Chapter 3

Sophie was visibly upset when she hung up the phone. Nate put his arms around her and just stood, holding her. Eliot looked at her.

"What did she say?"

"She told me to tell you all to keep Gabby safe." Sophie said, in a whisper.

"Why didn't she tell us she was meeting this woman?" Nate asked.

Eliot didn't answer. Instead, he withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket, then used it to withdraw Parker's cell phone from his shirt pocket, open it, and scroll through the list of contacts. Finding the one he was looking for, he jotted the number down on a piece of paper, tore it off, and handed it to Hardison.

The hacker looked up. "What's this?"

"We'll need to talk to Parker's friend, Peggy, before this is over. According to the young woman in the treatment room, that's who set up this meeting. What I gave you is the contact information Parker had in her phone under Peggy's name. I want to know everything there is to know about her before we meet her."

"I'm on it."

"After you find out what you can from the emails, texts, and phone calls. We need that information as soon as possible." Hardison stared at Eliot for a moment, but he realized the hitter was correct. Knowing why Parker was there might tell them where to find her, or how to get her back. Eliot sat there staring straight ahead, lost in thought and waiting for what Hardison might discover.

A moment later, there was a knock at the door. Nate moved over and opened it, marveling at how Eliot could go from mostly relaxed to hyperalert in about a half second. Lieutenant John Patrick Bonanno of the Organized Crime Division of the Massachusetts State Police stood on the threshold. Nate stepped to one side and allowed the policeman to enter.

Nate offered his hand, and the two men shook. "Thank you for coming, Lieutenant."

"You said it was urgent. What's going on?"

Nate hesitated, trying to decide how much to tell him. Finally, he said, "We came across a young woman who has left an abusive relationship. She was beaten pretty badly." He glanced at Eliot, who spoke up.

"I treated her. She's resting in the next room, if you'd like to speak to her."

Bonanno nodded. "Before I do, I have to ask you—How did you find out about this girl?"

The team exchanged glances. None of them were sure how much they wanted to tell Bonanno, but they knew they had to trust him if they wanted his help.

"Detective, the safety of a member of my team could depend on your discretion in this matter. We called you because you know us—know what we are trying to do here. Before we tell you anything, I need to know that that trust was not misplaced. Was it?" Nate asked.

Bonanno shook his head. He knew the risk they were taking calling him in. He also knew that the team before him was largely responsible for bringing down the men who had nearly cost him his life. He owed them this much. "No."

"All right. A member of my team missed a late meeting tonight. When we traced her whereabouts through the GPS signal on her cell phone, we didn't find her, we found the woman in question instead. According to Gabby, she was supposed to be meeting the woman missing from our team."

"Why were they meeting?"

"We're not sure. She was pretty shaken up, but she said she had left an abusive relationship with her husband three months ago. She indicated that she thinks he had something to do with the condition we found her in tonight. As for why they were meeting, she couldn't tell me. She couldn't even allow me to treat all of her injuries. We were hoping that allowing her to rest might help her to remember more than she's told us.

"And your teammate told you nothing?"

"No, she didn't. We think it was sort of a last minute meeting."

"I see. What do you want me to do?"

"We'll take care of things on our end...find our missing teammate, find out why they were meeting, etc., and we'll share any of that information that is pertinent to your investigation with you. We want you to do what you do—investigate the crime scene, interview the witnesses, arrest the perpetrators. We'll help from behind the scenes."

"You've done all of this before. Why do you need me?"

"It seems to me that someone was targeting Parker, and perhaps the whole team through her. If they were watching at the crime scene, they know who we are, but they likely knew that before. We don't want them knowing what we're planning, or trying to force our hand. I think it's better for us to stay invisible on this one, as long as we can. Put the element of surprise back in our favor."

"All right. May I talk to your victim?"

"Of course. I'm going to ask Sophie to come with us. She was terrified of me earlier. The presence of another female may help her feel safer, and lead her to open up a bit." Bonanno nodded, and rose, following Eliot toward the treatment room. The rest of the team followed more slowly.

Eliot opened the door, and abruptly stopped, dead in his tracks, growling low in his throat. Bonanno and the rest of the team nearly bumped into him from behind.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked. Eliot didn't answer.

Nate stepped around them, and moved up beside the hitter. Bonnano joined the two of them on the other side. Nate suddenly understood why the hitter had stopped so suddenly.

"Damn," he said, in surprise, gazing across the room. The delicate lace curtains Sophie had hung to make the place nicer blew gently in the late night breeze coming in from the open window.

The treatment room was empty.