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“So, I take it that means you struck out with Lieutenant Soder?” Garcia asked.
Madison and Cooper made faces at each other. “I don’t think Soder was a victim,” Madison said.
“And I’m not convinced of that,” Cooper said. “In the very least, I think she suspects that another woman in her class had been a victim, but she isn’t being very forthcoming with information.”
“Miller, go back at her alone before I make the trip there. I’d rather head to South Carolina than Washington State. We know Burnside is definitely compromised. That’s where my focus needs to be,” Shepherd said.
“Yes, sir,” Madison replied.
“Garcia, make sure Saxton is ready for the anticipated call from West. Let me know after, so I can listen to the recording. I’ll be boarding the hop to South Carolina in a half hour.”
“She’s ready,” Garcia said. They’d gone over what she should say and not say while they waited for this meeting.
“Very good,” Shepherd said. “You have your assignments. Keep me informed.” He ended the video call.
Mike
Laura Lee and Garcia arrived back at the Shepherd Security Building. There still had been no phone call from West. All the way back from South Carolina, she’d stared at her phone, willing it to ring. She just wanted to get the call over with. Her hand cramped from how she’d held it so tightly.
Just as they passed through the doors from the sub-basement parking level into the team room, her phone rang. It was a blocked number. Laura Lee’s gut tightened, and her blood pressure shot up with her suddenly racing heart.
“Answer it,” Garcia ordered. He was accessing his own phone to listen in.
“You’ve been a busy girl,” West’s distinctive voice said.
“Not as busy as you,” she replied. “And here I thought I was the only one. You cheated on me, Harrison.”
He laughed dryly. “Don’t flatter yourself, Army Girl, by thinking you were that special to me.”
“Did you call them all Army Girl, too?” This was a ploy to keep West from knowing that they knew about the non-ROTC women he assaulted and blackmailed.
“I don’t give up trade secrets. But that’s why I’m calling. It’s time for us to meet now that I know you’re back in the states. Get yourself to Richmond within the next twenty-four hours. And come alone or I have a package that’ll go out that you don’t want to.”
“I’ll take your request under advisement,” Laura Lee said with a forced bravado.
“Text this number when you arrive in Richmond.” Then the line went dead.
“Check,” Garcia said.
“You enjoy this far too much.”
Garcia chuckled. “What can I say? I enjoy setting up scumbags.”
“I’m going to go up to the apartment on nine and get some sleep.”
“Now that he’s called, I’m going to head home. If he calls again, don’t answer but text me. I’ll message Shepherd and the team and let them know. I’ll meet you at zero seven hundred in the Team Room. The rest of Echo will be in, and we can take one of the agency SUVs to the hangar.”
Laura Lee bid him good night. She called the elevator as he disappeared through the door that would lead him back to the garage. As the elevator rose, her adrenaline receded, and exhaustion settled over her. She’d originally been looking forward to a hot shower, but now, going straight to bed was in her thoughts.
As she stepped off on nine, her phone rang, making her jump. She retrieved it from her back pocket, relieved to see it was Brad calling. Not the blocked number. “Hello.”
“Hi, I see you just got back. My shift just ended. Are you heading to the apartment?”
“Yes, nearly there,” she said with a renewed energy surging through her.
“Can I drop by?”
“Sure,” she replied with enthusiasm.
