Page 24 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

“It’s Supervisory Special Agent Alex Donovan. And I have nothing to say to you.”

“So if someone else goes missing, you won’t feel bad that you didn’t warn the public?”

“If anyone sees something that concerns them, they need to contact Police Chief George Dixon.” Alex spoke in clipped tones. “That’s all I have to say.”

Although she really wanted that cheeseburger, Alex stepped out of the line, opened the door, and quickly headed back to her car. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the guy with the camera coming after her, Portia scurrying behind him in her high heels. Alex got into her car and sped away, leaving them gesturing for her to stop. She understood that the public was worried now, but this wasn’t the way to get information. Ambushing someone without acknowledging your identity was pretty low. When she got back to the office, she’d let Jeff know what happened. He wouldn’t be happy.

Alex headed to another restaurant, one with a drive-through. She ordered her food, paid for it, and then drove back to work. She waited a few minutes before getting out of her car just to make sure no one had followed her. Once inside, she sat down at her desk and called Jeff.

Based on the stream of profanity she heard, she was pretty sure the owners of channel 5 were about to get an earful.

She sighed. Jeff probably wouldn’t be able to stop Portia Meadows from showing what they’d filmed, but she had to hope he could do something. She was embarrassed to have been taken in by that wolf in high heels. She really hadn’t given them any information, though, so maybe they wouldn’t air what she’d said after all. Surely they’d rather interview someone who would actually answer their questions. But it was almost impossible to second-guess the media.

Some local news stations were great to work with. They were respectful and accommodating. But others, like channel 5, were only out for ratings, and they’d do almost anything to beat the other stations in the area. Alex didn’t watch much TV, but she should have recognized Portia. She’d actually seen her a couple of times. She must have been distracted thinking about Logan.

She finished her meal and then went back to work on the profile. She discovered that each missing woman had been seen in public like the ones recently abducted, although not necessarily in the media. One of the women worked with her father in an auction house. Another was a hostess in a popular restaurant. A third was in a local theater group. However, her face had been on posters all around town.

This information made her wonder if the UNSUB had only recently searched for victims online. That could explain why he’d abducted eight women over several years but six in the last month.

Alex had just looked up the work history for a fourth woman—discovering that she’d worked as a checkout clerk in a grocery store—when she noticed the time. It was after six. She didn’t want to interfere with whatever Logan had to do, but she was beginning to worry. She picked up her phone and sent him a text.

Everything okay? Let me know.

She went back to the files, but her stomach was tied in knots. She whispered another prayer for Logan, asking God to help him.

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