While Andi got on the computer in the office, Cooper cleaned up the kitchen. He'd just started the dishwasher when his phone buzzed. It was Neil.

  "Where are you Cooper?" Neil asked, an angry note in his voice. "Why haven't you checked in with me?"

  "I was about to," he lied. "The FBI assured me they were keeping you up to speed."

  "They've told me next to nothing. Solange called me and said she thinks she needs a lawyer. They're asking her a lot of questions about Daniel."

  "Has she seen Daniel?"

  "No. But she can't believe he would hurt Elisa, and I can't, either. I've known that kid since he was ten years old," Neil said. "He's a little wild, but he's not a bad person. He wouldn't kidnap a child."

  "He has a drug problem, Neil. Sometimes that changes people."

  "You think he's the one who did this?"

  "I don't know, but Solange doesn't know where he is, and that's concerning. What about Kristine? Has she come back to the house?"

  "No, and that's worrying me, too," Neil replied. "I've called her a couple of times and left messages. The last time I tried, her phone didn't even ring."

  His gut tightened. That meant Kristine's phone was off. "Did you tell the FBI that?"

  "Yes. They said they're looking for her. They're very focused on Kristine and Daniel. I have trusted Kristine with my child for months now. Why would she suddenly do something? And Daniel—I used to throw baseballs to him when his dad was sick, and he needed to practice. These are people I've let into my life, Cooper."

  He could hear the growing sense of betrayal in Neil's voice, and he knew exactly what that felt like. "How's Claire doing?"

  "She talked to her doctor, and he convinced her to take a sedative. She's sleeping for the first time since this all happened."

  "You should try to get some sleep, too."

  "Every time I close my eyes, I see Elisa's face, and my brain takes me to a dark place. Like maybe I'm never going to see her again."

  He wanted to tell Neil to stay positive, but it felt pointless. He knew firsthand not every missing kid came home. "There are a lot of people working hard to get Elisa back," he said instead. "I can promise you that."

  "So, where are you?"

  "I'm with Agent Hart. Has anyone else contacted you, Neil? I'm not talking about ransom specifically, but maybe someone you haven't heard from in a while, someone who suddenly seems unusually interested in what's going on?" There was a silence at the other end of the line. "Neil?"

  "Michelle, Larry's ex-wife, stopped by. I haven’t seen her since they divorced. She said she'd come to check on Claire. I told her Claire was asleep, and she started asking me a bunch of questions about what happened, what we know. I couldn't tell her anything because I don’t know anything. Then she said something odd. She asked me if I thought Larry was having an affair. That she'd seen him with a young blonde woman who looked like my nanny."

  He sucked in a quick breath. "Larry and Kristine? Is that possible?"

  "I can't imagine that it is. He couldn't have spoken to her more than a couple of times, although…"

  "What?"

  "Larry is in a run club, too. I don't think it's the same one as Kristine. But I don't know for sure. Neither Larry nor Kristine has ever mentioned that they've seen each other somewhere else. Larry is twenty-five years older than Kristine. And even if he was seeing her, he wouldn't steal my kid. I've been standing up for him."

  "It doesn't make sense," he agreed. "And we don't even know if it was Kristine or why Michelle felt the need to talk to you about it when clearly you have other issues on your mind."

  "Exactly." Neil let out a sigh. "Elisa isn't coming home tonight, is she?"

  "I don't think so, but I hope it's soon."

  "I'm trying to cling to the idea that because they took her clothes and toys, they're taking care of her."

  "That's a good thought to cling to. Get some rest. I'll check in with you in the morning."

  He slipped his phone into his pocket and moved down the hall to the office. Andi was pressing her hands to her temples as she stared at the computer screen.

  "Any luck?" he asked.

  She started at the sound of his voice. "Nothing. I've been looking at traffic camera footage around the gym, the bar, and Neil's house. Aside from that one clip by the bar where Enrique's license plate was captured, there's nothing."

  "Does your head hurt?" he asked.

  She dropped her hands with a self-conscious frown. "No, I'm fine."

  He didn't think she was close to fine, but she'd never admit that. Andi didn't like to be perceived as weak. Her mental strength had always been her armor. "I spoke to Neil. Solange asked him if she should get a lawyer. I guess your team has been talking to her."

  "I spoke to Flynn a few minutes ago. He said they brought her in, but they don't believe she knows where her son is. Did Neil say anything else?"

  "He said Larry's ex-wife dropped by to check on Claire but then made a point of asking if Larry was having an affair with a young blonde, maybe his nanny."

  Andi's brows shot up in surprise. "Seriously? Larry and Kristine."

  "Neil doesn't believe it's true, although he said Larry is a runner, too."

  "I guess that's another angle to check, but it seems odd. Why would Larry's ex-wife even bring that up to Neil with everything else Neil is dealing with?"

  "That didn't make sense to me, either." Pausing, he added, "This is quite the setup." He waved his hand toward the bank of monitors showing every angle of the house. "I wonder how often this place is used."

  "Probably quite a bit."

  He couldn't help noticing the gun on the desk beside her. "Do you think you're going to need that tonight?"

  "I think I'd be a fool not to have it with me at all times," she returned.

  "Maybe I should have one, too. Since we're together, and you're a target."

  "Do you know how to shoot?"

  "I do. I've gotten to be friends with a private investigator who has helped me with research, and he's taken me out to the range a few times. I can hold my own."

  "Shooting at the range is very different than a real-life situation."

  "I'm sure, but I still think I need a weapon."

  "And I think we should talk about your involvement going forward."

  "No," he said, cutting her off with a decisive shake of his head. "I'm in on this. I'm not walking away."

  "Cooper—"

  "Don't even bother. I'm not hiding out somewhere until this is over. I was in your house, too. I could have been killed. I want to catch the people who took Elisa and tried to kill us. I'll follow your lead. That's the only concession I'm making." He was suddenly distracted by a movement on one monitor. "Hey, what's that?"

  Andi's gaze followed his to a shadowy figure approaching the back of the house. She jumped to her feet. "That is not good."

  "Shit! There's one in the front, too," he said, tipping his head to the other monitor. A flash of light showed an armed figure with a hat pulled low over his head. "They can't get in, right? This is a fortress. We should call 911."

  Before they could do that, they saw one of the figures punch in some numbers on the keypad by the front door.

  "Dammit," Andi swore. "They have the code."

  "How the hell would they have the code?"

  She didn't answer, just grabbed her weapon and ran toward a door that he thought led to a closet. She put in another code and opened it, then waved him inside. As she slammed the door, he heard a hail of gunfire. Andi dropped to her knees, put in another code and pulled up a trapdoor. "Go," she said, steel in her eyes. "We have to get out of here now. We're out of time."

  Chapter Eighteen

  "You first," Cooper said, afraid she would stay behind to fight once he left. "You know the way."

  As the gunfire got louder, Andi climbed onto the ladder and turned on the flashlight on her phone. She hurried down the rungs, and he followed, pulling the trapdoor closed behind him. They must have gone down twenty feet. He could hear bullets bouncing off the metal of the door leading into the closet. If there hadn't been an escape hatch, they'd already be dead, a fact that he couldn't even grasp at the moment. There was too much adrenaline running through his veins.

  They hit the ground a moment later and made their way through a long, dark tunnel that seemed to go on forever. He kept waiting to hear someone coming after them. They reached another ladder, and this time, he wanted to go first.

  "I've got this," he said, jumping in front of her. He climbed up to the top of the ladder, where he faced another lock. "Give me the code."

  She rattled off six numbers, which he punched into the lock. It clicked open. "Before I push the door up, do you have any idea what we're walking into?"

  "I think it's a bathroom at a baseball field. There shouldn't be anyone there at this time of night."

  "Unless whoever got into the safe house knows about the tunnel and the exit."

  "Unless that," she agreed. "I have the gun. Let me go first."

  "I'm already here. And I don't think one gun is going to be enough. There were at least two people, maybe more at the house."

  He pushed up the door, which reached a certain level of opening and then sprang open. He climbed up and onto a floor. Using his own phone for light, he looked around. They were in a bathroom, in what had once been a stall but was now empty.

  Andi climbed up behind him. He pushed the stall door open. The bathroom was dark.

  "Let's keep the lights off," she murmured.

  He clicked off his phone and they let their eyes adjust to the dim light coming through a tall window. Then they walked past a urinal trough and a couple of sinks to another door.

  Andi got there before him. She motioned for him to open the door, while she readied her weapon.

  He pulled the door open, and she slid out. He moved behind her. To their right was a backstop for a baseball field. To their left was a thick line of trees.

  They moved through the dark shadows and into the trees, which were in the opposite direction of the safe house. A few yards later, the backyard of another house butted up against the trees. Andi hopped over a low fence, and he quickly followed. They headed through the yard without saying a word, and he couldn't help feeling like they were playing out one of their summer night adventures, only it wasn't summer, and this wasn't a game. This was very real.

  Andi peeked through the side gate. "I don't see anyone."

  "Do you know where we are?"

  "Flynn said the ball field is a quarter mile south of the safe house."

  "Did he happen to leave a car parked nearby?"

  "He did. But I don't think we should take it."

  "Why not? We need to get farther away."

  "Someone knew the code to the safe house. They might know about the car."

  "They haven't found us yet. Maybe they didn't know about the tunnel or the car." She didn't appear convinced. "What are our other options?"

  She thought for a moment. "Let's walk."

  "We're just going to walk down the street? That doesn't sound like the best plan."

  "Well, we can stand here and argue until they find us," she snapped.

  "Lead the way," he said.

  She moved through the gate. Staying close to the houses, they made their way down the street. Like all the streets in this area, it was heavily wooded and not very well lit, which worked in their favor. In the distance he could see traffic lights and cars, and that was clearly where Andi was headed.

  His heart jumped as a car came around the corner and pulled into a driveway. Andi froze behind a bush, which he didn't think would provide much cover from an array of bullets, but a man got out of the vehicle and went into his house.

  They kept going, one block after the next, until they ended up on a busy street, and it was easier to blend in between people and cars.

  A few minutes later, she moved into a bar, which was crowded and dimly lit. She turned to him. "What kind of cash do you have?"

  He pulled out his wallet and checked the bills. "About a hundred and sixty bucks. But I've got plenty of cards."

  "Give me twenty."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "Get someone to call us a taxi."

  "We both have phones," he said, but realized quickly that she didn't want to use their phones.

  "We need to turn them off." She took out her phone and powered down.

  He did the same.

  Andi then walked up to a female bartender at the end of the bar. They spoke for a few moments. Andi put the twenty on the bar, and then the woman grabbed a phone from under the counter and made a call. She said something to Andi and handed her back the twenty. Andi smiled and walked back to him, then motioned for him to follow her out the door.

  "Taxi is on its way," she said.

  "She didn't take your money."

  "I told her I lost my phone and my bag, and she felt sorry for me."

  A taxi pulled up a moment later, and they got inside. Andi directed the man to a Hyatt hotel by the Santa Monica Pier.

  He started to ask her why they were going there, but she gave him a look that suggested they not talk. He sat back and hoped she had a plan, and that it would be better than the ones she'd come up with when she was fourteen.

  When they got out of the taxi in front of the Hyatt, it was almost midnight. Andi waited until the cab pulled away and then headed away from the front door of the hotel.

  "We're not going inside?" he asked.

  "Nope. We're going to the motel down the street, the one we can afford to pay cash for. We can't use a credit card, and there's nothing open right now so I can't get a burner phone."

  "What if I call my sister and ask her to book us a room?"

  "We can't take the chance that her card and phone wouldn't be traced. Right now, we can't trust anyone, Cooper."

  "Do you think someone in the FBI sold you out?" he asked.

  Her mouth drew into a tight line. "Yes. And I might have an idea who, but right now I just want to get us somewhere safe."

  Several minutes later they walked into the lobby of the Lucky Motel, which was a dumpy, run-down building that advertised rooms for $39 a night. They got one room, for which he paid cash, and Andi signed the register with the name Whitney Hayes. He almost laughed at the sight of her childhood alias. For some reason, she'd thought the name Whitney was the perfect alias. Apparently, some things never changed.

  The bored clerk barely looked at them as he gave them a key and they walked up the stairs to a second-floor room with a view of the parking lot. The door had a deadbolt, which was probably the best thing about it. There was a king-sized bed, a dresser, a very old television, and a small bathroom. It was nowhere he would have ever wanted to stay, but it felt like the safest place they could be.

  Andi closed the blinds and sat down on the end of the bed.

  "Are we done running for the night?" he asked.

  "I think we'll be okay here. No one could have followed us."

  "I agree, Whitney."

  A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. "It's still my go-to name."

  "Maybe you should have used another one if you think someone from the FBI is after you."

  "No one on my current team would know that's the name I use. I just started two days ago. I can't believe it's only been two days."

  "Two very long days," he murmured. "You did good getting us here. How did you know about the closet, the trap door, and the tunnel?"

  "Flynn told me when you were in the kitchen with Caitlyn. Thank God, he did," she said.

  "Do you think they know what happened by now?"

  "Yes. The alarms at the house would have gone off, and they would have responded to the scene."

  "Why didn't they have someone watching the house?"

  "They thought they'd built a fortress. Flynn said they'd never had a breach."

  "Well, they had a big one tonight." He paused. "Who do you think sold us out?"

  "I don't believe it was anyone on my team. Even though I haven't worked with them very long, I went through Quantico with most of them. We were friends. We trusted each other."

  "That doesn't mean anything. Anyone can betray you, even your best friend." As he said the words, he realized how often he went back to her betrayal. But it really wasn't even close to the same thing as what had happened tonight.

  "Well, I still don't think it was one of them," she said, not bothering to defend her actions.

  He couldn't blame her. She wanted to get off that endless circle, and so did he. "Then who?" he repeated.

  "Agent Burnett."

  He was more than a little surprised. "Why would he sell you out?"

  "I'm not entirely sure, but we had a strange conversation this morning. God, I can hardly believe it was only this morning. So much has happened since then. He was angry that he wasn't handling the investigation into Elisa's disappearance. He blamed you for that, and he couldn't understand why I would have been a better choice when you hated me. He's the one who outed our relationship to Damon and Flynn."

  "And you think he'd send shooters to a safehouse to take you out because he didn't get a case?"

  "Yes. The only person who could have known where we were was someone connected to the bureau, and he made it clear that he'd wanted the investigation into Elisa's disappearance." A sudden gleam entered her eyes. "That's it. He didn't just want the investigation; he had to have it. But I was standing in his way."

  "Why would he have to have it?" he asked, realizing the answer as soon as he'd asked the question. "You don't think he's involved, do you? Why would he be?"

  "I don't know. But there was another case he ran that he didn't solve."

  "This can't be about Hannah. After all this time?"

  "The mode of kidnapping is very similar."

  "But there's an eighteen-year gap."

  "Maybe there isn't. Maybe those are just the two we know about."

  He thought about her suggestion. "Okay, let's say you're right, and the two cases are connected. Why does Burnett suddenly start going after you and me? We really weren't even thinking about him."

  "Because if I was out of the picture, he'd probably get the case. He could protect whoever kidnapped Elisa, the way he did for Hannah. Think about it, Cooper. No one else we talked to would have the connections to get a bomb planted, to attack a safehouse. It had to be someone on the inside."