Cannon’s phone buzzed.
O lifted a hand. “Incoming from Chicago PD liaison.”
Cannon hit speaker. “What do you got?”
A male voice filtered into the room. “We’ve got an update on the vehicle that took out your escort.”
Rome leaned closer.
“The driver was just cleared by medical. He’s being questioned by my officers and FBI.”
Cannon’s jaw flexed. “And?”
“He says he was hired off Craigslist.”
Rome’s eyes widened, fixed on the phone as if he could see the speaker. “Craigslist?”
“Driver claims it was gig work. Says he was told it was a stunt for a television show. He thought the vehicle would be rigged to move out of the way and nobody would get hurt.”
Rome’s nostrils flared as he sucked in a big pull of air. “Can the payment be tracked?”
“Payment was supposed to come after completion. We’re still watching for it, but I don’t expect it.”
O swore under his breath, and Rorke shook his head. “Dumb fucker gets smashed up and doesn’t even get the money.”
“We’re hoping to track the account tied to the job posting, but whoever set it up used layers. Burner email, prepaid phone—the usual.”
“Send over everything you find,” Cannon ordered.
“Already pushing it through.”
The call disconnected a second later, and for a moment, nobody spoke.
Rome spread his hands flat on the table, his eyes narrowed on the screens. “So the driver who hit the escort thought he was doing a stunt and the other one hasn’t talked yet.”
“Don’t forget the dead agent.” Younger folded his arms and widened his stance, looking every inch the senior operator reminding them not to chase shiny distractions.
Cannon looked at each of them in turn, his stare lingering on Rome the longest. “Nothing is random.”
Right now, all they had were questions. Rome turned his head toward the hallway where Jolie had taken Stina and felt the sting of the scratches the woman had given him.
The woman talked too much.
Argued too much.
Ignored instructions like it was a personal hobby.
She was exactly the kind of woman he should avoid.
Which probably explained why he kept thinking about her.
But tracking down the people hunting her would surely be easier than figuring out what the hell to do about his reaction to her.
* * * * *
The second Stina got away from Rome, she liked this place a whole lot better.
The base was huge, a maze of rambling tunnels, and every room they passed seemed more important than the last.
