Page 30 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

“Can you see what they are?”

“The files are images and text documents. There is a number and a label statingIntake photos. The text file is called Stats and Measurements.”

“And if you try to open one?”

Zeyla said, “Drew will see what I’m doing on his phone.”

“Any way to copy those files to Maizie?”

“I can try to do it when he’s not using his phone, but if he’s looking at the screen at all, he’ll see that someone is messing with his cell. It will be too obvious that something’s up.”

Ramon wanted to bounce his knee, but it would be entirely too obvious why he was doing that. Because he was trying to encourage Zeyla to treat this one kidnapping as part of the wider mission. Seeing one terrified girl as the best kind of reason to take down the whole operation.

But he could completely understand her need to kick the door in and rescue the victim.

The man he was now wanted to do exactly that. But the guy who lived in gray areas, and didn’t always do the right thing, would be at least willing to sacrifice one life for a shot at doing so much good in the world. Most of the time, he tended to decide where he was on that continuum in the heat of the moment.Or he worked with Kenna often enough that he wasn’t the one calling the shots.

Being out on his own like this, the one looking out for Zeyla, put the whole thing in a different perspective. Giving it a weight it didn’t usually have.

Victory or failure, it was ultimately going to be up to him.

“He’s uploading ultrasound pictures. Gross.”

“What is the website?”

“It’s just a bunch of numbers and letters. Almost like a passcode, and something you would never be able to guess yourself.”

Ramon figured that meant it was part of the dark web. “Read it off to me, and I will have Maizie look into it.”

“Now he’s leaving a message.” Zeyla didn’t look up from the phone, so Ramon kept an eye on the house. She said, “First thing tomorrow, there will be a pickup.”

“So nothing is going to happen tonight.” And he had been right that this was a holding spot. A way to hide out until the first few hours of the police investigation had died down.

“But we’re staying out here all night, right?”

Ramon nodded. “We can check in with Maizie in the morning since she’s an hour ahead of us.”

“Anything happening in the house?”

He scanned all the windows. “Not right now.”

“He’s checking his socials, so there’s not much going on, apparently.” Zeyla’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “Oh, wait. He’s getting a message. Someone with an unregistered number, texting him. Great, now he knows that the police have his DNA on file from the severed hand.”

“Someone’s giving him a heads up?”

She read off their number. “Tell Maizie to run it.”

Ramon initiated a basic web search for the phone number and found out it was unregistered. “I’ll text it to her.”

Zeyla said, “They told him to fix it. He texted,I will.”

A few seconds later, the garage door rolled up. Ramon spotted another car next to the one the two men had brought. “It’s looks like he’s pulling out.”

The other car—the one not used for the kidnapping—bumped down onto the street.

“I’m not leaving that girl here to who knows what.” She nudged his arm. “I’ll get out and stay here. Keep an eye on the place to make sure nothing happens to her, and you follow him to wherever he’s going.”

“Do I have to tell you what’s at stake here if you save her?” Even calling the police because of some kind of disturbance didn’t necessarily mean the guy inside wouldn’t talk his way out of it, and whatever cops showed up might never even see the young woman.