Page 93 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

He sighed and turned toward her. “I enjoy talking. I get lonely. Just don’t talk about ... leaving here.”

“I’ll try. But it’s hard not to mention it. I want to go home. I can’t imagine what my children are thinking. Matty and Cassie probably think I’m dead.”

On a TV talk show she’d seen once, they’d said making yourself a real person to a killer makes it harder for him to take your life. She wanted this guy to know about her children. Even their names. She was a human being with a family. Not just a woman with long black hair.

“You won’t die. If you’re not the one he’s looking for, you’ll leave here. You’ll just be told not to say anything about all this or your family will be targeted and the women still here will be hurt.”

Did he realize what he just said? The one he’s looking for? The man behind this was Andy, not this guy.

“Do you really believe Andy is letting the women go?” she asked softly. “Surely you know that’s not true.”

He seemed taken aback. “If you don’t stop, I’ll have to return you to the house.”

“No. Please. I won’t bring it up again.”

“Time to move on,” he said, reaching for the remote.

“Oh, wait,” she said. “One more time around? It’s really beautiful up here.” She was telling the truth. The lights from the park twinkled in the dark, and even though she was tired of hearing the same song over and over, it added to the ambiance.

She took a deep breath. It was time. “One of the women said you abducted her from an amusement park.”

“Uh, yeah. I guess so, but I don’t want to talk about that either.”

I guess so?So he wasn’t certain about it. Maybe Andy was the one who’d taken Alex? Yet this guy was the one who’d abducted her. Strange. She had to keep going. “I ... I’m confused about something. You seemed surprised that I have children. Isn’t my disappearance on the news?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. It’s one of the conditions for living here. No TV or radio. Not even newspapers. But I have lots of DVDs I watch when I’m not working.”

No live TV? Someone didn’t want this guy to know what was going on in the world. Probably because whoever was in charge didn’t want him to find out too much. Unless he was the world’s greatest actor, something was wrong here. Tracy could hardly wait to get back and tell Alex what she’d learned. Surely it would be helpful.

A thought popped into her head.

“But what about your phone? You can keep yourself up-to-date that way.”

“It’s only set up for calls.” He frowned. “I’m not comfortable with all these questions.”

She noticed that he patted his pocket. An involuntary response to her question? That told her he was carrying his phone. That was important for Alex to know too. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just think you’re interesting. That this place is ... well, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He didn’t respond, just nodded. Tracy realized she may have pushed him further than she should have. She took another deep breath. She had to finish setting the trap.

“The woman who was taken from the amusement park said her name is Alex. She also mentioned that she used to visit that same park when she was a teenager. Before it closed down.”

He immediately straightened up in his seat and looked at her, his eyes narrowed. “What did you say?” He used the remote, and the ride slowed until it stopped at the bottom.

Tracy tried to act surprised. “She said she used to go to that park when she was a teenager.”

“Are you sure she was talking about that park?”

“Yeah,” she said. “What did she call it? Magic Land ... or something like that. Why? Is it important?”

“No.” His response was sharp, and he shifted once again in his seat.

“I ... I hope I haven’t said anything wrong. I wouldn’t want to cause Alex any problems.”

“No. No, you’re okay.”

He seemed fidgety. Nervous. She had a feeling their date would be cut short.

“Let’s get something to eat,” he said.

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