Devil in the Details

by Morgan James

  “I’ll do it. Whatever you need, just tell me. I have to...” She clenched her fists, the words dying on her lips. She inhaled sharply, and I worried for a moment that she was going to lose it again. Honestly, I hadn’t fully come to terms with it myself. This was something that happened to other people; stories I heard on the news but that never happened in my own hometown. And not to me—never to me. I’d survived four tours overseas and sustained a multitude of scars, both physical and mental. But nothing hurt like this. The pain of metal ripping through flesh couldn’t compare to the fact that I’d failed my daughter. I’d only known her for a couple of weeks, but she was as much a part of me as the blood thrumming through my veins. I couldn’t lose her now—not when I’d just found her. No matter the cost, we’d bring her home. There was no alternative.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Lydia

  I held out a hand and tried to form a smile. Judging from the look on the man’s face, I failed miserably. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Of course.” Xander’s brother, Abel, eyed me critically. “We’ll do anything we can to help.”

  My lips twitched, again falling just short of the polite smile I’d been aiming for. My entire body felt brittle, like I would splinter into pieces at the lightest touch. I waved a hand toward the group assembled nearby. “We’re printing off another batch of fliers right now. We’re trying to get her in front of as many people as possible to see if anyone remembers anything.”

  My voice cracked on the last couple words. I never imagined those words leaving my mouth. We’d spent the past twenty-four hours tearing the city apart, speaking with anyone who would listen. My eyes felt gritty and they burned every time I blinked. I looked like shit and felt worse. Dark circles ringed Xander’s eyes, but he kept bringing us a steady stream of coffee. He’d tried to get me to sleep last night, even just for a few hours, but I couldn’t. Each time I tried, I saw her big blue eyes. Was she scared? Was she hurt? My mind conjured the most horrific images, and I didn’t dare close my eyes. I couldn’t bear to sleep when my little girl was out there somewhere all alone. I could rest later; right now I needed to be in the middle of the action, doing something. Feeling useful.

  Abel’s wife, Emily, moved forward. I caught sight of her softly rounded belly, and tears pricked my eyes. All I could think of was Alexia when I’d carried her. Words jumbled in my throat, turning my voice raspy. “You don’t need to be out here; you should be relaxing.”

  She offered me a small smile. “Have you eaten yet? I’m starving.”

  I knew what she was trying to do, but I couldn’t even begin to think about food. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Con and Xander speaking with a couple of the police officers heading up the investigation. I opened my mouth to speak but couldn’t. I shook my head instead. The severity of the situation was pressing in on me.

  We were now just shy of the twenty-four-hour mark, and my heartrate kicked up. I knew from the way the cops spoke in low tones to Xander and Con that they were running out of leads. They’d advised us earlier that no one matching Alexia’s description had been seen at any of the airports or bus stations. That didn’t rule out a car, though. We were close enough to the border. If someone wanted to smuggle her across...

  Bile rose in my throat, and I pressed a hand to the base of my neck as if I could physically keep it from coming up. Abel set a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Stay strong. If anyone can find her, it’s Xander and his team.”

  I nodded, though I wasn’t nearly as optimistic. So much time had passed, and we had nothing. No one had heard or seen anything. It was literally as if she’d disappeared into thin air. I knew I was supposed to stay positive, but it was so damn hard. I wanted to yell and scream and demand answers. Why? Why me? Why Alexia? I turned the question over in my mind again and again. Who could have done this? And why? Nothing about this seemed logical.

  With every moment that passed without answers, my tension ratcheted up. I was drained, both mentally and physically, running purely on caffeine and hope. I knew Xander was no better. All day he’d been edgy and abrupt, and I knew it was because he was focusing all his energy on finding our daughter. It was as if a wedge had been driven between us. I felt more dependent on him than I ever had, yet he’d never seemed further out of reach.

  A steel vise constricted my lungs. I needed the reassurance of his touch telling me that everything would be okay. I needed him—even for just a second. It seemed so incredibly selfish when my daughter was missing that I felt like crying. I hated myself even more for that weakness. As a mother, I was responsible for my baby’s well-being. I was supposed to be there for her, to keep her safe. And I’d failed her.

  I offered Abel another wobbly smile. “Thank you.”

  They moved away, and I glanced around the room. We were once again assembled at QSG headquarters as we determined what to do next. Several search party groups were still out combing the city, but I could tell from the looks on the cops’ faces that they thought the effort was futile. I felt completely helpless, and I needed something to do.

  A man they’d introduced as Jason sat at a computer, looking as haggard as the rest of us. I knew he’d been working hard. I didn’t think he moved from that spot since I first met him yesterday. His head swiveled from side to side as he studied the four monitors spread over his desk. The monitor to his far right bore a generic desktop-type screen like a home computer. The two middle monitors showed video feeds, and the screen to the far left was filled with code that made my eyes blur. He paused for a moment to rub his eyes, then his fingers once more flew over the keyboard.

  I approached silently and moved into his peripheral vision. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  He glanced up at me, his tension evident in the set of his shoulders. With a short jerk of his head, he nodded to a chair. “Grab a seat.”

  I rolled the chair over and sat beside him. He pointed toward the two screens in the middle that showed black-and-white video feed. “These are from traffic cams at the major intersections close to your house.”

  The duplex was located a few streets off the main thoroughfare, so there were few businesses in the area to pull information from. I knew the police had checked with all the residents in the surrounding area to see if anyone had seen Alexia or any strange people in the neighborhood.

  “At this point,” Jason said, “we’re looking for anything. I’ve been checking each car that goes through the intersection to see if there’s a child inside.” He paused for a moment before continuing, his tone warning. “The perp may or may not have a car seat to transport her.”

  My breath caught. She was barely a year old. I’d seen horrific videos of what could happen if a child wasn’t properly situated in a car seat, let alone without one completely. I swallowed hard and pushed the thought away, focusing on the screen in front of me and praying we would find something to help us. From the corner of my eye, I saw Xander flick a look in my direction. For the briefest of moments, we made eye contact before he seemingly dismissed me again and went back to talking with the police. I blinked back the sting of irrational tears. I knew he wasn’t ignoring me on purpose, but the knowledge didn’t stop it from hurting any less.

  For the next two hours, Jason and I scoured the video feeds with no results. We weren’t the only ones. I knew the police were doing the same thing on their end, checking cameras and speaking with people all over the city. One of the most surprising things to happen over the past few days was that my mother had stepped up and offered her services. Her current boyfriend had invested a ton of money into putting bulletins on the local radio and TV during primetime hours so that Alexia’s face was plastered everywhere. Jolene had been quiet, reserved even. It was the first time in my life I’d seen her more concerned about someone other than herself. I refused to read too much into it, though. I appreciated her help, but I was stressed beyond comprehension. They offered a reward if she was found safe, but so far I hadn’t heard of any of the leads pa
nning out.

  Jason turned his attention to the monitor on the far right again, which had been ignored while we’d sifted through video feeds.

  Con appeared over Jason’s shoulder. “It’s almost time for the auction to start.”

  “We’ve got more important things to worry about,” Jason said tersely.

  Con gave a little nod. “I understand that. Why don’t you take over the auction, and I’ll help look at feeds.”

  Jason look like he wanted to argue, but instead gave in. Con dragged a chair around to the other side of me, then rearranged the monitors to give Jason some space.

  “I’m sorry for taking time away from your other jobs,” I said softly.

  Con shot me a fierce glance. “There’s nothing more important than taking care of our own.”

  A steel band constricted around my heart at the loyal declaration. My eyes burned, but I blinked it away and refocused my attention on the screens. Beside me, I heard Jason on the phone with someone, and I watched a sort of live auction feed pop up on his monitor. I turned a curious glance on Con. “What’s he working on?”

  “Have you heard about the thefts around town?” I nodded, and Con continued. “Seems they’re holding auctions every Friday night and shipping the goods all over the world. We’re trying to find the origin point and the person responsible.”

  My eyes widened as I gave an appreciative nod. “Sounds... complicated.”

  We lapsed back into silence and delved once more into the video feeds. After a bit, Xander moved to stand behind me, but he offered no reassurance. He didn’t touch me, never even said a word. Again, that irrational anger flared to life and simmered in my stomach. My emotions were ready to bubble over. Suddenly, I was mad at everyone and everything.

  None of this was fair. I wanted my daughter back, damn it, and I wanted to know why the hell she’d been taken in the first place.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Xander

  The automated voice announced that the auction was over, and the screen went blue with a message that read “Session will expire in ten minutes.” Jason’s fingers flew over the keyboard, and he watched the monitor to his left as code rolled across the screen, a bunch of numbers and letters that may as well have been a foreign language for all the sense it made to me. Suddenly, he froze. “What the fuck is that?”

  In place of the disconnection message, a new window popped up. “Re-homing needed, local pickup only. Blonde, blue. Enter bid now.”

  A timer popped up and began the countdown from five minutes. My stomach contorted into knots as I watched the seconds tick away. “What the hell is that?”

  Jason’s face was bright red, his expression livid. “Well, it’s not a fucking dog they’re referring to.”

  Beside me, Lydia let out a soft cry as a picture popped up on the screen. I sucked in a breath, my chest feeling like someone had planted a fist right in my solar plexus. Alexia’s tear-stained face stared back at me from the computer screen, and I fought to drag in air. Oh, Jesus. I watched the nightmare unfold right before my eyes.

  The minutes counted down, and the first bid popped up. Five thousand dollars. The number hit me with the force of a brick wall. That was the value someone had placed on my daughter’s life. Red exploded across my vision, and I whirled on Jason. “What the fuck are you waiting for?”

  Jason stared up at me. “Let’s see how this plays out for a second, and—”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  Con stepped up between us. “Hold up. Let’s relax for one second. We still have several minutes. No sense in bidding it up unnecessarily.” He turned his dark brown gaze on me. “Whatever the cost, we’ll bring her home. But we need to be smart about it.”

  Knowing he was right didn’t make it any easier. I clasped my hands together behind my neck and stared at the screen. The counter moved downward while the bids grew until the number turned my stomach.

  “IP address is different,” Jason muttered. “This definitely isn’t the same person.”

  “What the hell does that mean? Someone hacked the auction?”

  Jason stared at the code zipping across the screen on the left monitor. “Can’t say for sure yet, but it’s possible.”

  When it came within the thirty-second mark, Jason tapped his bid in and pushed it through. Relief mingled with dread as the clock ran out, our bid still the highest. Where the hell was I going to come up with that kind of money?

  As soon as the thought crossed my mind, a second window popped up, requesting personal information. I threw a glance over my shoulder at Con. “What do you make of that?”

  “They’re running background on the winners,” Jason murmured. “We need someone’s name. Can’t be one of us.”

  My heart dropped to the floor. Fuck. He was right. Mickelson had participated in the auction, but I had a feeling that using him would be the wrong way to go. We sure as hell couldn’t use Lydia, since she was Alexia’s mother. And we were all ex-military—there was no way in hell they’d work with any of us.

  Blake’s deep voice cut through the silence. “Use Victoria’s.”

  I whipped toward him. “You sure?”

  She’d been through hell recently, and, though I’d do anything—literally anything—to bring Alexia home, I felt like a dick for putting an unsuspecting woman at risk for a second time.

  Blake just nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

  I shot him an appreciative look and he rattled off Victoria’s information, Jason’s fingers flying over the screen as he typed it in. We all stared in silence as he submitted the information, and a message popped up. “Final winner to be contacted for retrieval.”

  Jesus fuck. So even though we’d won, they could still choose someone else? Motherfucker.

  Rage threatened to consume me, and I slammed my fist down on the desk. I swore to God—as soon as I found the person behind all this, I was going to rip him limb from limb. He was going to die a slow, painful death for everything he’d put us through.

  “Keep looking. I need a name.” My voice was harsh and raspy to my own ears. I needed to know who this was. We didn’t have the time or resources to try to run voice analytics. I needed to see this fucker’s face so I knew exactly who I was looking for. Too bad he’d stayed out of view of the camera the whole time.

  The fucker had been brash enough to walk right up to Lydia’s house, in sight of everyone. Bitterness filled my tone. “Son of a bitch. At least a day care would’ve had security footage.”

  For a moment, all was silent. Lydia stiffened, and her furious gaze cut through me. “You think I did this, that this was my fault?”

  The hurt in her eyes damn near broke me. I opened my mouth to speak, but the steely depths turned hard, fire rearing up in the wake of the sadness. “What about all this stupid secret spy stuff?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Her fists slammed into my chest, momentarily taking my breath away. “My baby was just fine until you showed up!”

  Ignoring her earlier statement, I latched on to the one word I heard. “Your baby? She’s fucking ours, Lydia! And you know goddamn well that I’d do anything for her!”

  “Really? Then where the hell were you for the past two years?”

  Red blurred my vision and I snapped. Grabbing her wrists, I shoved her back a step. “Maybe I would’ve been here if you’d told me I had a goddamn kid!”

  “I tried!” She screamed the words as she fought my hold, anger making her movements erratic and wild. “You never should have come back. We were all better off before.”

  Anger and hurt mingled in my chest and exploded outward as I lashed out. “Then how the hell am I responsible for someone kidnapping our baby from your house?” I took a step forward, forcing her to retreat. “Fucking explain that one!”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know!”

  A piercing howl left her throat, the brokenness of the sound slicing through me like a knife. Jason was at h
er back in the blink of an eye. He caught her around the waist as her legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground. Her body shook under the force of her sobs, and Jason scooped her into his arms. Shooting me an indecipherable look, he strode away.

  Already reaching for her, my feet moving of their own volition to breach the gap, I was stopped cold by a strong hand on my shoulder. Con shook his head as I met his gaze over my shoulder. Up until now, the guys had been watching the shitshow unfold. Now everyone turned back to their screens, uncomfortable at witnessing our breakdown. I couldn’t look at them—couldn’t bear to see the accusation and pity in their eyes. I felt fucking impotent. What kind of man couldn’t protect his own wife and kid?

  Guilt and hurt slammed into me, along with a thought I didn’t want to acknowledge—maybe Lydia was right. Maybe they were better without me after all.

  I shrugged off Con’s hand, then turned and pinned my gaze to the screen. “What’s the plan?”

  He hesitated for a long moment, then pulled out a chair and sat. He kicked out a second chair, inviting me to do the same, but I ignored the gesture. I couldn’t sit. My body was too restless, ready to fly apart in a thousand different directions. Lacing my fingers together, I placed them on top of my head, willing my ire to cool and breathing to slow.

  Across the room, I heard Jason speaking softly with Lydia, and I couldn’t help but glance in their direction. Lydia perched on the edge of the couch in the common area, bent at the waist, head cradled in her hands. Her body still shook as she cried, and Jason’s hand moved over her back in soothing circles. My hands dropped to my sides and clenched into tight fists at the sight. I wanted to stomp over there and break every fucking one of his fingers, one by one, for touching my wife.

  Con’s soft voice doused my ire. “Don’t kill him, he’s just trying to help.”

  I threw him an irritated glance. The knowledge didn’t temper my anger. Out of the corner of my eyes, I watched Jason guide Lydia to her feet. One hand on her elbow, the other on the small of her back, he led her from the room. Where the hell were they going? My gaze narrowed as I took a step forward.