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Jacob set this in motion. You’re in charge of the team.
Theo had phoned Brook immediately after reading her cryptic message, but the call had gone straight to voicemail. She had turned off her cell, and she was smart enough to know that Bit would track her movements if she’d left the device on.
“I just spoke with the driver,” Bit said, exhaustion evident in his tone. He’d been working nonstop while waiting for an update on Sylvie. The surgery had finally concluded, and the surgeon had warned him on how critical the next twenty-four hours would be with regard to her condition. The only saving grace was that the unsub’s blade hadn’t nicked an artery or the liver, but the extreme damage inflicted to her stomach and intestines had required hours to repair. “Boss went out to the car, instructed the driver that she wouldn’t need him, and then she walked in the direction of the parking garage. After that, I lose her. I can’t find footage that she took any of the exits. I sent my sister to scout each parking level, but there wasn’t any sign of Boss. It’s like she disappeared into thin air, Big T.”
“Brook found someone to drive her out of the parking garage.” Theo and Brook had forged a close friendship over the past couple of years, and she’d revealed to him one evening how she kept under the radar hunting Jacob all those years. Theo understood how her mind worked…to an extent. “Listen, she wanted us to keep searching for Sylvie’s attacker. We know that the woman is somehow connected to Jacob. Is there any way to use that to our advantage?”
The long pause on the other end of the line told Theo that Bit was mulling through his options. Considering that they were keeping such close tabs on Jacob Walsh in his cell, as well as limiting the guards to only four who had been thoroughly vetted by Brook herself, it was doubtful that any contact between him and the unsub would have occurred behind bars.
This entire attack had been coordinated well in advance.
“No, but I don’t think we’ll need to dig that deep to prove it.”
Theo waited for Bit to continue, but all that came across the line was a muffled voice from what sounded like an overhead speaker. Theo turned away from the window in Sylvie’s apartment, finding that Arden was in the kitchen brewing them some coffee. There hadn’t been a coffee maker on the counter since Sylvie preferred tea, so Arden must have discovered the appliance in one of the cabinets.
“Bit?” Theo glanced toward the male subject who had been brought in to sit with Nigel Deering. It had taken a couple of hours to garner multiple confirmations that the man’s identity was authentic. Carter Dunbar was indeed Carter Michael Dunbar, born and raised in Fairfax, Virginia. “Why don’t—”
Theo brought himself up short, not bothering to finish his question once he had comprehended Bit’s silent message. He had several facial recognition programs, although only one that could be properly used in the firm’s name. The others had been generated well before the creation of S&E Investigations.
Bit hadn’t always followed the letters of the law, which was why his actions had garnered the attention of the FBI. Brook had somehow taken care of that particular matter, but that didn’t mean Bit still wasn’t on the Bureau’s radar. While the firm might have a signed consulting agreement with the FBI, none of the members were immune to prosecution.
Theo’s gaze was drawn to the stain of blood that Arden had already tried unsuccessfully to scrub out of the area rug in the living room. Sylvie had trusted the woman who had spent close to two months inside her apartment and taking care of her father. There had been a fabricated layer of trust, and he couldn’t imagine the fear that had gone through Sylvie when she realized her mistake.
“Do what needs to be done, Bit.”
Theo had always colored within the lines.
Always.
It was how his parents had raised him, and he had also developed his own moral code throughout his career. It wasn’t until he had switched to the private sector that he understood the bigger picture wasn’t always black and white. There were several shades of grey, and this situation just so happened to be one of those various hues on the spectrum.
“I’ll call you as soon as I have results.”
Bit had disconnected their call before they could discuss Brook. He would no doubt keep searching for her, but Theo comprehended the gravity of her choice.
Brook blamed herself for Sylvie lying in a hospital bed.
Most of all, Brook held herself responsible for bringing them into her life…into Jacob’s line of sight.
“Has Bit located Brook yet?” Arden asked as he set a mug of steaming coffee on the counter. Theo’s initial reaction was to turn down the offer, but he was going to need the caffeine. There would be no rest until they had some lead as to the identity of the unsub. “She received a phone call right as we were walking out of the hospital. Do you think that had anything to do with why she shut off her phone?”
“Jacob called Brook from the federal prison.” Theo paused long enough to take a sip of the cooled-down coffee. Arden had topped off the coffee with some cold water to make it immediately drinkable. “I don’t know how, but Jacob orchestrated this entire situation. He is the reason that Sylvie was attacked this evening.”
Arden frowned to the point that his thick mustache covered his bottom lip. Neither one of them needed to say a word. They both understood the ramifications of the phone call.
According to the officer whom Detective Beeson had stationed outside in the hallway, Sylvie had been unconscious when the paramedics had arrived on site. Nigel had been able to explain to the detective that he heard his daughter arguing with Erin Smith in the living room. He stated that he had heard a scuffle and a gunshot, which was when he tried to get out of bed.
Unfortunately, Nigel’s deteriorating condition had left him weak enough that he had no strength in his legs. He had ended up on the floor, calling for help until he was able to catch the attention of one of the neighbors who had been walking down the hallway.
Sylvie’s one-bedroom apartment wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small, either.
The living room and kitchen merged seamlessly, and the bedroom was home to three large windows overlooking the city. The overstuffed sofa was covered in colorful throw pillows, and there was even a vintage record player against the far wall with a deep bookcase full of vinyl records. The folded blankets in a wicker basket were evidence that Sylvie had slept on the couch since her father’s arrival. Her own bed had been put into a storage unit until such time as her father’s passing.
Unfortunately, Sylvie’s interior décor had included a cream-colored shag rug.
Theo followed Arden’s gaze to the discolored stain. The man had spent the last thirty minutes scrubbing the blood-soaked fibers with dishwashing detergent and cold water. He hesitantly closed the distance to the couch before turning around and studying the area in which Sylvie would have been facing, which was toward the kitchen.
“To the right of the refrigerator,” Theo guided softly, knowing exactly what Arden was trying to locate across the room. “The bullet lodged in the wall.”
