She shut her mouth, not really knowing what to say. Thank you seemed hardly enough.
Taylor’s back was ramrod straight as he ended his call then strode back to them. “Give me a piece of paper,” he called to no one in particular.
Jeff handed him one and a pen, and Taylor scribbled the note: I hereby relieve Alex McCoy of her commitment to the CIA and FBI. She is now a free contractor, and any and all work will be renegotiated in a paid contract from this day forward.” His hard expression met hers again. “Will this suffice?”
Alex blinked at the note, her chest rising and falling. To be free? She’d never thought it was a possibility. Even Ryder stared at the note with a smile. They’d tried many years to get her free and had always been shot down. It never even occurred to her minutes ago to think of herself, she’d only been thinking about the women. Her attention shifted to Rowan, her heart nearly exploding out of her chest. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to have someone else looking out for her. “Yes, that will work,” she finally said to Taylor.
Frown in place, Taylor signed and dated the note then offered it to her. “Now, will you tell us the location?”
She smiled down at the note. Free. Not anyone’s toy anymore. A weight came off her chest that she didn’t know was there. She returned to her seat and then brought up the photograph of Lewis. “You asked me if I found something odd,” she said to Hampton. “I did. This photograph was on Lewis’s hard drive, and he’d kept this picture locked up tight.” She hit more keys on her keyboard until a newspaper article showed up. The headline read: Boy Saved from Mine. “I’ve got the police report here. His mother was terribly abusive. She left him in the mine for three days with only a small amount of food and water as a punishment. While she awaited her court date in jail, she killed he
rself.” Alex typed again, pulling up a mine in Woodbury, New York. “This is where he was found, and this is where the girls are,” she said, hoping to hell they believed her.
Taylor stared at map. “How sure are you?”
“Never a hundred percent,” she said.
“Her instincts are never wrong,” Ryder offered.
Taylor glanced at Rowan. “Thoughts?”
Rowan didn’t even hesitate. “If she says they are there, then they’re there.”
A second later, the place erupted into chaos as everyone was on their cell phones and Taylor was barking out orders, heading for the door. Within minutes, every CIA agent had left the command center, leaving only thick silence and the hope that they found the missing women.
Alex stayed at her desk, her mind somersaulting with all that had happened, when Rowan moved closer to the monitor displaying the photograph of the mine.
“Something wrong?” Ryder asked.
Still staring at the monitor, Rowan asked, “Can you pull up a topo map of the area?” A second later, after Jeff’s fingers hit the keyboard, the topographic map popped up on the screen. Rowan leaned in closer, studying the map intently.
Alex squinted her eyes, trying to see what he saw. “What are we missing here?”
Rowan finally pointed to an area on the map. “Here,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “I bet they’re here, not at the entrance of the mine.”
Ryder cocked his head. “What makes you believe that?”
“Because Jeff’s right,” Rowan said, finally turning around to face them. “Lewis would never use the main entrance of the mine. He wouldn’t be that reckless, nor would he use an entrance that just anybody could walk into.” Rowan turned and studied the map again. “Here”—he pointed at the spot on the map—“This spot makes sense. He’s got access from the road, but there’s thick enough bush to keep out wandering hikers. This looks like a cavern, too, where possibly another small area of the mine had once been used.”
More heavy silence filled the room until Ryder said, “But that is not where he was rescued from the mine.”
“I’m not saying it makes sense.” Rowan finally turned around, his expression hard and steady. “But I’d bet my life he’s got them there.”
Ryder glanced at Alex for her input.
She didn’t even have to think about it. “I trust his instincts 100 percent.”
“Then that’s where we’ll look,” Ryder said, turning away to grab his cell phone off the desk.
Before he could make the call, Alex interjected, “Do we call Taylor and tell him they might be at the wrong end of the mine?”
Ryder glanced at Rowan for his answer, and Rowan shook his head. “What if I’m wrong? Let them send their teams to the main entrance of the mine. We’ll go to this spot and take a look for ourselves.” He reached for his cell then obviously texted Taylor his plan.
“You’ve got the coordinates?” Ryder asked, sidling up to her.
Alex quickly wrote them on a note then handed it to him. Ryder was on the phone in an instant, turning away and coordinating with Jeff in their silent way.
A gentle finger suddenly tucked under her chin. She met Rowan’s intense regard. “You’ve always been sexy, but never quite as much as when you trust me so completely.” He slid a hand down her back, brought her in close, and brushed his mouth against hers. “Let’s go find those women, McCoy.”