“They pulled the van into an area without cameras.”
“If they didn’t come back out, then they should still be there,” Draven pointed out. “Right?”
But Blake was already shaking his head. “Not necessarily. That particular area of the city has several ins and outs. And as you can see, there’s non-stop traffic, even at this hour of the night.”
“If the van didn’t take one of the exits, doesn’t it stand to reason they’re still somewhere around there?” Gwen offered a plausible theory.
“These guys are too smart to get caught that easily.” Emmett hated that it was true.
Blake agreed. “They most likely switched vehicles while still in the blind spot.”
“So she could be anywhere.” Gwen’s worried gaze lifted to Emmett’s before falling to the bag in his hand. “Is her phone in there, or did she have it with her?”
He looked down, and with a curse, and rushed to the other side of where Blake stood and began dumping its contents out on the downed tailgate. “I was so stuck on using the security cams to find her, I didn’t even think about tracking her phone.”
Just as he said it, Janie’s cell fell to the lined tailgate with a heavy thud. And with it, any hope of using the device to find her.
“It was worth a shot, boss.” Gwen took the empty bag from his loosened grip. She quietly began pickingup all the discarded items, placing them neatly back into the purse.
Emmett stood between her and Blake, feeling more lost than he’d ever been. They didn’t know who’d taken Janie, where they were planning to go, or what they’d do to her when they got there.
In short, he and his team didn’t have jack shit.
“We need to call in Ryker,” Lucas suggested. “Maybe there’s a way Homeland can help.”
“What’s this?” Gwen asked no one in particular before anyone could respond to Lucas’ suggestion.
They all turned the demolitions expert’s way as she held up a flash drive.
“Probably Janie’s notes for a story,” he guessed, blowing off the discovery as non-consequential.
“I found it in the lining, Emmett.” Gwen sent him a pointed stare. “I felt it when I was putting her wallet back inside the purse. There’s a tear there, so I went looking and . . . voila.”
Blake took the drive from their teammate’s hand. They all watched with bated breath as he inserted it into the side of his laptop.
With a few taps, the genius had the downloaded files opened. And when Emmett scanned the information that filled the computer’s screen, it took his brain a few seconds to process what his eyes were seeing.
“Is that?—”
“The names of every CIA operative currently working undercover across the globe?” Blake nodded. “Sure as hell looks like that to me.” He did a bit more scrolling. “Names, locations, mission specs . . .”
“So basically, everything our enemies would need towipe out the agency’s entire clandestine division,” Draven surmised.
“Holy shit,” Boone exclaimed, raking his fingers through his hair. He looked at Emmett. “And your girl had this with her the entire time?”
She didn’t know.
If she did, she would have shared that information with him.
“I don’t think she knew.” Gwen stole Emmett’s thoughts. “I’m really good at reading people, and she and I spent several hours alone together when I was keeping an eye on her at your place. We talked a lot during that time, and not once did I pick up on anything other than her genuine desire to uncover the truth.”
Blake typed some more and another video appeared on screen. A CCTV recording showing Janie and Amy Weaver outside the Washington Post.
“What are you doing now?” Emmett was momentarily confused.
“Remember how Janie said Amy knocked her purse to the sidewalk when the two first met?” He fast-forwarded the recording to the moment the two women bent down to start picking up the strewn items near their feet. Blake paused the video and pointed to the screen. “There.” He jutted his index finger forward. “Right there, you can see the drive in Amy’s hand.”
“See?” Gwen smiled. “Janie had no idea.”
