Page 73 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

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Alex sat on the bed, turned her back to the camera, and pulled off her boots. Then she palmed the knife and slid it under the blanket. She was confident that if anyone was watching, they hadn’t seen what she’d done. She turned around and put the boots next to the bed. Her toes especially welcomed the chance to be free.

She moved to the small bookcase in the corner and picked up a book. Jane Eyre. Great novel. She returned to the bed, lay down with the book, pulled up the blanket, and then with her left hand pulled back the bottom sheet and carefully cut a slit in the mattress. She hid the knife there before readjusting the sheet. Now she could get to it whenever she needed to.

She put the book down and studied the room, eager to formulate a foolproof plan. Something that would get everyone out safely. One of the first things she had to do was find a way to reach out to the FBI. She needed backup. She had no intention of taking on the electric fence unless she could get to the controls and turn off the juice first. And right now she had no idea where those controls were.

The real danger wasn’t just one man guarding them. She could easily take him out. It was the second man who worried her. She would have no idea where he was or if he was armed. A wrong move could cost her—and everyone here.

Alex lay back on the bed again, and although it looked as if she were reading, she was really planning. But her thoughts kept drifting to Logan, wondering how he was. She struggled to force herself to concentrate on her current situation. The sooner she got out of here, the sooner she could see him again.

Jeff called Monty to see if Logan was out of surgery. He was, but he hadn’t been transferred to a room yet. Monty promised to call Jeff as soon as he knew something more. Jeff called Todd and Bethany to see if they were ready to go to the CP. Then he let Alice know they were leaving.

“By the way,” she said, “you’re sending flowers to Logan.”

“But I’ve never really been a flowers kind of person.”

“Well, you are now.”

He smiled. “Okay. I guess I am now.”

He met Todd and Bethany at the building’s entrance, and they all jumped into his SUV. On the way, he brought them up to speed on Chief Dixon’s news. A few minutes later they pulled into the CP’s back lot. The place looked almost deserted. Some cars were parked in the back. Some down the street. A few in the front, but not enough to make anyone curious. With the attention the missing women had drawn from the media, they had to be careful not to draw unwanted interest. If they weren’t cautious, they’d be overrun by reporters looking for their next story.

When Jeff knocked on the back door, an agent opened it. He showed his credentials, and they were let inside.

“ASAC Williams?” he asked.

The man pointed to a woman standing not far from them, staring over the shoulder of an agent working on a laptop. When Jeff walked up to her, she turned to look at him.

“Unit Chief Cole?”

“Yes. Thank you for allowing me to meet with you.” He gestured toward his agents. “This is SSA Todd Hunter and SSA Bethany Hostettler. They’ll refine the profile written by Agents Hart and Donovan based on recent events.”

Williams shook hands with Todd and Bethany. “Happy to have you here. Someone who may be able to provide us with information about our UNSUB is coming in soon. I hope he’ll be helpful, but please keep working on your profile in case this doesn’t pan out. I’m not very confident he’ll be able to point us in the right direction. If he knew who killed Emily Marsden and Thomas Tedder fifteen years ago, why didn’t he come forward? He says it was because he was afraid of repercussions from other carnival workers, but I’m not sure I believe that. What does intrigue me, however, is that he worked at the amusement park where our UNSUB directed SSA Donovan to meet him. That’s a pretty big coincidence.”

“Big enough that I agree it warrants investigation,” Jeff said. “When will he be here?”

“Any minute. I sent one of our agents to pick him up—”

The back door swung open, and two men walked in.

“There they are now.” She frowned at Jeff. “I’m willing to let you sit in on our conversation, but you need to be quiet. You’re not actually part of this investigation, you know.”

“I realize that, and I truly appreciate being included. I’ll keep my mouth shut. You have my word.”

She called out for a young man who got up from a desk where he’d been working on a laptop too.

“Special Agent Snyder, please take SSAs Hunter and Hostettler to the smaller conference table. They’ll work there.”

“Yes, Boss.”

Snyder motioned for Todd and Bethany to go with him, and they followed him to where they’d be tweaking a profile Jeff hoped wouldn’t be needed much longer. Once they’d identified the UNSUB, an analyst’s primary job was done—although they could help agents searching for the offender in other ways.

The two men who’d come in the back way reached the spot where Williams waited for them.

“Mr. Tenbrook,” the agent said to the man with him, “this is Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roberta Williams.”

Williams held her hand out to the large, rather scruffy-looking man. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Tenbrook. We’re hopeful you can assist us.”

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