Page 44 of Tracing Her Stolen Identity
“A woman who could be in on this!” he exclaimed in return. They stared at each other in a stalemate until Cal spoke.
“Unfortunately, we have no evidence whether Camille is or isn’t in on it.”
“Rather than call the police and ask for assistance,” Mina said, “we tapped into the security systems around the building. We can see the side of the building where that would have been recorded, but there’s no one there now.”
“Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that he strapped a woman to a wheelchair, set her in front of a video camera and did a full video without anyone noticing?” Iris asked, making Reece turn toward her.
“You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that. It would be almost impossible to film something like that where the gallery is located in Duluth. He’d have to be quick, and I can’t see that happening with a woman tied to a wheelchair like that.”
“But I know that was Taken for Granted. I have no doubt,” Skylar said, shock still filling her words. “And that was Camille.”
“Could the video be altered?” Reece asked Mina, who nodded with a shrug.
“That’s possible. The quality is low, which could be on purpose, and the shots of her were tight to the brick. Hecould have spliced them together to make them look like they were at Taken for Granted,” Mina said.
“We could call the bomb squad to go in, but I’m afraid he’s watching the building,” Cal explained. “If he sees movement and the bomb is inside the building, a lot of people would get hurt.”
“We can’t risk it,” Skylar said, shaking her head. “Whoever this is has an issue with me and no one else. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. We follow his directions and don’t deviate. Camille, while not my favorite person, doesn’t deserve to die, and neither does anyone else. If that building blows, many other businesses and people will get hurt.”
“I ran the casualty report if the building goes,” Iris said, grabbing a piece of paper. “Because the gallery is located so close to the residential section of the city and the hospital, we’re talking easily a billion dollars in property damage and countless lives lost if the building explodes. It’s old brick, and it will fly like stone bullets.”
Reece swore, his chest tight as he imagined the implications of that. “She can’t be out there alone, Cal. She has no way to defend herself.”
“Agreed,” he said, but Sky snorted.
“He said no cops and no security guys. If he blows that building when I’m sitting in front of it, I’m dead, too.”
“That’s why you’ve got us,” Roman said as he walked through the door dressed in a Secure One uniform, followed by four guys dressed the same. It was the core team of Secure One operatives.
“Skylar, my name is Efren Brenna. I believe you met my wife, Selina. This is Mack, Eric and Lucas. With all due respect, we’ve infiltrated a mafia kingpin’s home withouthis knowledge. We can stake out and protect the building in question in our sleep. We got you.”
Reece nodded his agreement when she glanced at him. “The team will not let you down. You can put the same amount of trust in them that you’ve put in me. We won’t let you or anyone else get hurt, but you have to follow directions and not go rogue.”
The room erupted in snickers as they glanced at Mina, who was laughing harder than any of them. “What did I miss?” Skylar asked.
Reece waved a hand in the air. “I’ll tell you on the way. It’s a long story. For now, will you agree to listen to the plan I know Cal has already developed and is ready to implement?”
“I’ll listen, but I think I should get a say in this, too. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me. If anyone is going to die, it will be me.”
His pulse pounding in his ears, he tipped her chin around to face him. “And you don’t think that going out there and getting yourself killed would hurt me? Don’t you think that watching you nearly die once was enough? Now I have to do it again?” Reece felt a nose budge against his thigh, breaking his concentration on the woman before him. He glanced down at Haven, Lucas’s PTSD dog, who wasn’t afraid to come to the aid of others in the group who needed a reminder not to fall too deep down a hole that would only torture them. Instinctively, he stroked Haven’s head while inhaling a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do it again. We can’t be reckless with your life.”
“And we won’t be,” Cal said, trying to gain control of the situation. “Both of you need to hear me out. We can adjust the plan once you’ve heard it, but until then, I wantyour lips zipped and your eyes on me. There are a lot of moving parts and we don’t have much time with a 6:00 a.m. deadline in front of us. Emotions are charged between you right now. We all feel that, but if you both trust us,” he said, emphasizingbothwhile holding Reece’s glare, “everyone will come out of this alive.”
“You have the floor,” Reece said to Cal’s nod. When Cal turned his back to walk to the whiteboard, Skylar slipped her hand into his and squeezed.
It was the lifeline Reece needed to focus on the plan and get her out of this safely, even if that meant he had to give her up in the end.
Chapter Twenty-One
The sky was starting to lighten ever so much as 6:00 a.m. approached. Storms were rolling in, though, and by the looks of it, they’d made it to the Duluth airport in Cal’s helicopter during the calm before the storm. The Secure One team was getting into position at the art gallery and she was sitting on the sidewalk near the hospital, which was well-lit and patrolled by security. The gallery was across the street and down a few blocks but close enough that she could wheel herself to it.
The team wanted her to arrive at the gallery at 5:58 a.m., giving them time to get into place and prevent this criminal from coming in hot before they were prepared. He was surely watching the building, but she had confidence the guys could still infiltrate it without him knowing. Who this was, she still didn’t know. With Miles and Silas dead and Camille tied up in the chair, it had to be someone from her past that she wasn’t aware had a grudge against her. The idea that someone would do all of this because of money was hard to swallow, even more so if it was someone from their cheer team. Reece had assured her that it wasn’t her fault. This rested directly on the shoulders of the person behind the mask, and when he was caught—and they would catch him—he’d answer for his crimes to the fullest extent of the law.
Before they left, Iris had told them that the Facebook page, including all the videos and the petition page, had disappeared. That proved the person behind this knew what they were doing in the digital world and didn’t want to leave a trail for the authorities to follow. Unfortunately for them, Secure Watch had multiple backups of all the videos and the petition page. Once this guy was unmasked, he wouldn’t wiggle out of this one.
Nervous, Skylar shifted in her chair and checked her watch. It was time to get rolling if she would make her deadline. All she could see was the pain in Land’s eyes when he lowered her to her chair when they arrived at the hospital parking ramp. His blue eye was filled with so much hope, while his gray eye was filled with pain, fear and worry. Her demand to do this had cut him deeply and made him bleed again, something she hated but couldn’t prevent. Having him back in her life had been fantastic despite the circumstances, but he couldn’t remain there. She never wanted to be the reason he hurt again.
You don’t think shutting him out of your life again won’t cut him deeply?
