Cam frowned. “Hey, thanks, man, but I hope to have that in hand by morning.”
Kiley and Sean both rolled their eyes, and Mack took it to mean that Cam was overly optimistic about finishing the tracking by then.
“That video was horrible.” Kiley shuddered.
Mack nodded. “I never thought it would be good to have dementia, but I hope in this case, Addy’s mom has forgotten all about it.”
Kiley’s forehead furrowed. “Her nurse won’t have, though.”
“No,” Mack said. “And being put in a safe house is likely giving her a lot of free time to think about it. Which is another good reason to make this guy pay.”
Mack jotted downForensicson the board. “I doubt our forensic team will be allowed access to Addy’s car or house, but Harris is coordinating with the detective on the car and running down results from their forensic team. I’ll take point in communicating on this.”
Mack tapped the gunrunning heading before bending down to give the still-staring dog a scratch behind the ears. “Until then, I think we should also search the dark web for any sign of Razo’s gun sales or chatter on whatever he has planned.”
“Glad to do that,” Kiley said.
“I’m still waiting on the CCTV for the accident area,” Cam said.
Mack added that to the board, his marker squeaking. “Get after them. Time is ticking down to figure this out.”
“I’m nagging my sources, but short of flying back to D.C. or doing some illegal hacking, I’m at their mercy.”
“Still, keep after them.” Mack had to work hard not to snap at Cam and looked at his teammates. “I know this isn’t much to go on. Any other thoughts that I haven’t covered?”
Kiley looked at Mack. “Well, yeah. The obvious.”
Mack met her gaze. “Enlighten me, oh wise one, because nothing else is obvious to me.”
She snickered. “That drugging Addy has nothing to do with Razo at all. Someone else is gunning for her.”
“We did make a huge assumption here,” Mack admitted. “But it fits Occam’s razor—the simplest answer is almost always the best.”
“Not sure I agree with that,” Cam said. “Someone else could be just as simple.”
“Then why didn’t Addy mention anyone else?”
“Um, hello.” Cam tapped his head. “Brain injury.”
“Fine. I’ll ask her about that. Anything else?”
He received a shake of heads in response. “I’ll take a quick shower and go back to the hospital, then. Want me to crate Bear or are you guys good with watching him?”
“Are you kidding?” Kiley smiled. “I’m glad to take care of him until bedtime. Then I’ll crate him.”
Mack nodded his thanks. Having a retired working dog could pose problems. They weren’t always the easiest to handle and didn’t warm up to others, but Bear loved women more than men, and Kiley had made fast friends with him.
“I’ll take him out for a walk before I go, and that should help him settle down when I leave.” Mack grabbed Bear’s leash, and the dog’s expression perked up, but he was so well trained that he waited patiently until Mack directed him to move.
Outside, Bear strained a bit on the leash, wanting to go faster. Mack had a flash of brilliance. PTSD was like this leash. Holding him back in life when he wanted to soar. He was straining on the leash, trying to gain control of his issues. Straining hard, hoping he could find that place where he mightfeel comfortable in asking Addy to reunite with him, but the healing process wasn’t in his hands. At least not completely. God had control, and if Mack’s progress was slower than he hoped for, maybe God wanted it that way. Or maybe Mack was getting in God’s way.
Some days he felt like David facing Goliath. A problem too big to overcome. But David didn’t gear up. Didn’t try to become a warrior. He simply grabbed the stones. Something he knew how to use. And slayed his dragon.
Did Mack need to simplify? Go back to the basics, starting with trusting God?
Yeah. Yeah.He needed to work on that, and maybe it would make all the difference.
Bear tugged him forward, and Mack decided to run. To let Bear get out his energy. Maybe to let him get his own stress out too. To find that place of submission instead of control. To release himself to it.
