Page 82 of Justified Fear
“Cool.”She set her computer down and opened it up.Then she wandered over.“What are you doing here?”
Ryan’s attention was on the big screen.It seemed like Charity was running some kind of search.
“I’m still confused by what happened to Keely when she was younger.It’s just odd that she is embroiled in two major crimes.I mean, what are the odds?”
“Not good,” he murmured.
“Another thing that always bothered me was that the security guard who found her disappeared off the face of the earth.I can’t find pictures of him, but in three of the other abductions, the same thing happened.”
His eyes narrowed.“The security guards disappeared?”
She nodded.“They quit their jobs within two weeks of the kidnappings.”
“That isnotgood,” Emily said, echoing his comments from just a few moments earlier.
There was a ping, and Charity turned toward her computer.“I keep getting excited every time I find stuff, but they never have a picture of the guy.”
“What did you get?”
“I contacted all of the girls who were with Keely that day.One of them found a video on her cloud that she’d saved.”
She clicked a few keys, and a grainy video came up.There was a massive boot sculpture first, then it zeroed in on the mall and the news media.
“I can’t believe she kept this,” Emily said.“It’s been what…sixteen years?”
Charity shrugged.“If you had been part of a major news story when you were a teen, wouldn’t you keep it?”
“Probably,” Emily said.
The camera panned around the crowd.There was Keely.Jesus, she was so young.Her father stood beside her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.Damn, he was angry, but Ryan understood.Then, the camera moved around, and he saw a flash of something…someone.
“Go back.”
“What?”Charity asked.
“Right after Riki and Keely are filmed, I thought I saw someone.”
She nodded and started clicking keys.The film slowed down and then focused on a face that should not have been in that crowd.
“Fuck,” he said, his blood running cold.“Is that…” he stepped closer.The shape of his face, the way his gaze seemed intent on Keely, had Ryan’s blood running cold.
“Oh my God, it is,” Charity said.“Where is he right now?”
“He’s upstairs alone with Keely,” he said as he rushed out the door.He heard Emily following him.
They didn’t mess with the elevator and entered the stairwell instead.He pulled out his phone and called Seth, who answered.
“What do you have?”
“Where are you, and who has eyes on Gailbreath?”
“I’m on my way to a tip about Brothers.Why?”
“Gailbreath is our perp.”
It tookRay a little bit to join her in the break room, but when he did, he looked even worse.He was sweating as if he were sick.Or maybe he had an infection.He shut the door as he entered, which made her wonder what was up.
“I think we need to have Elle look at you again.You look like you are coming down with something.”
