’ll see how easy it will be for me. I’ve planned every detail, even arranged for unexpected surprises. You can see that, can’t you?”
Kaely was silent as she stared at him. Finally, she said, “You’ve underestimated the agents in the BAU. They’re much smarter than you are, and certainly more honorable.”
He advanced on her and slapped her with enough force it left a red mark on her cheek. She barely moved and never lost eye contact with him.
He laughed in her face. “That’s supposed to intimidate me, isn’t it? Good try, but it doesn’t.”
“That’s because you’re a psychopath,” she said.
Rage nearly made him strike her again, but he wanted her fully aware. “You don’t call me that, you understand?”
“Why? Because it hits too close to home?”
He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. “No, my dear. Because it isn’t true. You’re just trying to get me to make a mistake.”
Kaely didn’t respond.
He laughed again. “Nothing you say or do will make any difference. This is your last day on earth, Kaely Quinn. No one is coming to save you. I’ve beat you once and for all.”
Alex drove slowly down Hoover Road, then turned onto Investigation Parkway. Nothing looked out of place at the laboratory or the DEA Justice Training Center. She rolled down the window and shone her flashlight over the area. It was snowing so hard it was difficult to see, but she didn’t notice any lights or tire tracks at either facility. Any tracks left by the training camp had already been covered under a layer of white.
As she pulled onto Forensic Way, Ben said, “We need to move faster. Remember, we don’t have much time before Logan calls Washington.”
She smiled at him. “Don’t worry. We’re almost to Hogan’s Alley. I just want to be certain she’s not here.” She cocked her head to the right.
“I seriously doubt Kaely would have an interest in the Tactical Emergency Vehicle Operations Center garage,” Ben said, his voice tight as he read the sign on the building out loud.
“I can’t see her coming out here by herself anyway,” Alex said. “But if Washington takes over the search, we’ll lose control, and Kaely’s career could be over.”
“Do you really believe she just took off on her own?” Ben asked.
Alex sighed. “No. That doesn’t sound like her. I think someone took her.”
