“Did you figure out how this happened?”
Ignoring the warm, tempting weight of Nic’s unmoving hand, Cam drew the laptop over and opened the playback of the courthouse security footage.The time stamp was three minutes after the judge had called them to order.Cam pressed Play and the stairwell door he’d earlier entered, the one from the clerk’s office, opened.A young, suited woman appeared first.
“That’s Judge Booth’s law clerk,” Nic said.“Lily Kramer.”
Cam nodded.“Passed her up on sixteen when I first came in.Looked like she was waiting for someone outside the clerk’s office.”
“Him,” Nic said, eyes glued to the young man who’d appeared on-screen, following Lily through the door.
With his shaggy black hair and too-huge suit, the man didn’t look like another lawyer or anyone Cam recognized from the Federal Building elevators.Steno pad in hand, glasses perched on the end of his pointy nose, most people would mistake him for a reporter or, given how young he looked, maybe an interested law student.Interested in more than just the law, judging by the way he’d brazenly flirted with Lily.And she’d bought it, letting an unauthorized person into the chambers hallway.
“I don’t recognize him,” Nic said.
“I didn’t either,” Cam replied.“The hair and glasses may be a disguise.The suit certainly doesn’t fit.”In any event, he was attractive enough to catch Lily’s attention.On-screen, he moved in for a kiss, much the same way Cam had on Nic in the same hallway, only when the stranger got close to his target, he slipped something out of his coat pocket.A second later, Lily collapsed against him, and he lowered her to the floor.
“She okay?”Nic asked.
“Probably out of a job, but otherwise, yes, she’s fine.He drugged her with something and stashed her in Judge Booth’s chambers.”
When the stranger emerged into the hallway, he headed straight for Abby’s holding room, pretended to be the bailiff in the accompanying audio, and Tony opened the door for him.The guard’s gut met the business end of another syringe.Not long after, the man dragged Abby out by the arm, disappearing with her into the stairwell.
“Where’d they go from there?”Nic asked.
Cam flipped to another security footage view.“Down to the parking garage and out.He swiped the clerk’s access card and keys.”
“Fucking hell we’re fucked.”Nic fell back in the chair, withdrawing his hand and scrubbing both over his face.“Who even was that?Is he working for Becca or someone else?”
“Facial recognition didn’t register, but we found the syringes in a parking garage trash can.Partial print.Lauren’s running it now.”
Nic dropped his hands into his lap.“Let’s just hope it pings.”
“How’s Tony?”Cam asked.A sad reprieve from the immediate issue but one nonetheless.Cam was genuinely concerned about the guard, whose status was being reported to Bowers.
“Triple dose.Doctors were amazed he managed to fight through it and open the door.They’re monitoring him overnight for complications.Barring any, he should be released tomorrow.”
“Good, good.”
Nic hung his head, stretching out his neck, then rolled his head and shoulders, face angled toward Cam.“Prelim is in a week.We’ll move for a continuance, but we need to get Abby back.”The concerned weariness in his eyes said he was worried about more than just his case.Abby had not looked like a willing participant on that tape.She’d looked like a hostage.But still, Cam had to ask...“Are we sure that wasn’t an act on Abby’s part?”
His eyes narrowed.“Did that look voluntary to you?”
“That’s why I asked if it was an act.Why do you trust her?”
“Because Becca’s got leverage on her sister.You know that.Cooperating with us is in her best interest.”
“And allying with Becca’s not?”
“All the biometrics on Sunday reported she was telling the truth.She’s a victim too, of God only knows what emotional blackmail or worse that Becca’s put her through.”
The prosecutor’s voice and shoulders had risen as he’d gone on.And it wasn’t the first time Cam had seen Nic go to bat for a victim witness.There was more there, more Cam wanted to dig for, but now wasn’t the time, not when their witness was missing and Nic had already gone twelve rounds with Bowers.“Look, I agree, all signs point to Abby telling the truth, and I do not want to blame the victim either.I hear and respect you there.All I’m saying is, Abby’s number one priority is her sister, and we can’t completely dismiss the possibility that Becca is still her best bet.Abby may not trust us either.”
Blue eyes stared back at him, icy and hard, until Nic blinked and the calm mask fell back into place.“Okay, so how do we get Abby to trust us?Get her out of the current jam, right?”Cam nodded, and Nic went on.“Perfect.This is your specialty.You’re one of the Bureau’s best kidnap and rescue agents.So how do we get Abby back and get ourselves unfucked?”
Crisis averted, Cam relaxed back in his chair, crossing a leg and angling toward Nic.“The context of each kidnapping is different but they generally fall into one of a few categories.Assuming Becca arranged Abby’s, or that this person who took her is after the same thing—a way at the artifacts—relatively, this is one of the better sort.”
“Yeah, Boston?How’s that?”
“Kidnappings for ransom or kidnappings where the victim is needed for something depend on the victim remaining alive.At least for a time.”
