Page 82 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

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The afternoon passed slowly, but it gave Alex time to go over her plan. It wasn’t complicated, but it wasn’t perfect either. So much had to come together. She was still a little concerned about being overheard, but she’d profiled people like these guys before. Overly confident. Convinced no one could defeat them. They probably hadn’t even considered listening in on the women. Believed they weren’t any threat to them so why spend the money or take the trouble to install something?

On second thought, she doubted cost was a factor. Tracy mentioned that this house was huge and that their prison was once a wine cellar. And then there was the amusement park. You needed money to create something like that. Would anyone in the BAU consider why the UNSUB asked Alex to meet him at an amusement park? Wonder about why he picked the Ghost Shack for their meeting and called himself the Ghost Rider? She prayed they were putting the pieces together. The rides here had to be purchased and delivered. It was a link to their location.

She felt some hope. It was a chance. A good chance. Should she just wait on them? That was the one thought that kept coming back to her. The only reason she wasn’t completely convinced her plan was the best decision. What should she do?

Moving to the door, she pushed open the top panel. “Tracy?” she called. She waited a few moments and then called out again. She heard more than one panel slide open.

“Yes?” Tracy.

“Please don’t change your mind about making him think I’m the woman he’s looking for. If you want out of here, you’ve got to do it.”

Tracy hesitated before saying, “But what if he hates this woman and decides to kill you?”

“I don’t think he will. And besides, I can handle him.”

“You don’t know that for sure. And if you try to hurt him, he may retaliate by coming after one of us. Or all of us.”

“Look, just tell him what I said. I know what I’m doing. You have to trust me.”

“And just how do I work it into the conversation?”

“Tell him some of the other women mentioned the carnival rides. And that I brought up the place where they took me, another amusement park. That I said I’d been to Magic Land Park when I was younger.”

“You were abducted at some amusement park?”

“Yes. An abandoned one. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t tell him you don’t like amusement parks or anything like that.”

“Why?”

“Because I think he identifies with them. In a note he sent to us, he called himself the Ghost Rider, no doubt after one of the rides at that park. If you say anything negative about them, he might see it as an insult. I don’t trust his temper.” There was silence as the women were obviously taking in this information. “By the way, have you ever heard him mention the name Ghost Rider?”

Each woman said no. Interesting. She’d expected him to be using it.

“Okay,” Tracy said. “How do you know so much about him? Do you know who he is?”

“No, but I’m a behavioral analyst. I work for the BAU.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Some people call us profilers.”

Alex heard Tracy’s quick intake of breath. “You mean like that TV show?”

“Not really. Behavioral analysts don’t run around arresting people and chasing criminals. We just create profiles for law enforcement so they can narrow their searches. They target suspects who fit our profiles. It’s not exactly like what you see on TV.”

“Well, if that’s true, what are you doing here?”

Good question.“The UNSUB—that’s what we call our unknown subject—saw me on TV. Just like you, I fit the description of whoever he’s looking for, and he sent the FBI a message saying he’d tell us where you all were if I showed up at that amusement park.”

“But you’re not wearing something that will lead them to us?” Tracy said, her voice lowered.

“I was. I had a tracker in my jacket, but he made me take it off before we came here.”

Alex didn’t mention the knife. That was one thing she wouldn’t say out loud even though she was almost convinced the men weren’t listening. This was the second time she’d put something she wanted to keep from an UNSUB in a boot. Frankly, the idea was probably running on borrowed time. Although she didn’t plan to be kidnapped by another psychopath, if she were ever in this situation again, she’d use a different tool to defeat him. Although she hated to think of this guy running his hands over her body, he probably had. The two places people don’t think to look? Hair and shoes. The last time she’d hidden her phone in her boot.

“Okay, I’ll do what you want,” Tracy said. “I sure hope you’re right about this.”

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