Page 134 of Girl Between (Dana Gray FBI Mystery Thriller #5)

What started as a hunch had grown into full-fledged panic after speaking to George. The text Dana sent the detective should’ve made Jake’s heart soar, instead it plummeted, realizing there was only one reason she wasn’t here with him right now.

“They took her,” Jake growled.

He and George were standing in Dana’s empty hotel room.

“We don’t know that,” George warned.

“I do. Her things are gone. If she packed them to come meet me, then why didn’t she? And why hasn’t she answered any of my texts or calls?” George didn’t have an answer, but Jake did. “I’ll tell you why. Someone intercepted her and sent you that text from her phone.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I know her,” Jake snapped. He held up his phone, pointing to a photograph of the last text Dana sent George.

Dana: Sorry 2 run. Have 2 go back 2 DC. Touch base soon.

“Dana was adamant about staying to finish this case. And she doesn’t use shorthand. She despises it. She once went on a fifteen-minute rant about how the demise of language leads to the demise of society just because I sent an emoji as a reply.”

George looked marginally less skeptical .

“Look at your previous messages with her. Has she ever abbreviated anything before?”

George didn’t have to look. Jake could tell he’d made his point.

“Okay,” George began. “If you’re right, and that’s a big if , we can use this to our advantage. I’ll text her. If I get a response, we might be able to pinpoint it.”

“Not until you put somebody on a trace,” Jake ordered. “If this scumbag takes the bait, I’m not wasting it. We need to be able to track the tower and figure out where she is.”

“Excuse me.” The hotel manager who let them into Dana’s room returned with another man. “This is our head of hotel security. He’s got something you need to see.”