Free Point of Control by L.J. Sellers Page A

into the street to save him.
    Garrett sat behind the wheel for a long moment. He couldn’t just go home. He had to do something—and right now. Once the police arrived, they would ask him a million questions and not let him leave. They’d probably treat him like a criminal. That’s what his father had thought. He pulled out of the lot.
    For a while, he drove around, cautious as always, looking for the kidnappers’ vehicle, but eventually he accepted that it was pointless. Frustrated and scared, he headed home to his mother’s house, where he’d been staying since the accident. First he would call to see if the police had found her, then he would try to retrace her steps over the last few days. Maybe he’d find a clue in something she’d done or someone she’d met.

C HAPTER 12
    Thursday, March 19, 5:55 a.m., San Jose, California
    A ringing woke Bailey and she sat up in the dark. What time was it? She grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand. When the screen illuminated the room a little, she remembered she was in a hotel in California. She recognized the number. Her boss. “Bailey here. What have we got?”
    Agent Lennard was wide-awake in a different time zone. “Another scientist has been taken. Dana Thorpe in Seattle.”
    “A metallurgist?”
    “Yes. Thorpe teaches at the University of Washington and conducts research into synthetic metals, much like Nick Bowman.”
    Was she meant to replace the murdered scientist, who hadn’t worked out for the kidnappers? Another piece in a complex puzzle. “When did it happen and what do we know?” Bailey put the phone on speaker and pulled on yesterday’s clothes as Lennard spoke.
    “Thorpe was taken by two men last night behind a lecture hall where she had just given a speech about the rare earth metal crisis.”
    “Any witnesses?”
    “Her son saw her in the vehicle. But no one has questioned him yet.”
    “Are the police watching the airport and train station?”
    “Of course.”
    “I’ll catch a flight to Seattle this morning.” Bailey worked through the possibilities. A scientist from Australia, one from California (now dead), and one from Seattle. Where were they keeping them? It had to be a research facility somewhere. The scientists would need tools and equipment. The abductors had used a plane or helicopter to dump Bowman, but now they were in a vehicle. Was Seattle their home base? Or somewhere nearby in Washington State? Assuming Thurgood was still alive. But he might not be, and Dana Thorpe might be dead soon too. Bailey didn’t think so. If all they wanted was data, they could have stolen it or hacked into computers. She would have to look at a list of every manufacturing company in the Seattle area and see if anything popped up. But she would start with recent transactions and see what facilities had been bought and sold since the metal shutdown, then expand the search from there.
    She would buy a plane ticket, then take a brisk walk, shower, and change. If she handled this assignment well, she’d be next in line to run the Critical Incident Response Group—with the power to give important assignments. She’d been paying her dues for a long time.
    After securing a flight for late that morning, she went for a walk. The bright California sun coming up over the horizon was a welcome treat compared to East Coast snow, and she enjoyed the warm, quiet morning. Until her phone rang. Brad, her best friend’s husband. Oh no. She’d better deal with it now rather than later, when she would be focused on work. “Hey, Brad.”
    “Cass died this morning, and I thought you should know.” His tone was businesslike.
    The news hit her hard and she stopped walking. Her funny and sarcastic friend, whom she’d known since college, had ceased to exist. The ache in her chest was overwhelming, and it was hard to breathe. “Thanks for letting me know,” she managed to say. “When is the funeral?”
    “Monday.” Brad was still giving her the cold