Page 104 of Critical Doubt

Ryker drew in a deep breath, feeling like he'd just taken a punch to the gut.

"What did you find?" Savannah asked, moving next to him.

"Some photos." He handed her the one of Todd and his mother. "That's Rebecca, Todd's mom, before she got sick."

"She's pretty. Did you ever meet her?"

"About a year before she got sick. She was devoted to Todd. And she used to write him long letters. She'd tell him about every detail of her day, whether it was not being able to find the canned tomatoes she wanted or if she had a cavity at the dentist or if she'd run into some old friend of his. And she always had gossip about the neighbors. Mr. Pearson who was painting pornographic art in his garage studio while his wife thought he was doing sunsets and Mrs. Richardson who would sneak into her neighbor's garden and steal their vegetables. At least, they thought it was Mrs. Richardson. It could have been Mrs. Draeger. There was going to be a sting one day to see who it was." He smiled at the memory. "Todd used to read us the letters when we were passing long hours of boredom. I remember we were all amped up trying to figure out which neighbor was stealing the tomatoes."

Savannah gave him a soft smile. "It reminded you of a normal life back home."

"I guess it did." He looked back at the photo. "Todd adored his mom. After his dad died, it was just the two of them. He was the light of her life, and she was his."

"I'm sorry. It sucks what happened to her."

"It does suck. I understand why Todd needs to take care of her in the right way."

"But does the end justify the means?"

"Well, that's the question, isn't it?"

"What's the other photo?"

He handed it to her. "The team—in much better days."

"This is the one I saw a couple of years ago, when I realized you were in Paul's unit. Carlos was with you at the bar the night we met. He was your wingman."

"He didn't think you'd even noticed him."

"Well, I was pretty wrapped up in you," she admitted.

He put the photos back into the bag, wishing he'd never looked at them.

Savannah put a hand on his arm. "I know this is difficult for you, Ryker."

"It doesn't matter if it's hard. It is what it is," he said tersely. "What did Parisa say?"

"That the map we found is good news, because they located the GPS tracker, and as you may have guessed, it was placed on another vehicle."

"Then they're off the grid."

"Hopefully not for long."

"They could have changed the hijack point. Or they could have already taken the weapons. It looks like they moved up the time, so who knows? Clearly, Todd was left out."

"Speaking of Todd, Parisa said that Todd is requesting to speak to you and only you."

"All right. Let's hope he has more to say."

He led the way to the door, and they walked briskly back to his truck. As soon as they got there, he had second thoughts. He didn't want to waste time looking for an explosive device, but he also didn't want to take the chance that someone had seen them go into the bagel shop and into the motel. "Let's take a cab."

She met his gaze. "Good idea."

Ryker was quiet on the cab ride to the DC FBI field office, and since Savannah didn’t want to say much in front of the driver, she remained silent. She knew that Ryker had been moved by the photos he'd found in Todd's bag. She had been touched as well.How could she not be?She might not know the rest of the guys, but she knew Paul. She knew the people Paul had been doing this for, and seeing Todd with his mom had definitely put a more human face on his actions.

As she thought about her friend, she took out her phone. "I'm going to call Abby. It's weird that I haven't heard from her this morning."

Abby didn't pick up the phone, so she left a short voicemail. She'd barely finished doing that when her phone buzzed, but it wasn't Abby; it was Jax.

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