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Curiosity got the best of her, though.
“Sylvie, would you please take over answering Alex’s questions? I need to take this call.”
Brook didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she stood from the chair and quietly exited the office. There had been a small conference room down the hallway that hadn’t been in use when she’d walked by it earlier, so she headed in that direction.
“Sloane.”
“We believe there was a breach in the North Dakota branch office of the U.S. Marshals Service.” Agent Russell Houser was the special agent in charge of Jacob’s case within the FBI. They hadn’t always seen eye to eye, neither trusting the other, which was why it was odd that he would be calling her over something that she shouldn’t even be privy to. “The marshal in question swears he wasn’t the one who accessed their system to try and ascertain information on Sarah Evanston. His password and credentials demonstrate otherwise.”
Brook’s heels were soundless on the carpet as she quietly closed the door to the conference room. She took her time walking over to a window that overlooked the city. Every now and then, snow flurries could be seen falling from the overcast sky. Traffic was basically at a crawl below on the city streets, though not due to the weather.
City congestion was a daily occurrence.
“Considering that no one appointed to the Evanston case can access information on the U.S. Marshals’ database, her location should still be secure.” Brook wasn’t telling Agent Houser anything that he didn’t already know. He was calling for another reason. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a crystal ball. “I take it that you’ll move her anyway?”
“As a precaution, yes.” Agent Houser apparently needed a moment to compose his next statement. “You were right. Your brother purposefully wanted to be seen on camera at a gas station near Evanston’s half-brother’s home so that we would turn our focus to an area in Idaho.”
The U.S. Marshals Service might be moving Sarah Evanston to a new safehouse, but it wouldn’t be far from where she was receiving medical care under the same plastic surgeon. The amount of damage done to her facial features would require several more surgeries over the course of the next one or two years. Switching surgeons wouldn’t be an option due to the intricate nature of her injuries.
“I’m not sure how I can help you, Agent Houser.”
“You mentioned a couple of months ago that your brother would focus on searching for plastic surgeons who had the expertise to handle Evanston’s surgeries.”
“Yes,” Brook responded cautiously as she sensed the direction of this discussion. She wasn’t opposed to a ploy of some sort. “Dr. John Roden, Dr. Crystal Shelley, or Dr. Timothy Ursitti. If I can narrow Evanston’s surgeons down to three, so can Jacob.”
The chances of the U.S. Marshals Service sharing the name of Sarah Evanston’s plastic surgeon with Agent Houser was practically nonexistent. Brook respected the branch, their marshals, and the lengths they went to in order to protect those who needed safeguarding from outside sources. While Jacob might have attempted to utilize a marshal in North Dakota to garner confidential details on Evanston’s whereabouts, only those assigned to her case had that privileged information.
What had Jacobreallybeen doing while in North Dakota?
“I propose—“
“A sting,” Brook interjected, her interest level relatively high. She would need to think over such a suggestion, especially since such a plan would be at the hands of Agent Houser. “I’m going to assume that the U.S. Marshals Service has already changed Sarah Evanston’s handler and any other protective agents assigned to her while she’s in recovery.”
Jacob hadn’t sought out a random agent in a remote state believing that he would instantly locate the reporter’s location. He’d targeted a marshal to gain access to their computer system. He was once again giving them crumbs to follow. He had to know that he would be cut off before he was anywhere near Sarah’s location.
If her brother was well aware of such blockades, that meant he wanted something else entirely from the U.S. Marshals Service’s software. Brook’s brother was consistently one step ahead, whereas she was always one behind.
As for Agent Houser, he’d wondered off somewhere in the desert.
“You want to keep the original detail in place and use them as bait.” Brook’s earlier interest had all but deflated, but Agent Houser had a genuine idea that possessed merit. “Jacob wouldn’t fall for it, and he intentionally wants us to believe that he was searching for Evanston.”
“You said that your brother would be searching for the surgeon,” Agent Houser pointed out as he continued to traipse across hot sand. “Either way, there is a way for us to use this breach to our advantage. I’d like you on board.”
Brook couldn’t imagine how many times Agent Houser had rehearsed such a request, and it had still fallen flat. He didn’t want her on board. As a matter of fact, he wouldn’t have her anywhere near the investigation if he had his way. The only reason that he’d been reaching out to her recently was due to his newfound revelation that Jacob was unlike the average serial killer. She had her thoughts on the reasons why, but she currently had a client whose life was in danger.
“One week,” Brook requested as she finally turned away from the window. There were two men in deep conversation outside of the conference room. They hadn’t even noticed her presence until she’d moved from her spot on the other side of the table. “I’ll give you my answer in one week.”
Brook disconnected the line before Agent Houser could get another word in edgewise. He meant well, and he was like a dog with a bone. The bone might have been twice the size of his head, but it would take someone with that type of determination to even get close to her brother.
“…client’s trip to Iran. It’s going to be a shitshow.”
Brook nodded toward the man facing her after she’d exited the conference room. His dark gaze had been monitoring her progress, and she could sense that he was well aware of her identity.
“What if we bring in Caine and his group?”
Brook wasn’t sure how she’d managed not to falter her steps toward Alex’s office upon hearing the name. Granted, the gentlemen could have been talking about someone else, but the circles that ran through this type of industry tended to be rather small. The special training that required such a detailed area of study was quite limited.
Certain specialist long range snipers were limited to less than two dozen inside the United States. That was just one of many skillsets that a team must possess. Professional teams like the one Caine ran were fewer and much farther in between.
