Page 54 of Last Chance

Sawyer returned with three to-go cups. Two coffees and one tea, which he handed to Janie. “Mint tea for the lady. Straight black liquid gold for us,” he said to Ian. “What did I miss?”

“I asked Janie to tell me about this morning. Now that she has, let’s give her a chance to sip some tea while you fill me in on what’s been going on. When she’s ready, we’ll get started.”

Sawyer gave Ian a version of events that Janie barely recognized. Military or cop rapid-fire report style.

“What about the mission you completed before rescuing Janie? Was it successful?”

He sobered. “I suppose you can call it successful. We freed the hostages and wiped out the human traffickers, but there’s a lot of trauma for the victims to work through. Five of the hostages were kids.”

“You and your team spared them from a life of sex slavery and got rid of those who hurt them. What more could you do, Sawyer?”

“It’s not enough.”

“Never is. All you can do is your best.” Ian glanced at Janie. “Are you feeling better now?”

She kept her gaze on Sawyer for a moment before she answered the artist. “I’m ready to get started. Thanks for giving me a few minutes.”

“Of course.” Ian glanced at Sawyer. “Are you staying or going?”

“Staying. I won’t leave Janie alone, even here.”

“Understood. You can stay as long as you keep quiet and don’t distract Janie.”

Sawyer saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

Ian focused on Janie as he flipped to a clean page in his sketch pad and grabbed one of the many pencils lined up beside him. “The first thing I need is for you to give me a general description of the man we’re going to sketch.”

Little by little, Ian pulled details from Janie while sketching the man’s face. After more than an hour, Ian turned the pad around and showed her the portrait.

Janie gasped. “That’s him. That’s the man who sat beside me on the plane. You’re amazing, Ian.”

“If we’re passing compliments around, I’ll just say you have the best recall of anyone I’ve worked with. You made my work easy.” Ian turned to Sawyer. “You want the sketch?”

“I do. I’ll pass it along to Zane to see if we can identify this man.”

The artist frowned. “Weird that he disappeared when all the other hostages were killed, except for Janie. Why separate him from the rest?”

“That’s what we’re hoping to find out.” He stood and helped Janie to her feet. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

Ian chuckled. “I’ll collect.”

Sawyer escorted Janie to the elevator. A minute later, they exited on the sixth floor and walked to the comm center, where Zane was working. His computer console had six full-size screens spread across it, all filled with different things.

The tech guru’s fingers flew over the keyboard, and data scrolled over four of the screens. The other two had maps with flashing red lights on them. Janie was amazed that Zane could keep track of all the information and carry on a conversation with someone over his headset.

“Copy that, Nico. The jet is ready. You’ll be wheels up within a minute of boarding. Injuries?” Zane listened a moment, then scowled. “Sorenson won’t be happy to see Joe back in the clinic this soon.”

He glanced over his shoulder and pointed at two chairs nearby. “Two minutes,” he murmured. When Nico and his team boarded the jet, Zane gathered a little more information, then signed off. He spun his chair around to face Sawyer and Janie. “How are you, Janie?”

“Better now. I was pretty shaken up,” she admitted. Couldn’t exactly hide it, not after the way she’d behaved once Sawyer parked the SUV. “No injuries, though. Did the security team find the van?”

“They did. We have the driver and passenger in interrogation. The team will get answers if the two men have any.”

“What does that mean?”

“They could be hired help with no knowledge of the reason for the job.”

Oh, man. She’d never thought about that possibility. If Zane was right, that would mean the interrogation team would learn nothing to help her figure out who wanted her so badly they would kill to get their hands on her. “That’s not what I wanted to hear, Zane.”

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