Faceless (Sinister Secrets Book 2), Candle Sutton [dar e dil novel online reading txt] 📗

“I’m thinking we watch her. If she’s involved, she’ll eventually lead us to her contact. Maybe even the man in charge.” Dak scanned the faces at the table.

That could take a while. While it was probably too late for Boggess and Andrews, they might still have a shot at saving Stacy Cummings.

If they acted fast.

“We could spook her.” Kevyn felt all eyes turn to her. “Dak, you questioned her once before. What if you paid her a repeat visit and asked some more targeted questions? Like about the mobile unit? It might even be worth mentioning Andrews and Cummings by name.”

Sid snapped his fingers. “Yeah. Make her paranoid enough that she might run straight to the guy in charge.”

Dak nodded slowly. “I thought about that, but if we spook her, we spook the whole ring. We’ll have a really limited window to shut this thing down.”

“But if she leads us right to their operation, we’ll have them. Boom!” Sid slapped his palm on the table. “Done deal.”

“That’s a big ‘if.’” Dak flexed his steepled fingers, causing the joints to pop. “She could shake our tail. Or not lead us anywhere important at all. We could tip our hand for nothing and blow the whole op.”

He had a valid concern.

They’d come too far to act rashly. There had to be a happy medium.

“What if you cast suspicion on someone else at the blood bank? Ask her if she’s noticed anyone acting suspiciously? Hint that you think donors are being targeted for an unknown reason?” Kevyn briefly surveyed the team before resting her attention on Dak. “She’s got to be getting somewhat paranoid by now. What if we play on that?”

They were all silent for a second.

“That might work.” Dak didn’t sound fully convinced. “Let me think on it.”

Which meant pray. That was Dak’s default response. Once this meeting broke, she’d find him standing in front of the window in the office, looking out at the city without really seeing it. She didn’t know how many times she’d found him that way since joining this team, but it was often.

Interestingly enough, he’d made some of the best decisions of anyone she’d reported to. Ever.

Was it because of the whole prayer thing? Or simply because he was smart?

She knew what he’d say.

“In the meantime.” Dak’s voice startled her. “Let’s find out everything we can about those two people from the car crash. Especially the woman. If she’d recently undergone a transplant, legal or otherwise, she’ll be on the registry.”

“I’ve got that.” Felicia jotted the names down on the legal pad in front of her. “I’ll dig into their financials, see if they’ve pulled together large sums of cash recently.”

“I’ve got their friends and relatives.” JD twisted a pen around his fingers.

Dak shifted his attention to Sid. “You’ve got surveillance duty.” He glanced over at her. “Both of you. Wherever she goes, follow her. I’ll keep you posted on the plan.”

She looked at Sid. “Let’s take two vehicles. It’ll make it easier to follow her when she’s on the move.”

Dak nodded his approval. “I want both of you to check in every hour on the hour. This group is dangerous. As much as possible, keep the other in sight and no lone wolf, got it?”

Most of that was directed at her. They all knew it.

She offered a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”

“Let’s nail these guys.”

₪   ₪   ₪

No answer.

Agent Caldwell rapped on the door again.

Not that it was going to do any good. Mitch Taylor, or Joseph Wilson or whatever name he was using today, wasn’t home. Crazy as it sounded, he could feel the emptiness.

He whirled and strode to the neighbor’s door, which opened within seconds of his knock.

The seventy-ish woman beamed at him. “My tip paid off, huh? You told me to call if he came back and I did.”

Yeah, except she’d called his desk phone and left a message rather than calling his cell phone.

“He’s not there.”

Could she have made the whole thing up to feel like part of an investigation?

The woman’s brows knit together. “Hmmm. Well, he came home last night. Now? Probably at that job of his.”

“Do you know where?” Of course, he’d asked her this last time he’d interviewed her, but maybe she’d learned something new since then.

She shook her head, her short bob brushing her cheeks. “I know he leaves in the morning and comes home in the evening. Most days, although I guess he hasn’t been coming home as much lately. Maybe he’s got a new girlfriend and–”

“But he was here last night.” He didn’t have time to listen to this busybody speculate on her neighbor’s love life.

“Oh, yes. Got home around six, I believe. With takeout. It smelled like Chinese.”

Great. So Taylor came home with Chinese. Didn’t help him find the man now.

If the lady had called his cell phone, he could’ve made it down here last night to question the man while he was home instead of standing in the hallway wondering when Mitch Taylor would return.

If he would return.

What if Taylor had come home last night to pack his things?

“What time does he normally come home?”

The woman sniffed. “I don’t know that there is a normal with him. Single man, you know. Comes and goes as he pleases.”

This was a waste of time. He’d get more information from the homeless guy across the street.

“But.” The woman tapped her lower lip. “I would have to say he’s in by seven. On the nights he comes home, anyway.”

Seven. Well, maybe he’d come back at seven-thirty. Just to check.

“What do you want with him?” She surveyed him over the rims of her narrow readers. “Is he a criminal? I always knew there was something off about