“I’m working on the hotel employment database, but I got her license plate from another camera. It’s expired, but the plates belong to a Jeremiah Byers. Last address is in Alabama, so I’m thinking parents since she’s so young? Still digging on that. I’m not good at this stuff.”
“Come on, Miranda. We need to find her.”
“I’m getting there. Hold your horses. Here’s the fun part. She used a burner email address to reach out to WBC, but she sent it from an unsecure Wi-Fi network. It’s an apartment building. That’s as close as I can get you. I can’t find any record of Melanie Byers living there, but that’s not to say it is or isn’t her place. From Google Streetview, this isn’t the kind of place that keeps their lease information digitally. And again… I’m not Joey.”
“Let’s move. Send me the address.”
“Already on it,” Miranda said, hitting a few keystrokes. “Cole was released on bail this morning, and Joey will be here soon. We’ll keep digging into Melanie Byers. Be careful, though. She’s scared, and we don’t know who else knows about her.”
Will grunted an acknowledgement. They’d get to her first, knock some sense into her about the ridiculous notion of selling the video, and keep her safe until they caught the assassin.
When they landed, Miranda had a car waiting for them. Tank drove slowly as they approached the apartment building in the navy-blue SUV. The vehicle was at least ten years old, and Will said a silent thank you to Miranda for making it easy to keep a low profile. He hated the flashy SUVs they used for protection details. When half of the mission was communicating that the target was well-protected, the shiny armored SUVs were perfect.
In a rundown neighborhood like this one, they’d stick out like a tank in a bicycle lane. Probably end up with a target on their back.
He pulled up the photo of Byers’s license plate and searched the street until he found it. The early 90s model Impala had seen better days. The paint was bubbling up with rust spots around the wheel wells, and he could tell from across the road that the tires were well past their prime.
The apartment building wasn’t much better. Peeling paint hid behind overgrown bushes and a crumbling sidewalk overgrown with weeds. The metal staircases were rusting, and at least one of the balconies on the top floor was roped off with caution tape.
Always a good sign.
What kind of high-end hotel staffer had to live in a place like this? No wonder Ms. Byers saw the video she’d captured as her golden ticket. His chest tightened with guilt. She probably had every right to sell it. At least, once they caught the assassin and it was no longer a threat to national security. Or her security. Maybe all he had to do was convince her to wait.
“Pierce, go check out her car. See if there is anything helpful.”
Pierce pulled off a convincing nonchalant passer-by as Will watched from the car. He peered into the windows of the car, but quickly hurried back.
“Nothing at all, Square.”
Will narrowed his eyes at the nickname Pierce had obviously picked up from Jackson. “Wallet? Receipts?”
Pierce shook his head. “For a crappy car, she keeps it clean.”
Dang.
“That’s our girl, right?” Tank sounded angry when he said it, but Will knew he wasn’t. His eyes followed Tank’s thick finger pointing toward the apartment building at a young woman with light-brown hair. It could be her. The video they’d seen wasn’t great.
She clutched her backpack to her shoulder as she walked across the hazardous sidewalk and climbed into the rundown vehicle. That was Melanie.
The options flickered through his mind rapid fire, and he dismissed each one in turn. He debated grabbing her then and there, but they weren’t prepared for contact. Right now, they just needed intel.
“Tank, follow her. Pierce, you’re with me.”
They jumped out quickly, and Tank pulled the SUV away from the curb, disappearing around the same corner Melanie had a few moments before.
Pierce looked at him expectantly. “What now?”
“Let’s go knock on some doors and find her apartment.”
They’d seen which building she came from, which meant just a handful of possibilities. The neighbors who bothered to answer the door seemed less than forthcoming when confronted with two guys looking for a woman they claimed was their sister.
Apartment 3B sported a worn welcome mat printed with flowers and a sign on the door with a honey bee that read “Don’t Worry, Bee Happy.”
Something told him that this was Melanie Byer’s apartment. Just to be sure, he knocked and prepared to ask something about school board elections. As he expected, no one answered the door.
Will nodded to Pierce and the young former soldier directed a kick at the lock.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Will’s first impressions of the dingy apartment were less than favorable as they made sure it was empty. He’d lived in some rough places during deployments, but he’d slept in ditches that were better than this. On second glance though, he recognized the meager attempts of the woman they were after to create a cozy home despite the conditions.
There were mismatched throw pillows on the worn sofa and a handful of photos displayed in outdated frames. Everything looked like it was from the Salvation Army thrift store. But a bulky vase couldn’t quite hide the hole in the wall, and the small rug by the couch only drew attention to the threadbare carpet everywhere else.
He flipped on a light only to be met with a spark of electricity and an unnerving crackle that made him immediately switch it back off. This place was a deathtrap.
“Look for anything that might help us out here. I’ll look in the bedroom.”
His earpiece crackled to life. “I think I lost her,” Tank said over the connection.
“Keep looking,” Will said curtly, keeping his focus on the scene before him.
The bedroom revealed that Melanie had a roommate, the two twin beds reminding him of the room he’d shared with his brother until they were ten.
There wasn’t much else to see though. His eyes landed on the hard corner of a laptop peeking out from under the blanket of one of the beds. He turned it on and was met with the password screen of user Hollaback234. Could that be Melanie? He had no way to know.
Without a second thought, Will dialed Joey’s number.
“I need you to get into a computer for me.”
“Nice to talk to you too, Will. Cole is out of jail, thanks for asking.”
Will rolled his eyes at Joey’s attitude. She was endlessly snarky and loved playing pranks at the office. He knew she wasn’t taking it personally. “Good for him. Can you help me now that your boyfriend is free?”
“I’ve got a little time. I’m here with some reinforcements, too. The situation at Zia is escalating, and we’re ready to move whenever they take the bait.”
“Super. I have a computer I need access to.”
“Okay, what’s the IP address?”
Will stared at the computer. “I don’t know. I’m staring at it right now, but it’s locked.”
“Okay. What do you want me to do? I need to know what network it is on.”
“Can’t you just…I don’t know, get in another way? I need to see what is on this woman’s computer.”