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Even though they knew an approximate time for when the phone pinged, they didn’t know when he had actually been taken, and thatnot knowingincreased the amount of tape they needed to watch. They started with the beginning of the day and watched at triple speed.
A figure flashed on the screen. Gabe pointed. “There.”
Buck backed up the video, and they watched a very tall person clad in a baggy flannel and ski cap enter the building. He kept his head down, so facial recognition was off the table.
Gabe passed on the time stamp to look for.
Martinez said, “Got it.” He clicked his mouse a few times. “El tengo. Found Josh going into the building.”
Gabe darted around the desks. Sure enough, there was Josh with a panicked expression. He clearly entered the building thinking something was wrong. But what?
“Gabe.” Buck motioned for him to come back.
Buck had paused the video. Josh had exited the other door with the flannel guy.
“What’s the time stamp?” Gabe asked. He compared the times. Josh had been in the building for about five minutes.
“Hey, Gabe?” Jacq, Aliza’s best friend and fellow FBI agent, walked across the room toward him.
“Find anything?”
Jacq had been searching the phone records. “I think so. What’s the time stamp on Josh entering and exiting the building?”
They both looked to confirm.
Jacq nodded. “A series of text messages starting with Josh to Chloe was sent within that time frame, asking her to meet at that park.”
Buck leaned back in his chair. “Then the question clearly is: who is this guy?” He pointed at the screen. “And why would he kidnap Josh and Chloe?”
Jacq tilted her head. “Guy? I’d say that’s a rather husky woman.”
The entire FBI team gathered around. Several “I don’t knows” and a few “can’t really tells” were thrown around.
Gabe still thought it was a guy. “Either way. Where is my sister?”
Josh couldn’t deny feeling like they were being watched.Unnervingdidn’t even begin to describe the emotion that accompanied the realization. What was this guy’s plan? Would he attack if they found a way out? Was he preparing an ambush for them? Was there any hope?
Chloe’s hand squeezed his. “I can’t think of who would be doing this. As far as I know, I’ve never given anyone a reason to kill me. And why you too?”
“I keep trying to figure that out. It seems as though it all points to us not saving someone. Connected to the woods perhaps. After all, this area feels familiar. Think about the note—‘Too late.’ When were we too late?”
“Peter?”
“No. I read the ME report. He was a heart attack waiting to happen, and it was so bad that he would never have survived, even if he’d had the heart attack in the hospital.”
“True. And his sister is actively involved in search and rescue. She’s clearly healed from the trauma of losing someone.”
“Do you ever truly heal from that?” He watched closely for her reaction. He sensed that there was a tragedy in her past that still needed healing.
She stiffened. “Not really, but time helps. It at least decreases the need to blame someone else.”
They continued hiking, maneuvering over fallen trees and around patches of thick undergrowth.
Josh sorted through every search and rescue mission they’d ever been on. But the two of them had been on so many searches together over the last seven years.
Between racking their minds for the who and careful hiking on uneven ground, they let silence linger.
Too late? He felt as if someone had said those words to him before.
