Page 5 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

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Alex looked puzzled. “I don’t understand. We’re supposed to come up with a profile based on the disappearance of one woman? This isn’t much information to work with.”

Logan sat down on the edge of her desk. “I know, but Chief Dixon feels strongly that something’s not right about this. It’s not like Tracy packed a bag and drove away. She jogs through this park almost every day. She was seen entering, but she never came out. She left her car and her purse at home, and they found her water bottle on the path, near some trees. If you were running away, is this the way you’d do it? Besides, she has two kids that the chief said she adores.”

Alex shrugged. “Could this be a way to get some money from her parents? A fake kidnapping? Are her parents rich?”

Logan flipped open the file Jeff gave him, then turned over a few papers before saying, “I don’t think so. Her father owns a small insurance company in downtown Quantico. Her mother doesn’t work outside the home. They don’t sound like people who could cough up a lot of money.”

“No, they don’t,” Alex said. “But it’s still possible they had something to do with their daughter’s disappearance. Lucas and the chief need to look into that. What else can you tell me?”

Logan glanced at his watch. “Let’s grab some lunch and talk about it. I’ll drive.”

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you outside.”

Logan nodded and went back to his desk to get his reading glasses. He didn’t usually need them, but lately he’d been straining some when he read. He’d also been experiencing a lot of headaches. Although he’d had them occasionally before, this was becoming an uncomfortable trend, even making it hard to sleep at night. He’d set up an appointment with an ophthalmologist. Maybe it was time for stronger lenses. He read forms and reports all day, online as well as hard copies. Then at night he liked to read. Maybe TV for a while. Or audio books. He liked listening to them when he was traveling. Might be a nice change. Probably better than television. He couldn’t find much on anymore that he thought was worth his time anyway.

A few minutes later he met Alex at the car.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“How about Tony O’s?”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” she said with a smile.

Tony O’s was owned by Tony O’Grady, a local man who retired from the Marines a few years ago, after an injury overseas. Not someone to just sit around, he’d turned his love of cooking into the small, intimate restaurant a lot of soldiers and staff from the nearby Marine base frequented, as well as agents from Quantico. Tony had a way with sandwiches that kept people coming back.

It took them about ten minutes to reach the small café. It was packed, which wasn’t surprising. Tony was standing behind the counter and waved at them when they came in. Logan waved back and then scouted for a table. He was thinking they should just order lunch and eat it back at the office when a couple got up from a nearby table. Logan hurried over and sat down, then motioned to Alex to join him.

A man who’d entered the restaurant behind them had headed toward the same table. Logan smiled at the man, who then flashed him a dirty look and returned to the front of the restaurant.

A few minutes later a harried-looking busser came over. He quickly cleared the dishes and wiped down the table.

“Thank you so much,” Alex said to the man, whose name tag read Larry.

His cheeks flushed pink, and the corners of his mouth ticked up. “You’re welcome,” he said softly.

Her kindness was something else Logan liked about Alex. Most people ignored bussers, but not her. Words of appreciation and a smile had brightened the man’s day. Why was someone his age bussing tables? He looked to be in his early thirties. Surely he could secure a better job.

Logan laughed inwardly. He was profiling. He did it all the time. It was like a disease.

A waitress named Maggie walked up to their table, handed them menus, and then took their drink orders. Logan didn’t actually need a menu. He knew exactly what he wanted. He loved the Turkey Supreme with pan-seared turkey breast topped with caramelized onions, bacon, cream cheese, and mild jalapeños.

Alex usually skimmed the menu even though she always settled on the Spicy Tuna Melt with Southwest-spiced tuna, jalapeño cream cheese, and white cheddar on grilled white sourdough. They quickly told Maggie what they wanted. As busy as it was, it was better to order now. They both asked for the homemade potato chips. She scribbled their order on her pad and left with Alex’s “Thank you” following her as she went.

Logan’s mouth watered just thinking about his sandwich. He noticed that now the line waiting for a table was all the way out the door. He couldn’t help but wonder when Tony would finally expand. It was long overdue.

“So if we’re going to write a profile for this case, is there any chance we’ll have access to the woman’s parents?” Alex asked. “I noticed she lives with them.”

“I assume the chief will want a list of questions from us so he can interview them himself. Or have Lucas do it. You know we don’t do that.”

Alex shook her head. “I realize that, but with so little to go on, I’d like to see their reactions to our questions. Listen to them myself. You know how much we can learn from that kind of observation. We need to be certain they aren’t involved somehow.”

“Yeah, I agree. We can ask.”

She nodded. “When we get back to the office, we’ll pull up all missing persons cases in the area similar to this one. And run the information through ViCAP.”

“Do you really think we’ll find something?”

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