Isaac pulled up the case file on his laptop and turned the screen so Ryder could see it. “David Endicott. Biotech CEO, went public six months ago. We’ve been on the detail five days. The email threats have been escalating—specifics about his home, his gym, his travel schedule. Each one more detailed than the last.”
“How many total?”
“Seven over three months. The first few were vague. The last three referenced his home address and named specific locations he frequents.”
“Any physical surveillance detected?”
“Not yet. But the pattern’s trending.”
Ryder nodded, processing. “What came in this morning?”
Isaac pulled up the email. This was why Ryder was here. “New message, received at six a.m. Same encrypted routing as the others. But this one referenced Endicott’s wife by name. First time for that.”
Ryder’s jaw tightened. He leaned forward and read the screen. “Laura Endicott.”
“Correct.”
“That’s an escalation.”
“Significant one. The previous emails focused on Endicott himself. Bringing his wife into it changes the threat profile. Thisisn’t just anger anymore. Someone is researching his personal life, building a picture, and they want him to know it.”
“Is Endicott’s wife aware of the threats?”
“She knows about the security detail. She doesn’t know the specifics of the emails. Endicott wants to keep it that way.”
“That’s his call, but it’s a bad one. If she doesn’t know what to watch for, she can’t protect herself.”
“Agreed. I’ll push him on it.”
Ryder sat back. “What do you need from me?”
“Advance work. I want you running the upcoming event venues before we get there. Sight lines, entry points, camera coverage, staff access. Endicott’s got three events in the next two weeks, and I need every room mapped before he walks into it.”
“You want me doing venue recon while you float the events.”
“I want the best tactical assessment we can get on every space, and you’re the best at reading a room cold. I’ll manage the floor operations during the events themselves.”
Ryder studied him. Isaac held his gaze. The assignment was sound—Ryder’s eye for spatial analysis was sharper than anyone else on the team, and freeing Isaac to move during the events was the right call tactically. Both of those things were true.
What was also true, and what Isaac wasn’t saying, was that he wanted to be free to move at those events for reasons that had nothing to do with David Endicott. Somewhere in Austin, Fallon was working the same charity circuit, hitting the same rooms. If she showed up at another event, he needed to be relatively unencumbered.
“Sounds good.” Ryder nodded. “Send me the venue list and I’ll start tonight.”
“Should already be in your email.”
“Is Peter running background on the email sender in parallel? If we’re waiting for this guy to escalate past emails, we’re already behind.”
“Peter’s on it. If there’s anything to be cracked electronically, he’ll do it.”
Ryder nodded. He pulled out his phone, opened a notes app, and started building his own task list. Isaac watched him work for a moment, then turned back to his own screen.
They worked through the venue specs for the next event together—the Thornton Foundation dinner, a seated affair at a downtown hotel with a rooftop reception beforehand. Ryder was talking about elevator access to the rooftop. Isaac was looking at the floor plan on his screen. The rooftop layout. The bar placement. The sight lines from the terrace railing to the main entrance below.
A red dress. Gray eyes scanning the crowd.
“You with me?”
Isaac blinked. Ryder was watching him, phone lowered, one eyebrow raised.
