When Shadows Fall (Dr. Samantha Owens #3)

“I know, Sam. I know. But our witnesses are being knocked off before we can get to them.”


Sam was quiet for a moment. “Do you think Adrian is going to go after Anne Carter? Or will he be coming for us instead, thinking we’re keeping Kaylie from him?”

He rubbed his hand through his hair, spiking it up, and looked downright miserable. “I honestly don’t know.”





Chapter

53

Washington, D.C.

THERE WERE MEDIA vans lurking around FBI headquarters. Fletcher wondered what the press knew about Kaylie Rousch and Doug Matcliff, but didn’t let it get in the way. Lisa Schumann had a scoop, and the rest of the D.C. media machine was churning, as well.

Thankfully they all hadn’t been peeping in his windows last night. A female FBI agent spending the night at a D.C. homicide cop’s place? All sorts of misunderstandings might ensue. Then again, this was D.C. What was shocking and inappropriate in some places was de rigueur for this town.

Jordan drove under the building, parked and got Fletcher checked in and into the elevator, but she was clearly lost in thought. When they hit her floor, she crooked a finger and said, “Come on. I have an idea.”

“About what?”

“How to find Eden. And, hopefully, Kaylie Rousch.”

She pulled him into her office, closed the door. “It was in the SIGINT from Matcliff. Something about beginnings and endings circling back.”

“All right. What does that mean to you?”

“I’m not sure. But there was something else. Remember he used the word Geddon several times?”

“Yeah. So what’s Geddon?”

“That’s what I want to find out. Maybe it’s a person, not a word.”

She put a red thumb drive into the slot on her computer and booted it up. “We have two networks. One’s public. That’s the green side. One’s secure, totally private, for classified information, interagency stuff. That’s the red side. We’re going in the red side, so don’t try to check your Facebook, okay?”

“Ha-ha. You’re going to see if there’s a mention of Geddon in the files?”

“You’re a smart cookie, Fletch. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

She pulled up a database and typed the name into her search field. The computer cooked for a second, then started spitting out a list of files. Jordan leaned in closer to the screen, touched the tip of her finger to the list.

“Oh, wow. Bingo,” she said.

“What is it?”

“Geddon is a holding company owned by...come on, you guess.”

“I have no idea.”

“Oh, Fletch. You’re no fun. Arthur Scarron’s family trust.”

“Ah. So what does it do?”

“Manages all the properties the Scarron family owns.”

So that’s why Scarron was named in Matcliff’s will. “Okay, now let me guess. The property holdings match the places where girls went missing?”

“Exactamundo. And there’s a nice little parcel of land out in Great Falls. Matches the latitude and longitude of the mark on the map Kaylie Rousch left for us.”

Thurber knocked on her door and came in, looking exhausted. “You eat? Someone left some pizza in the conference room.”

“I never say no to cold pizza. First, though, I’ve got something. And don’t get pissed, but I filled Fletcher in on the other girls. He couldn’t operate without that knowledge. I made a judgment call.”

Rob narrowed his eyes at her. “We’ll discuss that later. Show me what you have.”

She laid it all out for him. “It’s early, but this is it. I can feel it. Matcliff did tell us the truth, after all. Everything matches, including the site in Great Falls. Rachel Stevens must be out there. And the rest of Eden, too.”

Thurber made her show him each step, then nodded and cracked what would be called a smile if he had the energy to make it meet his eyes.

“Hell of a catch, Jordan. I’ll take it to the brass, see if we can’t add this to the warrant. It might speed things up. When we saw Kaylie Rousch’s tip, we went ahead and mapped the property. It’s a good fit for the type of land Eden liked to settle. Unplugged and out of the way.”

“That’s good. When do we go in?” Fletcher asked.

“Soon as the paperwork’s ready. Everyone is gearing up. We reconvene in thirty. Good work, Jordan. You too, Detective. Go get some coffee, or that leftover pizza, clear your brains.”

“Will do.”

Thurber left and Jordan gave Fletcher a dazzling smile. “That went better than I expected. We’ve got her. I know Rachel’s out there. We’re going to find her, and she’s going to be okay. I can just feel it. Let’s go take a look at the maps in the conference room. I’m sure there’s something there with specifics so we can start thinking about where on the property they might be holding her.”

They walked down to the empty conference room and started combing the maps staked to the corkboards.

The FBI had been busy since Fletcher had left the night before. Thurber hadn’t been kidding when he said they were moving on the Rousch girl’s tip.