Page 33 of Dead Fall (The Quantico Files 2)

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Alex had just closed the file and moved to her bed when the door suddenly opened. She jumped when she heard a scream and only realized at the last moment that it came from her own mouth. Kaely stood in front of her, her eyes wide, a look of surprise on her face.

“Alex, what is it? Are you okay?”

Alex struggled to harness her emotions. “I’m sorry. I guess I nodded off for a few minutes. Bad dream.”

“Another one?”

Kaely put her hand on Alex’s shoulder. Her touch made Alex flinch.

“Wow. Let’s get you settled down.” Kaely led her over to the chair at the table, the last place she wanted to be. She looked toward the chair where the image had appeared. Nothing was there. The room felt normal again. The only thing that wasn’t right was the way her heart was pounding. She was having a hard time catching her breath.

“How about something to drink?” Kaely asked. “I picked up some bottled water from the vending machine.”

Alex took the bottle gratefully and forced the cold water down. It actually helped a little. She realized that she’d just lied. As a Christian, she wasn’t supposed to do that, and she felt bad about it, but she couldn’t tell Kaely the truth.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Kaely asked as she sat down in the other chair.

Alex shook her head. “No. But thanks anyway.” She took another sip of water and tried to stop her hands from shaking. “What did Logan say?”

“Monty said he was in the shower, so I didn’t get to talk to him. But I’m confident Logan is making sure there’s plenty of security in place. Agents are watching all the roads into the complex and all the entrances into this building. With no way for the UNSUB to contact us, I believe he feels fairly confident that we’re safe.”

“Unless he’s already here somewhere,” Alex said. “Or maybe he has someone working with him who’s watching us.”

“Could be. But remember, that’s just conjecture at this point. It makes sense to me, but that doesn’t make it true.”

“I realize that, but the idea that we’re being stalked doesn’t make me feel very secure.”

“Me either.”

“Did you talk to Noah?”

Kaely smiled. “Yeah. Hopefully, I’ll see him tomorrow. He just completed a new-agents training class. He taught them how to investigate a kidnapping, make entry, handle arrests, and process crime scenes.” She sighed. “I think he had a lot more fun than we’re having.”

“Well, that wouldn’t take much.”

“No kidding.” Her expression became serious. “Hey, I was thinking about something on my way back here. Since the UNSUB got to Monty because it was his easiest move, if he goes after the rest of us, I believe he’ll pick us off as he’s able.”

“I don’t think the question is if he’ll try again,” Alex said. “It’s when. And that makes him even more dangerous. He’s willing to change his MO to accomplish his goals. We can’t figure out his next move if we can’t rely on an MO.”

Kaely drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them. “You’re right. That’s unsettling.” She was quiet for a moment, probably trying to digest what Alex had said. “Something about Bayne bothers me. I’m sure the UNSUB wanted him to die. But he wasn’t in the same country, and so many things could have gone wrong. Like we said, what if Bayne hadn’t answered his phone until later in the day? There’s a fourteen-hour time difference between here and Sydney. The timing was ... well, unbelievable.”

“You’re right. Anything could have thrown off his timing. Maybe Bayne wasn’t supposed to be second,” Alex said slowly. “Maybe he was supposed to be first, but the UNSUB had to wait until everything was timed perfectly.”

“Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I feel like we’re missing something, but I’m too tired to see it clearly. All I know is something about Bayne is different.” She rubbed the sides of her head. “This case is giving me a headache.”

“Me too.”

“He needs to be caught,” Kaely said with a sigh. “I’d like to go home someday.”

Alex couldn’t help but think about Krypto. She missed him so much. Was he missing her too? Or was he having more fun with the Stewart kids? She quickly wiped away a tear that snaked down her cheek.

She was also worried about what she’d seen earlier. Should she tell Kaely what happened? She really didn’t want to. She was afraid she would alienate her, yet Alex was really frightened. Maybe Kaely could help.

“I hate just sitting around,” Kaely said. “We’ve got to outthink him. Figure out his next move ... or at least some idea of what he might do.” She yawned. “But not tonight. Jeff wants us all in one of the training rooms in the morning.”

“Why?”

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