After a team from the EGMURD joint task force arrived in Ruckersville he, Yael, and Alex Parker had hit the local Walmart. The store hadn’t had any security cameras that covered the farthest corners of the parking lot but Yael had spotted an intersection that might, and sure enough, traffic cams had revealed a small shadowy figure emerging from the wooded area to the west then walking across the far edge of the parking lot in the darkness. Crime scene techs had been sent to look for any obvious clues—like discarded cell phones—but it was a long shot.

The figure had been too indistinct to make out any features—but Evi1Geni-us didn’t know that. They might be able to leverage this angle and manipulate the guy into making another mistake.

EG had driven away in Wayne Stockwell’s stolen Buick and agents were now trying to trace his route. Even though he’d probably switched out the plates it was a lead that, considering the lengths EG had gone to in an effort to cover his tracks, Shane doubted he’d anticipate they’d get to this quickly.

They’d managed to keep news of the latest murder out of the press for now. Guests who’d asked had been told someone had passed in their room. EG had booked the motel for a week, so unless the guy could access FBI reports, he might not know Wayne Stockwell’s body had been found yet.

Shane drove to the HRT compound and headed inside wondering where everyone was. Funny, he hadn’t even thought about the guys today. He’d forgotten how good it felt to work a case. When he was eventually forced to leave HRT because he could no longer keep up with the younger guys, going back to being a street agent might not be so bad.

He strode inside the building and spotted Jordan Krychek deep in conversation with the top dog, Daniel Ackers. Shane paused. He wanted to ask them if there were any more details about the air crash that had killed Montana, but Ackers paused in the conversation then put his hand on Jordan’s arm, drawing him away. Jordan sent Shane a look over his shoulder and did not look happy.

Shane got the message. Whatever they were talking about, Ackers did not want them to be interrupted. Exactly what had Krychek and Montana been up to in Africa? Shane wanted to know but it was classified way above his pay grade. Even so, the HRT operators who’d worked with Kurt deserved to know exactly what happened to make that aircraft fall out of the sky. So far no one had given them any answers.

He jogged up the stairs to his equipment cage. He stored everything away, turned around and bumped into Will Griffin. A sliver of guilt moved through him. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”