Page 125 of Deep Tide

Her LBPD cap had come off in the struggle and she bent down to scoop it up, sending yet another lightning bolt of pain through her body.

“Damn it.” She clutched her bruised ribs and stood up slowly. “Are you trying to end your career?”

But Joel wasn’t paying attention. He was frowning down at his phone now, his brow furrowed with worry. “Owen hasn’t heard from her either. Shit!”

The door opened, and Siena poked her head out. “We pulled up the security camera footage.”

Joel strode inside and Nicole followed, holding her hand against her ribs as she walked into the tiny office where Leyla kept her file cabinets and a workstation. The room was warm from all the bodies crowded inside it.

Sean sat at the desk in front of the computer. Siena must have provided the passcode, and the agent’s hands moved quickly over the keyboard as he navigated the security app. Nicole assumed the program was part of the new alarm system.

“Here’s today,” Sean said, clicking on an icon with today’s date.

Joel leaned over Sean’s shoulder and watched the screen as three squares appeared. They showed black-and-white camera footage of the cash register, the front parking lot, and the lot behind the building.

Sean clicked the mouse and moved a bar on the side of the screen, scrolling through the hours of the day until he got to 3:55 p.m. Then he slowed.

The room went silent as all four of them eased closer to the screen. Nicole kept her gaze on the footage of the back lot. The only car parked there was an old white car belonging to Katie, the barista Nicole had just interviewed.

“There.” Joel tapped the screen as a vehicle moved into the frame. It was a black Suburban with tinted windows.

Sean muttered a curse, and Joel looked at him.

“That’s Gagnon’s,” Sean said.

“What, the vehicle?” Joel asked.

“Yeah.”

“But Jillian came in the front,” Siena said. “I saw her walk in.”

Nicole didn’t bother saying what everyone else surely knew. The woman had probably been dropped off, and this vehicle was waiting for them in back, where no one would witness whatever was about to happen.

Nicole watched the screen as the back door opened and two figures emerged—a blonde and a brunet.

Nicole sucked in a breath. She didn’t recognize the blonde, but the other woman was clearly Leyla. She shot a glance directly at the camera over her shoulder. Then the back door of the Suburban swung open, and Leyla climbed inside, followed closely by the blonde.

“Shit!” Joel tapped the screen. “Go back.”

Sean moved the mouse and rewound the footage. Again, they watched in tense silence as the two women stepped through the back door.

Sean froze the footage. “There.”

Nicole leaned closer. “What?”

“Look at her hand. She’s got a gun.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

Leyla lay on the floor, desperately trying to breathe through the panic. The bandanna tied around her face tasted like dirt, and every time her tongue touched it a wave of nausea gripped her. She couldn’t throw up—she’d choke. She inhaled through her nose and tried to think of what to do. The closed Suburban was a sauna, and stinging sweat seeped into her eyes.

How long had she been back here? Minutes? Hours?

When they’d first pulled in here—wherever here was—she’d been sandwiched between Jillian and a giant blond man who looked like a Viking. He’d secured her hands behind her back with zip ties and pointed a gun at her face.

Shut up! And stay the fuck down. Then everyone had piled out of the SUV, leaving her alone, and the gunshot-like sound of the locks engaging had sent a jolt of terror through her.

---