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Not unlike the Guardians, they’re required to be ready to move on a moment’s notice. Nearly all of our missions require tech support on the fly.
Already, her technicians scour CCTV footage along PCH-1.
“You ready?” Mitzy strolls over to where I’m tied to the wall.
“As I’ll ever be. I can’t thank you enough.” I gesture at the room and the array of technology before me.
“Listen up, everyone.” Mitzy claps her hands and the room falls silent. “CJ and Sam are working another issue. I’ll fill them in when we have something actionable. Our mission is to find Kaye and build out a package to bring her home.” Mitzy turns to me. “Zeb’s going to tell us what happened, then we’re going to work our magic.” She gives a nod, telling me to go ahead.
The room falls silent except for the humming of the computers and the whirring of the fans cooling the massive computing power gathered in this room.
I take in a breath and begin.
“We leftInsanity…” I leave off why we left and a sharp pain stabs at my heart. If I had more restraint and hadn’t been so eager to get Kaye in bed, she would still be safe. “Drove a mile or so when I picked up on a car following us. It was Scott and he ran us off the road. He attacked me, but I trussed him up like the pig he is. Our cell phones went over the cliff with the cars; we were lucky to make it out the rear window, wasn’t thinking of phones. I wanted to walk to HQ, but Kaye saw a car approaching. We waved it down, not realizing who it was. Alder got out of his car, seemed like he was going to help, then pulled a gun and shot me. Next, he’s dragging Kaye into the car, then cutting Scott loose. Don’t remember much after that. I passed out. Got to my feet. Next I knew, Brady and Booker were there.”
“The only thing we have to work on is the car is a black Audi with California plates.” Mitzy shakes her head. “Locate all potential areas where CCTV might have footage along PCH-1. He and Scott have to have some kind of relationship that goes beyond casual friends or a professional relationship. The question is, what ties them together? You mentioned Scott deferred to Dean Alder?”
“Like a beta to an alpha. It was weird.” While my memories of that night remain fuzzy, some things are crystal clear. The first is the fear rimming Kaye’s eyes as the dean dragged her into the car. The second was the sickening way Scott deferred to Dean Alder.
“I’d say.” Mitzy shakes her head.
“They thought this through.” I tip my head back against the mattress. “Scott knew exactly where we would be. I don’t know if he intended on driving us off the road, but it’s clear he was there to get Kaye. Dean Alder had to be nearby to provide an assist. It’s the only thing that makes sense, but what do we do now?”
Mitzy and I exchange looks for a long moment before she speaks again. “I want everything on both Scott Parker and Dean Alder, from the moment they took their first breaths to what happened two nights ago. Find a connection. Find that car. We need to know where they would take Kaye. Where would they feel safe…” She taps her chin as her team gets to work.
Something from the last time we met to discuss Scott makes my blood run cold.
“Mitzy, the women who filed the complaints against Scott. They disappeared. Are there any who filed complaints against Alder?”
“Good question. Let’s see if anyone from the vet school submitted any complaints against the dean. Anything suspicious, we track it down.”
I nod, feeling a renewed sense of purpose as we work on a plan of action.
Mitzy and her tech team get to work. Some of them focus on CCTV footage. Others hack into student records at UC Davis. My teammates close in around me, lending silent support.
Until her team finds something, we have little to do. Can’t build out an operational plan when we don’t have anything to go on.
With every passing minute, my anxiety grows. We’re losing precious time. Time I’m not sure Kaye has left before Scott decides she’s a liability.
Or worse.
All of a sudden, there’s commotion as one of Mitzy’s tech guys shouts that he found something on the CCTV footage. All eyes turn to him as he puts the footage on every screen in the room.
“Fucking-A.” Brady whistles in awe. “We got him.”
“Not yet.” Mitzy rushes to her technician’s workstation. “Follow that car as far as you can. Trace the plates. I need anything you can get. Track it down to the sixth degree.” She spins around and looks at me in victory.
The atmosphere in the room shifts from anxiousness to determination as her team works their magic.
“Won’t be long now.” Brady stands on the opposite side of my bed from where Booker twists on the stool. “We’ll kit up with full tactical gear. All the bells and whistles. As soon as we have a location, we roll.”
I bite my tongue as my teammates acknowledge what Brady says.
“Boys…” Mitzy joins us with a grin on her face. “We’ve got him. They’re headed to Deadwood; an abandoned town three hours away from here.”
With renewed strength, I sit up in bed. “You bring her back to me. As for Scott, I want him alive.”
“We’ve got your back.” Brady squeezes my shoulder. “Bravo, to the bullpen. Gear up and wheels-up in sixty. We’re bringing Zeb’s woman home.”
