Page 52 of Critical Doubt

She pulled the burner phone out of her bag. "I'm going to call my team and see if I can get someone to tap into the cameras by the bar."

"While you do that, I'll run downstairs. I saw a clothing shop off the lobby. I could use a change of clothes for tomorrow. Do you need anything?"

"No, I have clothes in my overnight bag. Should I go with you?"

"I can handle it myself. It's not really a two-person job, Savannah. I may not be a federal agent, but I've got this."

She knew he needed her to see his strength, so she said, "You're right. I'll stay here."

"Put on the dead bolt after I leave. I'll knock three times when I come back."

"Got it." Despite her agreement, she hated the idea of him going out on his own. But she shouldn't be worrying about him. Even with his PTSD issues, the man was a soldier.

After bolting the door behind him, she called Flynn. "It's me. I'm on a burner phone."

"That doesn't sound good," he replied. "How is Dobbs?"

"I'm actually in Atlanta now. Things have gotten complicated."

"With what? The guy who went into the river?"

"Yes. It's looking like someone might have forced that accident to happen. There was an explosion at Todd's house earlier today, which Ryker and I narrowly escaped, by the way."

"What the hell, Savannah? I thought you were just helping a friend."

"That's how it started."

"Were you hurt?"

"A few scratches, no big deal. Then Ryker and I came to Atlanta to speak to Todd's coworkers."

"Ryker is who again?"

"One of Todd's friends. They served together on the same ranger team. Anyway, we were following leads regarding some potential trouble Todd might have been in when someone tried to run us down. Now I need your help tracking down that car. It happened in front of a bar named Maloney's on Fourth Street in Atlanta. We didn't want to hang around to look for security cameras, and the only witness wasn't able to get a license plate."

"What about the police? Did you call them?"

"I didn't want to involve them. It would have taken too much time. And this situation is complicated. This wasn't a random event. Someone came after us, and I think it's because we're asking questions, or because Ryker might be a target. Two guys from his former team die within four days of each other under mysterious circumstances. Now, someone tries to blow up the house Ryker was staying at and then run us down. There are too many odd coincidences at play. I have to figure out what's going on. I just need someone to tap into the security cameras around Maloney's and see if the car and driver can be identified. I can take it from there."

"All right. I can do that. But what's the game plan now? Where are you? Do you need to get to a safe house?"

"No. I'm at a hotel. We're heading into DC tomorrow to talk to the other two members of Ryker's team who are still alive."

"Which makes you a target if you stay with this guy. Why are you staying with him?" Flynn asked curiously. "Is this really just about your friend? It sounds like she's completely out of this now."

"This is still about Abby's husband. If his death wasn't an accident, then I need to find Paul's killer."

"And that's all?"

"That's all you need to know," she said pointedly.

He uttered a small laugh. "Fair enough. If you're headed to DC, why don't you check in with Parisa? Jax is also in DC. He flew in last night to track down a lead in the Bleeker investigation. If you need help on the ground, don't go it alone."

"I won't." She knew she could count on both Parisa and Jax. It was nice to know that she could pull in additional backup if she needed it.

"In the meantime, I'll work on finding that car."

"Great. I may be out all week on this, Flynn."

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