Wyoming Mountain Hostage by Juno Rushdan

Author:Juno Rushdan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-01-25T20:23:33+00:00

* * *

THE DOOR TO the command center closed. Jake spun in his chair to see who had entered. Lynn strode toward him as Nash locked the door.

“Morning, everyone,” she said.

Aaron waved hello without looking up from his computer screen.

His sister came up to him. “Did you get any rest?” Her tone was what he imagined she used with clients in therapy.

Jake shrugged a casual shoulder, even though tension radiated through him. He’d managed to get a little dreamless sleep after tossing and turning for hours on the cot, worried about Becca and the other hostages. Wondering if she was able to get any rest. “Enough to function.”

“Well, that’s something.” She gave him an encouraging smile.

“I need to talk to both of you,” Jake said. “Becca contacted me on the Pietsch kid’s cell phone last night after you left.”

“You talked to her?” Nash asked. “How’s she holding up?”

“Hanging in there.” She was one of the toughest women he knew. Scratch that, one of the toughest agents, and wouldn’t wilt under pressure. He was privileged to know her. “She’s been listening. Asking questions. There’s a lot to share. I’ve written up a report with all the details. She managed to get pictures of two of the HTs—Mister and a guy with a blue neck gaiter. I’ve uploaded them to the system. Aaron is trying to work his magic.”

Agent Vance was studiously at it. “I’m running the pictures through our facial recognition database,” he said, from in front of his computer screen.

What he neglected to mention was that he also had access to an artificial intelligence program that scraped billions of images from the internet—Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, you name it.

Aaron sipped his coffee. “I’m also combing through DMV records.”

“The odds are high we’ll get matches for both,” Jake said.

Nash nodded in agreement. “Becca did good.”

No, she had done great, despite his warning for her to stop. Becca was clever, he’d give her that. Reckless but clever—and effective. Any inside information was useful, but it wasn’t worth the risk if it jeopardized her. “I need something from you, Lynn.”

“What’s that?” his sister asked.

“The HT that hit Becca has a history of having issues with women. Apparently, he’s been to therapy for it and was described as incurable. Can you reach out to all the local clinics to see if he was treated there?”

“Sure.” Taking out her phone, Lynn sat down. “What else do we know about him?” She opened a note-taking app.

“White male. Dark eyes. Black hair.” As soon as Becca had mentioned the black paisley face mask, he instantly knew which guy she was talking about. “Mid to late thirties,” Jake said, and his sister began typing. “His first name is Craig. He has a thick mustache and a tattoo. Of a black spider.”

“Where’s the tat located?” Nash asked.

“Oh my God.” With a look of disbelief on her face, Lynn shook her head. “The tattoo is on the back of his left hand. Here.” She indicated the fleshy space between her thumb and pointer finger.

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