Page 80 of Zain

“You’d be surprised,” August said. “Not many newer homes in the Seattle area have below-grade spaces. I’d say this house was built before the eighties.”

“Yeah,” Zain said, “but I suspect a lot of houses were built before the eighties. I see where you’re going with this, but it’s not enough.” He broke away from the group and made his way down the hall to Ghost’s office.

The door sat partially open, and Zain knocked on the doorframe.

“C’min.”

Zain entered the brightly lit space. A black wrought iron desk with a glass top was in the center of the room, and a large window ate up the wall adjacent to where Ghost sat behind his computer.

Two brown leather chairs were positioned in front of the desk, and a tall indoor plant was nestled in the corner—probably thanks to Pearl; Ghost didn’t strike him as the type of guy who’d keep anything but himself alive.

“I got the text,” he said grimly, and motioned for Zain to sit.

“Think you can find anything from the picture to give us a location?”

He lifted the corner of his lip. “Nah, not by itself.”

Zain’s shoulders slumped.

“But take a look at this.” He turned his computer monitor in Zain’s direction. “I’ve been tracing the vehicle. It entered a neighborhood in the northeast.”

Zain straightened. “That’s an older area.”

Ghost’s eyes flashed. “Exactly. I think we’re onto something, but finding the correct house will be tricky.”

“What about tracing the phone number?”

Ghost straightened. “Wasn’t the photo sent from your lady at the CIA?”

“I don’t know. She contacted me from an unknown number, and the text also came from an unknown number. But she wouldn’t be with Dana. When I called her about ten minutes ago, I reached her through her private line at the office in Langley.”

Ghost massaged his chin. “No shit.”

Zain opened the text and handed over his phone so Ghost could analyze the sender. “Can you trace it?”

He swished his lips to the side. “It’ll be tough. I’m sure they have the best firewalls in place, but I’ll try.” He glanced up, and Zain read hesitation in Ghost’s expression. “Not sure if I’ll be fast enough, though.”

Zain encased his impatience. “Get started. Thisis the only lead we have right now.”

Ghost began tapping on Zain’s phone. “And what are we gonna do in the meantime?” he asked, without looking up.

“Try to buy some time from Maxine.”

Brick entered the room. “I think I can help with that.”

***

Dana gulped downa mouthful of saliva and blood. The pain in her cheek pulsed across her head. With her hands braced beneath her, she scootched so she sat against the wall again. She was out of time and out of information. She grabbed the rope in her teeth and yanked until her jaw screamed. Panting, she stopped and jerked her arms apart until the loose loop of rope gave way some more. If she could stretch the loop over her hands, she could remove the rest a lot more easily.

Summoning strength, she caught the rope in her mouth again and tugged. Pulling her arms downward and away from her face, she had the loop over her hands a minute later.

She let out a shaky laugh. Holy shit. She was getting the hell out of here. Unraveling one loop after another, she shook her hands free. The binding dropped to the ground near the two puddles of vomit. She opened and closed her hands, pumping blood to her extremities.

She got to her feet, and her head swam. Steadyingherself on the wall, she waited for the dizziness to pass. After a very early morning, being tased, vomiting twice with nothing in her stomach, losing a fingernail, and being hit in the head, she wasn’t in very good shape.

But adrenaline warmed her skin. Even the pain in her head lessened as she crossed the room and snagged the pail from the corner. She kicked aside the blanket on the floor and turned the bucket upside down. Hanging tightly to the windowsill as her baby finger screamed, she stood on the bottom of the bucket.

She grabbed the edge of the plywood, which was about ten by thirteen inches, took it down, and leaned it against the wall carefully so it didn’t fall and alert her captor. As she stared out the window, the sunlight made her squint.

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