Page 19 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

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When her alarm sounded the next morning, Alex rolled over and hit the button to turn it off.

Krypto grunted and pushed on her back with his nose. Her white pit bull hadn’t been happy with her last night because she’d stayed out so late. She’d just wanted to make sure Logan was okay before leaving him alone. He’d finally eaten his soup, and by the time she left, he seemed to be feeling better.

She told him Jeff didn’t want him back in the office until Monday. Logan had grumbled about it, but Alex made it clear that if he came in, Jeff would probably just send him home again. Finally, he gave in. “I guess Jeff will assign someone else to work on the profile with you,” he’d said. It was obvious he wasn’t happy about that, and neither was Alex.

Monty was still off work, so someone else from their team would be assigned to help her. She could do it by herself, but it was best to have another analyst to bounce ideas off of. Several times in the past Alex had changed her mind about a profile after feedback from another agent in her unit.

When she got up and headed toward the kitchen, Krypto followed her. She fed him, then turned on the coffee maker. She always prepared it the night before so she wouldn’t have to do it when she was still sleepy.

Krypto was waiting by the back door to go outside, and Alex was working on her first cup when her phone rang. She picked it up and saw Logan’s name. She prayed he wasn’t feeling worse.

But it was just the opposite. After she said hello, his voice boomed over the receiver. “Just wanted you to know I woke up feeling great. Don’t know what you did, but I think it fixed me.” He laughed. “I plan to go in today. That way you won’t have to work with anyone else on the profile.”

“You better talk to Jeff. He was adamant that you stay home. I’m really glad you’re feeling better, but maybe you should wait until after your MRI.”

“Not necessary. I think I must have had a slipped disc or something. That’s what was causing my headaches. Maybe I slept on it the right way last night, but for the first time in days, I feel good. I’ll call Jeff and talk to him, but if he says it’s all right, I’m coming in.”

“Okay. But if he wants you to wait, don’t get upset. He’s just trying to look out for you.”

“I know. Hey, thanks for taking care of me last night. I really appreciate it.”

When Alex ended the call, she wanted to feel happy that Logan was doing better. But she couldn’t get rid of an uneasy feeling. Why did she feel that way? She really wanted Logan back at work.

When Alex got to the office, Logan wasn’t at his desk. She was just about to sit down when her phone rang. It was Alice. “He wants to see you.”

Alex thanked her and headed toward Jeff’s office. When she opened the door, she found Logan sitting in front of Jeff’s desk. Was this about Logan showing up to work? Was Jeff blaming her because he’d come back early? But the expression on Jeff’s face made it clear this was about something else.

“Have a seat, Alex,” he said.

She sat down and waited, unsure what to expect. Jeff rubbed his forehead, and Alex realized how tired he looked. The past few months they’d had one case after another. No time to catch their breath. Was it beginning to wear down her boss? Could that be the problem with Logan as well? She hadn’t thought about it until that moment, but stress could certainly cause headaches. Yet she was convinced that what she’d seen in Logan’s face last night was caused by more than simple stress.

“I told Logan he should go home,” Jeff said. “But he refuses, and I don’t feel like pulling rank today. There’s too much going on.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as if trying to calm himself. “Logan, last night I told Alex that we have another missing woman who fits the description of the other women abducted. So that brings us to six.”

He sighed. “But I didn’t tell her this. Chief Dixon found eight more missing women across the eastern part of the state, all about the same age when they went missing. All Caucasian, all attractive, all with a similar build and approximate height, all with long dark hair. Four in Richmond County, one in Rappahannock, one in Culpeper, and two in Gloucester.” He looked at Alex. “I didn’t want to tell you about this last night. I knew you were concerned about Logan.”

“I ... I don’t understand,” Alex said. “I thought something was sent out to law enforcement all over the state.”

“It was. But the request was for recent abductions. Some of these missing women were taken almost six years ago.” He shook his head. “It’s shoddy police work, and they know it. It took Chief Dixon getting on their backs and forcing them to look through old cold cases. But now we know. Of course, this doesn’t mean these are all connected to our current situation, but we have to look at them as if they might be related.”

“Could there be more?” Logan asked. “I mean, maybe they should go back even further.”

“Now that they’re aware of the connection between these eight, they’re combing through their files, looking for others. But nothing’s turned up so far.”

“So fourteen women are missing?” Alex asked.

Jeff nodded. “Six years is a long time for someone to be kidnapping women, but the police plan to investigate each case. They’re setting up a command post with staff from departments in each one of the involved counties as well an agent in charge to coordinate the FBI’s work. I’ve requested their files. I know you need them for your profile, and I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get you what you need.”

Logan shook his head. “Six women. That’s troubling.”

Alex turned to look at him. “No, it’s fourteen, Logan. Six from here, and eight from other counties.”

Logan frowned at her. “Fourteen. I know. That’s what I said.”

Alex studied him for a moment. It wasn’t like Logan to get confused about something this important. But maybe she was being ridiculous. Everyone made mistakes. She was so concerned about him that perhaps she was seeing things that weren’t there.

Someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” Jeff called, irritation in his tone. He didn’t like to be interrupted during a meeting.

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