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He frowned. Why would she email him when she was supposed to be calling? He tapped open her message and a video loaded. It was too difficult to see details in the small, grainy image, but there was one man in a suit and a few other guys standing around in what appeared to be a warehouse.

This must be from her informant.

He quickly went to his computer and accessed the email then downloaded the video into his editing software. After several minutes, he had the footage brightened and enlarged. The man in the suit appeared out of place among the grimy younger guys. But he didn’t fit Adrian’s description.

Another leader?

He picked up his phone again and hit Sophia’s icon. The line rang in his ear four times before cutting to voicemail. Shit. He drummed his fingers on the kitchen table. Who the hell was the guy in the photo? He appeared almost businesslike, but his suit looked a little on the cheap side. Definitely not professionally tailored.

Then something metallic in the frozen image caught Cole’s eye. He zoomed in on the man’s belt buckle—a badge hung on his belt.

He inhaled a sharp breath.

Sonofabitch.

Grabbing his phone again, he dialed Dare. While the line rang, Cole attached the video to an email and blasted it off to his brother.

“Yo,” Dare answered.

“Check your email. I need you to—”

“I’m kinda busy at the moment. Tess and I are about to go for a jog.”

Irritation buzzed along Cole’s jaw. “Just fucking check your email—at your computer.”

Dare sighed and mumbled something to Tess. A minute later the tapping of a keyboard reached Cole’s ears. “All right. Fuck. You sent me a video. What gives?”

“The guy on the left, late fifties and the only dude in a suit. He’s got a badge on his belt.”

Seconds ticked by. “Okay, I see that. So what?”

“Sophia sent me this a few minutes ago. Now I can’t reach her. She was meeting with her informant and I think he gave her this video.” The words rushed out of his mouth, and as he said them, panic flooded his muscles. “Fuck, she could be in danger.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. She was meeting an informant by herself? You think that’s a good idea after what happened? I mean, we only killed eight of Lionsgate’s trafficking workers.” Disdain clung to every word.

“No shit. She was at the station when he called to meet, and she had backup.”

“Hmm. Meeting could have run late. Did you call her?”

“Yeah.” Cole ran his hand over his face. With every second that passed, his blood pressure rose. Why wasn’t Sophia’s call interrupting this one?

“If this is what it looks like,” Dare said, “someone in the police department is involved with Lionsgate’s trafficking ring... Holy hell, bro.”

Cole surged to his feet, sending his desk chair skittering backward across the living room floor. “I’m going to the meeting place. Find out who the guy in the suit is.”

“On it.” Dare disconnected.

Cole shoved his phone in his pocket, grabbed his keys, and raced out the door.

Every muscle in his body screamed with angst.

Something’s wrong.

CHAPTER 24

A low, irritating sound vibrated inside Sophia’s head. She moaned and squeezed her eyes against the buzzing, but it didn’t diminish.

Heavy weights pulled down her eyelids, but something inside her screamed at her to get up.

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