Page 32 of Chasing the Past

Eli got out and opened Asal’s door. “Stay close to me, okay? I have a bad feeling.”

The fear that was engraved on her face before had returned. Eli reached for her hand and clasped it in his.

Gavin opened the door to the lobby and went inside. The room was empty. Eli caught a visual of several surveillance cameras.

“She’s on the third floor.” He pointed to the stairs on the right.

The door to the stairwell creaked an alarm as they stepped into it and headed up to the third floor.

“It’s apartment 305. An odd number. Looks like it’s this way.” Gavin headed down the hall while Eli’s bad feeling followed him every step of the way.

Standing in front of Fatima’s door, Eli noticed something alarming. He immediately unholstered his weapon. The door stood slightly ajar. “Stay here,” he told Asal.

He and Gavin slowly entered the apartment. “Fatima, are you here? It’s Eli Warren.” His words were met with silence. “She wouldn’t leave her apartment unlocked . . .” He stepped into the living room and a metallic scent had his stomach turning. “That’s blood.” He turned slightly and saw something crumpled in the corner of the room. “Oh, no.”

Gavin spotted what he did.

As Eli neared, the truth became clear. “It has to be Fatima.” Eli’s jaw tightened at the anger that was taken out on Fatima.

Gavin knelt and felt for a pulse. “She’s gone. I’m guessing she was probably killed shortly after she spoke to you.” He looked around the apartment.

“I’ll call the police.” Eli pulled out his phone.

Gavin rose and crossed to Eli. “You can’t do that.”

Eli searched his face. “Why? She’s been murdered.”

“We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet. This is more than just a murder case. I didn’t tell you, but I’m a member of an intelligence group made up of CIA, FBI, NSA and Homeland. We’ve been tracking a threat that came from some chatter online. I’ll call my team in to handle this. I promise we’ll get to the bottom of what happened to Fatima. We’ll find her killer, but you can’t be part of this investigation.”

“Eli, is everything okay?” Asal had come into the apartment without him realizing it. Asal spotted Fatima’s crumpled body and shoved her hand over her mouth. “Is she . . . ?”

Eli went over to her. “She is.” He glanced over at Fatima. She was barely recognizable as human. The killer had really gone to town on her. Was it the man who had been following her. . . the same one who had followed Sashi?

“Did they take the things that belonged to Sashi?”

Eli turned back to Asal. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll search for the evidence. You and Asal need to get out of here now. This is bigger than murder. This is a matter of national security.” Gavin grabbed them both by the arm and ushered them to the door.

“What about the police? There are security cameras everywhere. They might have captured the killer. We should report this, Gavin. One of the neighbors might have seen something critical. The police have to be called.”

“I’ll handle notifying the police after I’ve brought in my team to assess what’s happened. This is our case now, Eli.” He fished out keys from his jacket pocket. “Go now before you’re both brought in for questioning. Take the stairs.”

Eli reached for Asal’s hand and escorted her from the apartment. He hurried along the hall to the stairs and took them quickly. Once they were outside the building, he forced himself to slow their speed.

“Who would have done this to her?” Asal said once they were inside the Suburban.

Eli buckled up and fired the engine. Leaving this way without calling the police went against everything he believed in, but Gavin was right about one thing. This was much bigger than finding out the truth about Sashi. There was no doubt in his mind the Panther was planning something right here on US soil.

Once his heart rate had settled and they were out of the city, he called JT.

“Did you find Fatima?” JT immediately asked.

Eli swallowed several times before he was able to speak. “She’s dead, JT.” He told him what happened. “Gavin is calling in a special intelligence team that he’s part of to figure out what happened. Officially, we’re off the case.”

“Unbelievable.” JT blew out a huge breath. “Well, we might not be officially working the case, but we owe it to Asal to find out what really happened to her sister and to keep her safe which means we need to find out what this Omar person is up to. So, until someone forces us off the case, we’re working it.”

Eli smiled. “Is everyone still at the house?”

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