Page 136 of Girl Between (Dana Gray FBI Mystery Thriller #5)

Fear poured out of Jake like a faucet. He ignored the cold sweat soaking through his blue oxford.

He’d already removed his tie, and his jacket lay draped over the back of a random office chair in the NOPD precinct.

It didn’t matter how many times Jake told himself to focus on the task at hand, his mind kept dragging him back to the security footage from the hotel.

A man in a bellman’s uniform, forcing his way into Dana’s room.

Returning for a large piece of luggage he’d left on the cart in the hall.

Later, hefting the same piece of luggage back onto the cart and wheeling it out of view.

The next video had been even more damning.

The same man, no longer in disguise, now in the hotel parking garage, stuffing the luggage into the back of Dana’s Range Rover.

One last video had caught him exiting the parking garage, a triumphantly satisfied grin plastered on his face.

Jake wouldn’t forget that face as long as he lived. It belonged to Levi Monroe, the storied Casquette Girl killer.

And if the bastard hurt even a single hair on Dana’s head, Jake wouldn’t stop until he took everything from him, including his last breath.

“Boss, we got something.” Officer LaSalle strode into the room, her jaw set, lips pulled into a scowl that told Jake whatever it was, wasn’t good. “Vehicle matching the description was just found abandoned under Claiborne.”

“Claiborne?” George asked. “Chopped?”

“No. We got to it first.”

“Anyone talking?” he asked.

LaSalle shook her head. “You know the drill. Nobody saw nothing.”

“I bet I can jog their memories,” Jake growled.

“Won’t need to,” LaSalle assured him, moving to her station and striking a few keys on her keyboard. Her computer screen filled with a grainy image. “Got CCTV footage showing a white male moving a large black suitcase from the abandoned vehicle into a black hearse. No plates.”

Swearing, George rubbed a hand over his face. Jake knew that look. It was one a soldier got when they knew they’d lost a man. But Jake refused to believe it.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Jake demanded.

George looked him in the eye. “That hearse is the same vehicle Monroe’s been using to sneak his victims into our cemeteries.”

“No.” Dana wasn’t a victim. She was smart. Strong. After everything she’d been through, this was not how her story ended. “What about her cell phone?” Jake demanded.

“There’s no signal,” Creed said, joining the conversation. “Whoever has it was smart enough to pull a disable and ditch.”

“There has to be something, dammit!” Jake yelled.

Everyone in the room stopped to stare at him, but he didn’t care.

George pulled Jake into his office and shut the door. “Jake, you figured out she’s missing. That puts us one step ahead of Monroe. That’s something.”

He shook his head. “Not if we can’t use it to our advantage.”

“We’ve got all hands on deck. We’ve been searching for this guy for weeks now. Thanks to Dana’s help we’re closing in. We’ll find him. Keep the faith, brother.”

A thought dawned on Jake. “Her report. I want to see it.”

George gave him a look that said he didn’t know what Jake was talking about. But Jake knew Dana well enough to know she always covered her bases.

“She’s a librarian,” Jake barked. “Every case we worked, she wrote up a report. She can’t help herself. And every time, her notes were dead on. If she was officially working this case, I know she gave you a report. If there are any clues we’re missing, they’ll be in there.”

George frowned. “If Dana wrote a report I don’t know about it. Maybe she would’ve given it to Creed. He took over the investigation after we got back from Monroe’s property.”

“Then that’s where we start.”