Page 4 of Girl Between (Dana Gray FBI Mystery Thriller #5)

Once again, Jake found himself at a rickety green table across the cobblestoned street from the famous pastel pink café.

He ordered a coffee, crusty baguette and cheese plate to blend in, but he wasn’t there for the food or the Instagram background that drew tourists to the Parisian landmark in droves.

Jake had been stopping at La Maison Rose for weeks now, hoping to catch a glimpse of what drew him to Paris.

But he was in Paris on FBI assignment. Which meant the uniform of blue suit, blue shirt and tie was nonnegotiable.

After the Reaper case, Dana left Jake little choice but to follow the lead she’d acquired on his father.

Jake had mixed feelings about finding the man who’d abandoned him and his mother two decades ago.

But Dana had been clear that she needed time and space to deal with the fallout of their last case, so Jake had arranged a trip to the FBI field office in Paris.

Crime and terror enjoyed a global reach, so there was no shortage of foreign post openings for Jake to choose from.

He applied for the attaché position in Paris, confident he’d easily secure the four-week assignment once he found out his new Director had come from the FBI’s International Operations Division.

Jake had been in Paris for three weeks already, bouncing between embassies to build relationships with foreign law enforcement, intelligence, and security services. It was a lot of hand-shaking and ass-kissing, but it made the perfect cover for the true motive that brought him to France.

Jake kept his gaze fixed on the apartment building at the end of Rue de l’Abreuvoir.

The phone number he’d traced belonged to the resident in unit 16.

Jake had spent the last three weeks tracking the comings and goings of everyone in the building.

He’d yet to spot a resident who resembled his father. And he was running out of time.

In one week, he’d have to return to D.C. It was now or never.

Finishing his coffee, Jake left his euros on the table and strode toward the towering limestone building, ready to face his fate, whether that be his father or just another dead end.