Page 52 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

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Alex tried to make herself comfortable on the couch at the command post. She’d spent the rest of the day there, talking to Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roberta Williams along with the heads of the FBI’s SWAT team and Hostage Rescue Team. The ASAC was used to running investigations, but she admitted to Alex that this was something new.

“You understand the psychology of this kind of UNSUB better than we do,” she said. “All we can really do is to prepare you for any kind of confrontation. Our main objective is to find the missing women ... or their bodies. But the other objective is to stop this person from abducting or killing anyone else.”

She’d stared hard into Alex’s eyes. “You’ll have to read the situation yourself, Agent Donovan. If you can obtain these two goals, then we have a win. But if at any time you feel threatened or in danger for your life, get out. We have no desire to bring devastation to another family. Do you understand?”

Alex had nodded, but there was no family to devastate. She just had Logan, and she couldn’t even tell him what she was doing.

His surgery was in the morning, and she had no intention of giving him a reason to postpone it. Which is exactly what he would do if he knew about this plan. It was imperative that he have that operation. Alex didn’t want anything interfering with that. He needed to do everything possible to protect his life. Jeff told her Nathan and Monty were ready to tell Logan that Alex couldn’t take him to the hospital because she and Bethany had to complete their profile on the St. Louis shooter. Jeff seemed convinced this lie would work, but Logan wasn’t stupid. If they played it wrong, he’d know something was wrong.

Williams had given her a tough nylon knife to insert into her boot. Nylon guns with nylon bullets existed, but they were too bulky. A pat down would reveal the gun, and Alex had no intention of angering the UNSUB with so many lives at stake. She’d also have a tracking device in the lining of her jacket, and that would be ready before she left for the designated meeting site. Neither the knife nor the tracking device would show up even if the UNSUB had a metal detector.

SWAT and the HRT would be standing by in the morning. Even though they’d have only minutes to find a place to hide, they were determined to be there. The whole operation had to be handled with professionalism and finesse. If the UNSUB spotted the agents, the whole thing could go south. Although Alex wanted to take the UNSUB down and force him to tell her where the women were, if he really wasn’t working alone—which was entirely possible—a move like that could be disastrous.

She went over the profile again, wanting to make certain she understood this guy as much as possible before confronting him. Still convinced he was looking for a specific woman, she considered trying to make him believe she was that woman. Maybe he’d free any captives he might still have. But she didn’t know enough to pull that off.

The truth was she honestly didn’t expect him to tell her where the women were, no matter what he’d promised. Why would he? Jeff was a talented analyst. He probably knew this too. That’s why he made sure she had the knife. Most likely, the UNSUB planned to take her, and Jeff wanted her to have a way to defend herself.

Her thoughts switched to Logan, and she began rehearsing options for what to say when she called him in a few minutes. She had to be careful.

She’d been praying for him all day, whenever she had the chance. Logan Hart was a good man, and he’d made such a difference in her life. He had to be okay. She couldn’t accept any other outcome.

She decided to pray for him again. Then when she felt something drip onto her slacks, she reached one hand up to her face and found it wet. She was crying again. This had to stop. It was time to get herself together. She had to focus on the UNSUB and prepare for their meeting tomorrow.

She’d called Shirley and told her she had a special operation the next morning. That she might not be home right away. She’d given her Jeff’s number a long time ago in case of emergency. She knew to call Jeff if she didn’t hear from Alex for a while.

Suddenly the door swung open. It was Jeff. “I picked you up a cheeseburger and fries. I thought you might be hungry.”

“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “I’d forgotten about eating.”

“I thought you might.” He pulled a small table over to the couch and put the bag on top of it. Then he handed her a large paper cup with a lid. “Root beer. I know you like it, and there’s no caffeine in it. You need to catch some sleep tonight. Tomorrow’s a big day.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I thought you’d like to know I mentioned your theory about the grocery store shooter to the St. Louis PD. They found the guy. A disgruntled ex-employee kidnapped the daughter of a man he knew, then forced him to shoot up the store by threatening to kill the girl if he didn’t. Caught the ex-employee and freed the daughter. We hadn’t even delivered the entire profile yet. Good job.”

“Wow, that’s great. I wondered if I was on the wrong track there.”

Jeff smiled. “No, you’re just a great analyst. One of the best I’ve ever known. Not sure even Kaely Quinn could have done what you did.”

Alex laughed. “Not certain that’s true, but thanks.”

“Sure. You doing okay?”

“Yeah. I’ve been well prepped. I feel confident.”

“Have you talked to Logan yet?”

“No. Just getting ready to call. I ... I can’t lie to him. I’m still not sure what to say.”

Jeff sat down on the arm of the couch. “You don’t have to lie. Act like you’re double-checking the time he’ll be ready to go in the morning. Just don’t tell him you’ll pick him up.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “That’s still deceptive.”

“Once he realizes why you deceived him, he’ll understand.”

“I’m not so sure. We’ve always been honest with each other.”

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