Page 10 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

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After Chief Dixon and the ambulance carrying the Abbotts left, Jeff tore into Lucas. “What were you thinking?” he yelled. “We don’t even know if those disappearances are connected.”

“It just slipped out,” Lucas said, his expression reflecting his misery. “I had no intention ... I mean, I can’t believe...”

“Jeff,” Alex said. “It was a mistake. It could have happened to any of us.”

Jeff’s face was dark with rage. “No. We’re trained agents. It shouldn’t have happened at all. It’s totally unprofessional. I’m sure Chief Dixon wishes he’d never come to us.”

Logan was disturbed by Jeff’s reaction. It was clear Lucas felt terrible. Maybe Jeff was right, but this wasn’t helping. Was he thinking about his own daughter? Was that why he was overreacting? As if reading Logan’s mind, Jeff took a deep breath. His color began to normalize.

“Look, it happened,” Jeff said. “Let’s get past it. We have to let the Abbotts know they can’t talk about this. We have no proof these disappearances are related. It could cause a panic, and our UNSUB could take off. We’d lose the element of surprise.” He looked at Lucas. “Get to the hospital. Talk to Mrs. Abbott and the chief. Make sure this stops here, got it?”

Lucas, who appeared to be barely holding on, nodded. As he turned to go, Jeff called out his name.

“Alex is right,” Jeff said with a sigh. “Any of us could have made the same mistake, but we all need to learn from this. Even a momentary loss of concentration can cause a lot of damage. Let’s just hope we can put our finger in the dike before the flood starts.”

“Sorry,” Lucas said. “I’ll make sure it stays with the Abbotts.”

Once Lucas walked out of the office, Jeff turned to Alex and Logan. “Don’t say it. I know what you’re thinking, but something like this just can’t happen. A careless word can make it incredibly difficult for investigators.”

Logan shrugged. “I’m not arguing with you, but it’s time to move on. We can’t go back in time.”

Jeff sighed. “It would be helpful if we could.” He pushed some file folders across his desk. “Here are three of the reports you asked for on the other women missing in the county. Still waiting on the fourth. Look these over and see what you think. I sent your victimology checklist to the police departments involved. We should be able to connect the dots soon ... assuming anything links these women beyond their similar ages and looks.” He sighed again. “I’ve got to contact Lucas’s Special Agent in Charge and tell her what happened.”

“Who is his SAC?” Logan asked.

“Marilyn Stein. She’s tough, but she’s fair. She’s known for supporting her people.”

“Good. Lucas will need that,” Logan said.

Alex nodded in agreement, then said, “Sure didn’t see this coming when I got in this morning.”

“Me neither,” Logan said. He took two of the folders and pushed the other one toward Alex. “Let’s start going through these. See what we can find.”

“Well, we already know one thing about our UNSUB. I’m pretty sure he was dressed like a jogger when he abducted Tracy. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have managed to get so close to her.”

“Good point. She would have taken off if he’d seemed threatening. As often as she jogged, she probably could have left him in the dust. He had to find a way to keep her from doing that. Probably faked an injury.”

Alex sat back in her chair. “He could definitely be a stranger. If Tracy ran every day, it would be easy to determine her schedule. He wouldn’t have to actually know her for that.”

“But how did he find her?” Logan asked. “Is he just randomly looking for young women with long dark hair?”

“Good question.” She opened the laptop she’d brought with her. After tapping at the keys a few times, she said, “Maybe this is how.” She turned the screen toward him.

“‘Tracy Mendenhall putting together boxes of supplies for school children in the Philippines,’” Logan read out loud. “Then below that headline, the article begins with ‘A local woman has organized a group at her church to ensure low-income children in the Philippines have the supplies they need to succeed.’ Looks like it goes on to talk about all the outreach her church does. Yeah, this could be how she turned up on his radar.”

“We need to check whether these other women showed up in the media somewhere as well,” Alex said. “Then maybe we can learn what links them together.”

“I agree,” Jeff said. “Get on that. Then do what you can to write a profile. I know the information is thin, but I’ve seen you both do some remarkable things.” Jeff got up and walked out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

Logan stared after him. “Thin? How about almost invisible?”

Alex smiled. “There’s more here than you think.”

“You’ve said that before.”

“And I’ve always been right.”

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