Page 112 of Fatal Betrayal

It was a relief to feel the cool night air on her face, to take a deeper breath without coughing. The medics ran to her and Cooper, offering them both oxygen, but she waved them off, saying they were fine. Then she turned to Cooper with questions she needed answered.

"I know you ran into Hannah and that's how you knew where I was," she said. "But why were you even in this area? How did you know to come here?"

"When I was reading your case notes, I had an epiphany. You mentioned the house for sale across the street from Hannah's house, and it reminded me of the house for sale behind Neil's house. Then I re-read what you wrote about Will coming from the opposite direction. And I thought what if Will, who was working for his dad's realty company that summer, had access to that house for sale?"

"Which is exactly what happened. Kim told me that Will took Hannah and stashed her in the house. Her husband stalled on finding the owner and getting consent for them to search the house until Will could move Hannah the next day. It was a family operation. Mr. Lassiter was in on it, too. Apparently, he had a lot of gambling debt, and Kim did it for the money. She said TJ was too stupid and stoned to be included."

"Well, I'm kind of glad about that, but hard to believe he didn't know something. Anyway, when I realized someone had grabbed you and I saw the flyer on your dad's desk about using Will to list his house, I decided to find TJ. He'd told us he had a music studio in Culver City, and I found one named Wave, and that's where I went. It's just down the street. TJ wasn't there, but I saw the sign for the staging company and was thinking about that when Hannah ran into me. We finally found some good luck."

"I'll say." She looked back at the building. "I didn't realize it was a warehouse for furniture staging but that makes sense. I hope some evidence survives the fire."

"I hope your team stops that plane before it takes off." He paused. "Speaking of which…"

She turned her head as Flynn and Savannah joined them. Savannah gave her a hug while Flynn shook Cooper's hand.

"That was too close," Flynn said, moving away from Cooper to give her a brief embrace. "Are you all right, Andi?"

"I'm fine now. Thanks for helping Cooper."

"He did the heavy lifting. There was a second there when…" Flynn couldn't finish his statement.

She nodded in understanding. "I know. It's almost worse to be the person on the phone, to give the control to someone else."

"It's definitely not worse," Cooper interjected.

Flynn grinned. "You're right. Not worse, but still not fun."

"Where's Hannah?" she asked, suddenly realizing she hadn't seen her yet.

"She's talking to Nick." Flynn tipped his head to the pair standing across the street.

"What happened at the airfield?" Cooper asked. "Did you get them?"

"Yes," Flynn replied. "Caitlyn just texted that they took over the plane before it could leave and have twenty plus people in custody including several pregnant women and two babies, one of whom they believe to be Elisa Benedict."

"Thank God," Andi said, as relief ran through her. "I was hoping Elisa would be with them, but I wasn't sure if they'd already sent her to a buyer. It's a baby smuggling, illegal adoption operation that spans several countries, I believe. I don't know if Kim Lassiter is the boss, but she's high up in the organization. Kristine was involved, Daniel, the employees at the Baby Time Boutique, the lawyer, Sergio Molina, and I don't know who else."

"We'll get to the bottom of it. The group will be taken down to the LA office where there is more space for holding and interrogation."

"I need to talk to Hannah," she said.

"So do I," Cooper said.

"Go ahead," Flynn told her. "But be aware that we have to take Hannah into custody as well, until we know her involvement in all of this."

"She saved my life, Flynn. She jumped out of a moving car to do that, and she gave everyone up. Plus, she was kidnapped when she was two. She's a victim."

"She's also a participant," he said. "But all that will work in her favor."

She understood what he was saying, but she was going to do everything in her power to make sure Hannah didn't pay for a crime she was forced into. They walked down the street to join Nick and Hannah.

"Glad to see you're in one piece," Nick said.

"Thanks to Hannah," she said again. "I need a few minutes with her."

"Go ahead," he said, stepping away.

"I'm so glad you're alive," Hannah told her.

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