Page 140 of Girl Between (Dana Gray FBI Mystery Thriller #5)

Cinnamon gum wrappers littered the sidewalk as Jake anxiously waited for the go-ahead.

Assigned to the northwest quadrant of the CBD, Jake stared up at the soft glow of the Superdome against a backdrop of purple night sky, waiting for it to go dark.

George’s voice crackled over the radio. “Your block is next.”

“Roger that,” Jake responded. “Eyes on target.”

There’d only been one building in this quadrant that fit Dana’s description, and Jake was staring directly at it. He didn’t have high hopes considering all 45 floors were already dark. But for Dana, he’d turn over every last stone in the city if it meant her safe return.

In a blink, the power to the surrounding blocks winked out. It was like witnessing a vacuum suck the life out of the city .

Silence replaced the light as Jake let his eyes adjust to the new blanket of darkness.

He held a pair of binoculars up, focusing on the Plaza Tower.

The building appeared how it had before the power was cut—dark, silent, lifeless.

The clusters of police and FBI agents covering the building from different angles began radioing in their responses.

No one reported any activity.

Creed’s voice came over the radio. “Move on to the northeast quadrant.”

“Wait!” Jake yelled, his heart pounding as a kernel of light began glowing in the distance. “There,” he pointed, counting floors. “19 th floor. Do you see that?”

For a moment the radio remained silent, but then he got a response. “Copy that. We’ve got signs of life on nineteen.”

Jake’s flicker of hope glowed along with the light coming from the building. Whatever backup power source was up there had taken a while to kick in, but now that it had, more and more rooms began to glow to life.

“Positive power source identified,” Jake barked into his radio. “We’ve found our target.”

Creed’s voice answered back. “Mobilizing. Standby for instructions.”