Hampton nodded. “I have no doubt the location of the women means something to Lewis. He is a methodical killer. He leaves his victims on display, like art. He’d think through every decision he makes, and those decisions would make sense to him. Finding the victims will only happen if we can unravel his mind and see what drives him as a killer. What his plan was.”
“Good luck with that,” Alex said with a snort. “He’s a fucking psycho.”
Hampton nodded in full agreement. “And yet, we need to find those women, so this is what we’re left to do. You’ve seen the files, Ms. McCoy, you just need to look through the cracks to see if you’ve missed anything. Time is against us here.”
“She is well aware of the dangers here,” Rowan said, approaching. He placed his hand behind her chair, his gaze sharp on Hampton. “She’s done more for those women than anyone in the room. Let’s not forget that.”
Thick silence passed between the two men before Hampton rose. “Think on it, Ms. McCoy,” he finally said to Alex. “Something is there, we”—he exaggerated the word as if to prove he wasn’t putting the weight of the women’s lives only on Alex—“just need to find the place that means something to him. A house. An old factory.” He tapped his fingers against the desk. “Think about it.”
Alex nodded at Hampton. She waited for him to be out of hearing distance before she looked at Rowan, finding him already staring at her. She smiled. “He raises your hackles just a bit, huh?”
Rowan glared at Hampton’s back then looked at Alex with only warmth. “I’m reminding them what you’ve done for this case. We wouldn’t be here without your help.” He grabbed Jeff’s chair and flipped it around before straddling it, moving close to her. “Hampton’s also not wrong—I feel it too, we’re missing something.”
Behind her, Ryder asked quietly, “Have your scripts gotten anything from the location of the video?”
She shook her head and kept her voice quiet too. “There’s nothing online that matches the location, but I doubt Lewis had this built. I mean, look at these rooms, they’re made of stone. It’s old.”
Ryder studied the monitor with a frown. “It looks to have been chiseled out, not cut with machinery. He could not have done this himself, which means that this mine had to have been there before.”
Rowan gave a nod of agreement and gestured at Taylor. “They’re already on all the closed-down mines around New York state, having come up with the same conclusion.”
“He’s not going to be that stupid,” Jeff said. Rowan moved to give him his seat, but Jeff waved him off and took the spot next to Ryder. “He’s in a mine. That’s without a doubt, but this isn’t a well-known mine. He would never be that reckless, not with something like this. Even closed-down mines have tons of visitors daily. He’d go somewhere remote, somewhere deep underground.”
Alex tapped her fingers against her desk, feeling like there was a clue right there, ready for her to grab it. “While that makes sense, how would he have known about it? What did he do, go exploring—” The moment the words left her mouth, a veil on her mind dropped, revealing a memory that pointed her to the answer. Hampton had even said it himself. She did find something odd.
The photograph of Lewis in the forest.
Rowan’s brows rose. “You’ve got something?”
“Don’t let anyone bug me.” She turned back to her monitor and got to work, shutting out the people around her. Her instincts were flaring, telling her she was moving in the right direction.
That picture. It had to mean something. Lewis protected it. Why?
Alex was aware of Rowan keeping inquisitive CIA agents off her back, and she heard Ryder snap once that if they didn’t back off, he’d kick them out. Everything went quiet after that, and Alex felt every set of eyes in the room staring down on her as she wrote a script that searched the internet until she matched the location with photographs that others had taken. And then came her second script that went deep into the dark web, pulling at files and reports that were buried or thought to be destroyed. Her heart pounded when the news article popped up onto her screen, followed by police reports. She shot up from her chair. “I know where they are.”
Taylor turned away from his spot by the monitors and stormed toward her. “Show me.”
Alex went to take her seat again when Rowan interjected, “Not quite yet.” She jerked her head to Rowan, surprised by the ferocity in his voice. “This is the last case Ms. McCoy works for the CIA, FBI, or any law enforcement agency for free,” he stated. “She has done more than enough to appease what she did as a teenager. After tonight, if her expertise is required, she’s given a paid contract, like any specialized contract worker you’ve got in your pocket.”
Taylor’s eyes widened a moment before he frowned. “You know that’s not as easy as it sounds, Hawke.”
“It is as easy as it sounds,” Rowan retorted firmly. “You want the location; you’ll get her a new contract in writing. Tonight.”
Alex reached for his hand, silently telling him to stop pushing. Not that she didn’t appreciate his support and looking out for her, but he wasn’t talking to a schmuck. His job was already hanging in the balance from working with Alex on his sister’s case when he was told to stay away. This, what he was asking now, would end his career. “Rowan,” she warned.
His hard stare was set on Taylor. “As Hampton reminded us, time is counting down.”
Ryder grinned from ear to ear, and even chuckled his enjoyment at seeing Taylor squeezed in a vise.
Taylor’s frown only deepened as he stared Rowan down. He eventually cursed and turned, grabbing his phone from his pocket, striding away.
“You should not have done that,” Alex whispered.
Rowan leaned into her and stroked her cheek with his knuckles, his warmth pooling into her. “Yes, I should have. It’s time this ends. No more exploiting you for their gain. You have done enough.”
“Your job—”
Rowan’s smile was full of cocky arrogance. “You’re not the only one who excels at their job, McCoy.”