Page 26 of Last Chance

“That’s the question of the hour, isn’t it? Do you have any idea why you were spared when everyone else taken from the plane was murdered?”

Janie shook her head. “It makes little sense. Why kill the other four women and ten men, but leave me alive when they could have easily killed me too in a matter of seconds?”

Beside her, Sawyer stiffened. “Ten men? Are you sure about the number?”

“I’m positive. Why?”

“If we showed you some pictures, would you recognize your fellow passengers?” Brent asked.

“Of course. I’ve always had an excellent memory for faces.”

He stood. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute.” Before he left the office, Brent looked at Sawyer. Although no words passed between them, an unspoken message passed from one man to the other. After Sawyer gave a curt nod, Brent left his office.

“What’s going on, Sawyer?”

“Be specific.”

“Why did Brent give you The Look?”

Amusement lit his eyes. “The Look?”

Her cheeks burned. “You know what I’m talking about. What does it mean?”

“He passed responsibility for your safety to me while he’s out of the office.”

Stunned, she sat back, eyes wide. “Why? I’m safe in this building, aren’t I?”

“We take nothing for granted, especially safety. While the chance of someone slipping past all our security is negligible, it’s not zero.”

Janie shuddered. She thought she’d left the danger behind her in Mexico. Had danger followed her home?

Sawyer squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry. If something happens, we’ll take care of it.”

“I believe you. I’m more concerned that danger followed me home.”

“Until we’re sure you’re safe, at least one of us will be with you.”

“But you have a job to do. You can’t follow me around my soap shop all day when there are other people who need saving like I did.”

“Fortress has more than one team of operatives. Right now, we have a job. You.”

Brent returned to the office with a file folder in his hand. He sat on the other side of Janie and handed her the folder. “Look at these pictures and tell me if you recognize the people taken from the plane with you.”

She swallowed hard as she stared at the closed folder. Steeling herself for the unpleasant task of identifying her fellow passengers, Janie opened the folder. Relief swept over her. Brent had printed pictures from sources other than photos from the carnage at the compound.

Janie tapped the first photo. “This guy was about fifteen rows back from me on the plane.” She moved from passenger to passenger, identifying their location in the cabin in relation to her.

When Janie turned over the last photo, she frowned. “Where’s the last one?”

Brent stared at her. “There are no others, sugar.”

“There’s a man missing. He sat in the seat beside mine.”

Brent exchanged a long look with Sawyer. “Is it possible you missed him in all the chaos?”

“No, sir.” He flicked a glance at Janie, then refocused on Brent. “The bodies of the passengers were close together. We didn’t miss anyone. We took pictures of all the bodies as we searched for Janie. There weren’t any others except for women who had the gang’s brand on their ankles and members of Vatos Locos. We took pictures of them as well and sent them to Zane.”

“Is it possible the tenth man was among the dead gang members?” Janie asked. “Perhaps he wore clothes similar to the ones the gang wore.”

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