“Already did.” Chen’s voice is clipped, vicious. “It’s a contractor vehicle. Stanton Dynamics.”
My blood turns to ice.
“You were right about the contractor angle,” Chen says. “Hammond has a consulting history with Stanton. It was disclosed, but?—”
“Stop,” I cut in. “He’s dirty. He’s been dirty. He used my call to get her alone.”
“Copy,” Chen says, voice hard. “We’re issuing an immediate BOLO and coordinating with local law enforcement outside the gate. Ridgeway Security is sweeping Hammond’s quarters. NCIS has been notified.”
NCIS. Law enforcement. Procedures.
All I hear is time.
I stare at the still image of Riley being carried like she’s nothing, like she doesn’t matter, like she isn’t the brightest damn thing in that whole base.
My throat burns.
“Where’s the van heading?” I ask.
“We’re tracking through external cams,” Chen says. “They exited the service gate before the lockdown fully hit. We have a line-of-travel. They’re heading into the foothills. West.”
Toward the mountains.
Toward the same kind of terrain I’ve spent my whole career jumping into to bring people back.
My mouth goes dry.
“Why would Hammond take her?” I ask, even though I already know.
Chen answers anyway, and her words are as sharp as the wind outside. “He needs her access. He needs her to unlock what he can’t unlock.”
The hardware key.
Riley couldn’t find it because Hammond already took it—or knew where it was.
He doesn’t just want the program.
He wants italive. He wants her hands and her brain and her compliance.
Rage threatens to pull me under.
I force it into a single point.
A mission.
“Find the location,” I say. “Now.”
Chen’s voice tightens. “We’re triangulating with traffic cams. There’s limited coverage in the mountains.”
“Then use what you have,” I snap. “Phone pings. Contractor GPS. Anything.”
A beat.
Then, she says, “We might have something.”
My heart stops for half a second.
Chen continues, fast. “Stanton’s fleet vehicles have a telemetry unit. We’ve got legal clearance and a tech pulling the data?—”
