Page 4 of All He Takes
Nicky nodded. She didn't know if Fred was the right person to get the information, but he seemed to have a genuine interest in protecting the girls.
It was a start.
With everything settled, Nicky got up to leave, and the guards came in to escort Fred back to his cell. As she made her way down the cold prison halls, Nicky felt like she was closer than ever to finding out the truth about Rosie. She was closer to justice.
But there was still so much work to do.
Just as she was leaving, her phone buzzed in her pocket, and Nicky took it out.
Chief Eric Franco.
Her stomach fell. That almost certainly meant there was work.
"Chief," Nicky said into the phone.
"Lyons," he said. "I need you to get down to HQ fast. We have information on one of the missing girls... and it's not pretty."
Nicky swallowed, hard. She didn't like the sound of that.
"I'll be right in."
CHAPTER TWO
Nicky walked into the Jacksonville FBI HQ and took the elevator, trying not to worry too much about what the chief had told her. She was putting her life on the line to help these girls, and she had to hope that she was doing the right thing--whatever he meant by "it's not pretty" hopefully didn't allude to the death of any of the victims on the top ten list of girls. At the request of Senator Amara Gregory, Nicky had been put in charge of a task force dedicated to finding ten missing girls across the country.
They'd found some alive.
Some, unfortunately, had died.
But Nicky had solved the crimes with the help of her partner, Ken Walker, and of course, the tech, Grace Taylor. They had a good team, and although Nicky had faced losses, she had to believe she could still save more girls.
The elevator dinged, and Nicky walked through the busy office to the briefing room. Inside, Ken and Grace were sitting at the table, and the chief was pacing across the front of the room by the overhead projector.
But he wasn't alone.
Senator Amara Gregory was there, too. Tall, slender, and dark-skinned, she was wearing a crisp orange dress and gave off an aura of authority. It had been a while since Nicky had last seen the woman who’d tasked her with this job—not since the first case, actually. Amara had been keeping tabs on the team, according to the chief, but she hadn’t personally seen or reached out to Nicky in some time.
Nicky was still haunted by the memory of Maisie, the senator’s daughter, who Nicky had been unable to save. Nicky’s stomach twisted, because there had been so many other girls that she’d been unable to save too. She couldn’t help but feel like a failure, like she’d been failing Senator Gregory all over again.
"Ah, Agent Lyons," the chief said. "Thank you for coming in on such short notice."
"What's going on?" Nicky asked, sitting across from Ken and Grace. She exchanged a glance with Ken, feeling his blue eyes bore into hers, and her chest warmed. Things had turned romantic between them--but Nicky was a professional. She wouldn't show emotion, not in front of the chief or the senator. But she was comforted by Ken’s presence.
"You've all been doing a great job," Senator Gregory said. "I'm very sorry to hear that not every girl you've found so far could be recovered alive... but some of them have been, and at the very least, you've put killers behind bars."
A thick pause spread over the room. Nicky's gut twisted, and her fists balled. She felt like a failure. "I wish I had saved them all, Senator."
"Life doesn't always work out that way," the senator said. "I can tell by the reports that you three put your best feet forward… trust me when I say, I know it can’t always work out…”
Nicky’s gut twisted, thinking about Maisie, the poor girl who’d been kidnapped and killed, just moments before Nicky had arrived. If she’d been just a bit faster, then Senator Gregory would still have her daughter.
"They're fine agents," Franco said. "I wouldn't be surprised if they all made it to the SSA within a few years."
"That's the goal," Ken said. He smiled at Nicky, and she felt a little calmer.
"I'm glad to hear you say that," the senator said, looking at Franco. "I appreciate that, with everything going on in the world, you are keeping your priorities straight."
Franco nodded. "I try." He faced the agents, who were still sitting around the table.
