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She couldn’t lose control again if she was going to find Malgor and protect what was left of her tattered heart.
“Anybody hungry?” Paul rubbed his lean belly. “It’s past dinnertime, and I’m starving.”
Rosalie’s stomach growled. “You’re always hungry. You better keep working out with us after you retire, or you’ll get fat.”
Jimmy chuckled without looking up from his screen. “She’s got a point.”
“She won’t have much to say when she gets that promotion to the LA field office.” Paul patted his belly again. “That’s a long way to travel to make sure I stay in shape.”
“IfI get the promotion.”
“Come on, Zenner,” Jimmy said. “You know you’re going to get it.”
Yeah, she did. She was the most qualified of all the agents in the running. Question was, did she deserve it when she couldn’t apprehend her father’s murderer? That aside, did she want it? The extra duties would suck up time she could be spending searching for Malgor. When she’d arrived in Red Snow for Bella’s engagement party, she hadn’t fathomed being so close to pinning him down, but now, with him escalating…
She’d spent all day delving into intel about the snipers killed outside the ER. Lately, they’d been sporadically active in human trafficking and weapons smuggling, reportedly under Malgor’s leadership.
More like terrorist-ship.
Turning back to her computer, Rosalie muttered, “He’s got to be around here somewhere.”
Paul stood and placed his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll get him.”
“I need a message, anything letting us know what consequences he’s going to unleash for not paying the ransom. This radio silence is torture.”
She reached for her coffee as Paul’s laptop blipped with an email. He opened it up and angled the screen. “Dr. Ford’s financial report.”
She looked at the numbers. Lots of zeros stared back at her. Cannon hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he’d made a lucrative investment.
Jimmy, whose glasses fooled many into thinking all he did at the FBI was sit behind a computer, hit a key on his laptop. “Looks like Ford made his money by investing in some sort of cardiac device that helps the heart pump blood more efficiently after a heart attack.”
Paul whistled through his teeth. “The miracles of medicine.”
If only more would occur. Rosalie didn’t know what was worse. Losing a father in the space of a few hours or waiting for one to succumb to fucking cancer. If the drug trial data wasn’t restored soon, would Cannon lose Julia too?
Just how sick was she?
The zeros in Cannon’s financial report shimmered before her eyes. “None of this is adding up. If Malgor researched Cannon and this hospital, he knew he could get whatever sum he asked for. Once I got involved, he damn well knew he wasn’t getting a ransom. Why involve me in this attack? Yes, the timing makes sense because it’s been two years since Devon’s kidnapping and my father’s death, but…”
She pulled air into her constricted lungs. It still hurt to voice that her father was gone, even when referring to it in a professional capacity. “But if I’m Malgor’s endgame, why target the hospital at all? Or if he’s getting his jollies attacking healthcare organizations these days, why not take the sure money and attack me somewhere else?”
Jimmy snorted. “Because he’s a sick fuck.”
“Among other things.” She turned to Paul. “He could have just snatched me while I was snowboarding. Or driving to Red Snow.”
There hadn’t been many cars on the long stretches of forested roads. Hell, he could have kidnapped her anytime over the past two years. Why start his new game after she arrived in town?
She closed her laptop and shoved it in her bag. “I’ll be back.”
Paul raised his eyebrows. “Where are you going?”
“To get some answers.”
Julia lookedup from her laptop as Rosalie entered the private hospital room. “Agent Zenner. I was hoping you’d come by.”
“Officer Ford, so glad to see you looking so well.” Julia’s cheeks, although somewhat hollow, had a rosiness to them. Her blue eyes, lighter than Cannon’s but equally as striking, glowed under the lights. “And please, call me Rosalie.”
“And I’m Julia.” She nodded to the chair. “Have a seat and talk to me. Everyone is too busy around here to chat, and my overbearing brother, who I’m not speaking to because he convinced my chief to put me on leave, threatened to take my laptop away. Please tell him I’ll shoot him in the nuts if he even tries.”
