Radiant Surrender (CSA Case Files Book 6) (36 page)

The betrayal was swift and like a stake speared into his chest, but most of the pain came from the fact that she hadn’t told him. He’d been completely open with her about the darkness that consumed him, the cold outlook about life that would sometimes consume him, and the lifestyle he led. He’d opened every part of his life to her. All he’d asked in return for was honesty and she hadn’t even given him that. She’d snuffed out the lone ray of sunshine until there was nothing but darkness.

“Crest?” Jax’s voice came from the open door and brought Crest to the violent, consuming present where time was of the essence. “We’ve got everything covered. How do you want to go about the search?”

“Have Kevin start in the parking garage and then work his way up from ground level.” Crest tossed the folder onto the coffee table as if it were a piece of garbage. To him that’s what it was and he welcomed the emotionless veil that consumed him as he headed for the door. He embraced his cold, dark soul that would see him through this. “John Smith hasn’t left this building, but he’s probably guessed that he’s contained. He’ll be in an area that provides multiple exits.”

Crest made a left out of the apartment and quickly made his way to the stairwell, knowing Jax would use the elevator and then cut off that source of transportation. There were multiple levels in the parking garage and since Kevin would probably take the lower one, Crest opened the reinforced metal door on the upper. The sound echoed throughout the enclosed structure and then once the reverberation stopped, he listened closely for any movement.

The next thirty minutes was spent searching the garage and by the time Crest had met up with Kevin, several updates had already been given from Jax. Unless John Smith had taken Jessie inside one of the apartments, they weren’t in the building. Townes and some of his men had the outer building surrounded with nothing to show for it. Ethan had searched the exercise room, the pool area, and all extraneous regions. The search came up empty.

“We’d need a warrant to—”

“Start knocking on doors and show them Jessie’s picture,” Crest ordered, talking over Kevin as they all congregated in the lobby. “Each of you must have a photo on your phone. Tell them she’s missing and that we’re looking for any information they may have. A warrant isn’t needed for that.”

Kevin, Jax, and Ethan all headed toward the staircase as Townes came through the glass front door. Crest quickly dialed Taryn as he waited for the man to get closer and state his outlook on the situation. She answered on the first ring.

“I went through the video feed for a third time and I’m telling you that Smith nor Jessie left that apartment building either on foot or by car.”

“Have you broken into the surveillance cameras for the building?”

“Those on each floor are set on a random timer with the exception of the main lobby and neither one has come through that way.”

Crest loosened his tie, which felt like a goddamned noose around his neck. What was he missing? Smith wasn’t the type of man to hole up in some apartment, waiting and cowering like a scared rabbit to be flushed out by a rabid dog. He had to have had a back-up plan before he even knocked on Jessie’s door. So again, what the hell were they missing?

“My men have the outer perimeter well covered and have seen nothing,” Townes said after Crest disconnected his call with Taryn. “I also have a couple of men positioned in the parking garage, just in case something was missed.”

Crest nodded, approving of the reinforcements that Townes’ men provided. He would have offered the man a spot on the team had it been better timing, but he couldn’t get past the feeling that the longer it took to find Jessie, the more likely he wouldn’t see her again. It didn’t matter that she’d chosen to walk away from him. What mattered was that she lived to see another day. That lone thought triggered something and Crest looked around the lobby, searching for what he knew had to be there.

“If this building does have surveillance, even if it is only the front lobby, where is the equipment kept?” Crest asked aloud, more conjecturing to himself than anything. He’d already spoken to the night guard on duty who had no issue with CSA searching the building for a missing woman. To the man’s credit, he didn’t even ask why the police weren’t directly involved. That was out of character. The more Crest thought about it, the more he knew he was right. “Townes, we’re being watched. Smith has Jessie wherever the security console is and I’m betting it’s in an area off of here that we somehow bypassed. Jax specifically asked the guard, who pointed to an office on the right hand side of the elevator banks.”

“That makes for an interesting scenario,” Townes said, not moving or giving any indication that they’d gotten wind of a scent and were about to descend on their prey. Smith had obviously gotten to the guard before the building was surrounded and somehow threatened his life should he give any agent their location. Townes even glanced at his watch to throw off anyone who was observing, as if he were getting bored of the search before calling over the guard. The man left his post and slowly walked their way, the engraved nameplate on his pocket at an angle. “I want you to do me a favor, Shaun. I want you to walk with me to the front door and pretend to listen to what I have to say in regards to the entrance. Before we do so, I want you to tell Mr. Crest here where your actual security room is and if you lie, I promise you that whatever you were threatened with would be a hell of a lot more pleasant than what I will do to you. Is that understood?”

Townes forced a small smile and patted the man roughly on the back, waiting for the guard to give an answer. The man wet his lips numerous times and looked between Crest and Townes, weighing the decision placed before him. He wasn’t talking and if he didn’t say something, Smith was going to do something they would all regret.

“Quickly, Shaun, before I decide to show you just how serious of a threat I can be.” Townes squeezed the man’s shoulder and then made a false gesture toward the front glass entryway. “Tell Mr. Crest what he needs to know.”

“In the s-security room there’s a door that I blocked with a tall filing cabinet. H-he knew stuff about my family. He—”

“It doesn’t matter what he knows if he’s dead.” Townes turned Shaun toward the revolving door and started to point at the entry points, buying Crest the time that he needed to keep Smith thinking that everything was going well according to his plan. “Now this is what I want you to do. We’re going to pretend to look at—”

Crest didn’t hear the rest of what was being said. Instead, he focused on his phone and falsified a call while walking towards the stairwell on the other side of the security desk. It wouldn’t appear to be anything other than him taking the stairs to another level, which was what he’d been going to do anyway. He still found it hard to believe that Smith would trust a guard to keep his mouth shut while putting himself in the position of being trapped. Crest couldn’t take the time to ask the guard if there was a back way into the office, but he figured it was better safe than sorry. He quickly shot of a text to the team so that they knew what was taking place and to look for the other exit that Smith might try to take. This situation had gone down so fast that they didn’t have their usual equipment, such as earpieces, etc., that made missions like this easier. If he had his way, this would be over in less than ten minutes anyway.

From the camera angle that Crest had spotted before rounding the desk where the guard was usually positioned, Smith would be able to see anyone enter into the security control room. Not wanting to give up his hand so soon, Crest leaned up against the wall and placed another call to Taryn.

“Pull up the blueprints of this building,” Crest ordered, looking over to where Townes was now pointing out the front door and appearing to ask the guard questions. “The security room has a back office. I need to know if there is another exit before we take it down.”

“Jax had the same issue with the sauna, so I already have the blueprints up on my screen. It doesn’t look as if there is a visible exit, but according to the plans there was a sheet of drywall that was put over an existing window to the back alleyway facing east.” Taryn’s fingers tapping on her keyboard could be heard over the line and before he could give her instructions, she’d already instituted them. “I sent messages to the team, as well as those men that Townes brought with him. Briggs is already in position, so you have a green light. Crest?”

“What?” Crest didn’t have time to discuss anything else, but Taryn would have known that. “Quickly, Taryn.”

“The number on the sheet of paper is an immigration visa number from when John Smith immigrated to the U.S. The reason it took so long to make a match is because the paper had been torn and the last two digits had been missing.”

Crest didn’t reply, but instead he disconnected the call. The Millers had somehow guarded the information that might one day have saved their lives, but now it didn’t matter. Times had changed and it was easy to forge new identities, which John Smith had many. If Crest had his way Smith wouldn’t be going back to any of them. If the guard was the one who moved the filing cabinet in front of the door, it shouldn’t be a problem to move out of the way himself. Knowing he had under six seconds before Smith realized that he was caught and made a rash decision, Crest quickly entered the first office of the security control room. Not wasting time, he used his body to topple it on its side. Before it hit the ground, the sound of a weapon discharging on the other side of the door had stopped the blood cold in Crest’s veins.

Chapter Thirty-Four

J
essie couldn’t stop watching the monitor in fear every time Gavin or one of the team members walked by the room. She had broken out into a cold sweat the moment John had pulled out his weapon and forced her out of her apartment. By the time they’d taken the stairs and reached the lobby, he seemed to have known that they wouldn’t be walking out the front door. She’d felt bad for the guard when Smith described in horrific detail what he would do to the man’s family if he didn’t do as he was told. It also didn’t help that John had been able to erase the few seconds they appeared on screen and from watching the CSA team comb the building, John had been able to hide any evidence of where they were hiding before Taryn no doubt hacked into the security feed. Jessie had only herself to rely on and she didn’t plan on dying now that she’d finally gotten a taste of happiness. She’d be able to act on that thought if only the adrenaline would stop mixing with the panic that felt as if it was consuming her.

Gavin was outside in the lobby making a phone call and it had John’s hand tightening on the trigger of his Tokarev Russian made 7.62x25mm pistol. She knew the make and model of almost every weapon made due to her profession, but knowing what her chest would look like if the bullet actually made contact with her wasn’t helping her state of mind. She’d already scoured the somewhat sterile room for anything she could use against John, but there was nothing other than the phone and monitor positioned in the middle of the desk. John had already pried the majority of the drywall from the wall, gaining access to some type of window that was caked in dirt. He’d had this planned out just in case things went south and there wasn’t any way that she could alert Gavin.

“John, you panicked,” Jessie said, trying to keep her voice from trembling as she attempted to reason with the man. She out and out lied to save her life. “It happens. But taking me hostage only makes the situation worse. My parents haven’t told the authorities a thing about you, but if they hear that I’ve gone missing or something worse, they will give you up in a heartbeat.”

“Do you really think I hadn’t thought of that?” John didn’t bother to take his eyes off of the black and white screen in front of him. Jessie didn’t have anything within her reach to throw at him while his attention was elsewhere, so she kept thinking of ways to end this while he continued to talk. “I haven’t survived in this place by not having multiple back-up plans. The moment we’re free and clear from this place, I’ll give the order to kill your parents in the prison. Money solves all problems in the United States.”

Jessie couldn’t breathe as she realized John had probably planned this all along. Why go to the expense of slipping two people out of the country, basically three if you count the papers he’d made for her, when murdering them would solve all of his logistic and security problems in one fell swoop? He’d probably planned to take her entire family out. Panic consumed her and she scrambled for something to say that would delay the potential deadly outcome.

“I found something that I’ve already turned over to the authorities,” Jessie blurted out, practically running her words together. “A slip of paper with information on it that my parents kept hidden. They’ll find you anyway.”

“You bitch,” John snarled, looking away from the monitor and wrapping his hand around her throat. She hadn’t expected it and when he slammed her into the wall and raised her body so that only her toes touched the ground, she struggled to get his fingers loose from her neck. It was useless and she wasn’t getting oxygen, causing terrifying alarm to flood her system. “You lying, scheming little—”