The task force meeting room was buzzing despite it being the weekend. Yael looked out of the window and wished this was all over. She hated living in fear. She detested this killer besting them yet again. She hated the fact he’d attacked her in her new home and made her run away like a coward.

The room was chock full of agents working hard to catch, and gather enough evidence for the DOJ to convict, this sadistic killer.

Shane wasn’t here.

Yael hated the embarrassment that hit every time anyone asked about the HRT operator’s whereabouts or mentioned last night or even looked at her for any length of time. She guarded her privacy as much as she valued her integrity, but last night had thrown a spotlight on her actions.

It was like the others knew exactly what the two of them had done in the darkness. How she’d woken in the early hours to feel him still hard against her back. And how she’d destroyed him the way he’d destroyed her.

She’d woken the second time alone. Alone, but a whole lot stronger and more determined that she wouldn’t become this asshole’s next victim. He’d sent her an unmistakable warning she wasn’t likely to forget. She’d received the message, loud and clear. Taking risks wasn’t in her MO.

She’d texted with Laura on and off all morning. Her friend was sick in her hotel room with suspected food poisoning. Laura said she felt awful not coming to see her but that the chances of her barfing were high and she didn’t want to inflict that on anyone. Yael had promised to drop by later to see how she was doing.

Tim wasn’t in yet either, but it was early and the young man tended to be more of a night owl as were many computer geeks.

“Attention, please,” Sloan called from the front of the room.

Yael knew Shane would want to hear this. She didn’t have her cell but thankfully her laptop was in front of her so she sent a quick message to his work phone. The techs had toiled all night long and there was no evidence EG or whoever had attacked her last night had gone anywhere near her machine.

Techs were almost done checking her cell and then Alex wanted to run some diagnostics of his own. He’d offered her a temporary one but she had declined for now. She wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

Alex sat next to a good-looking dark-haired guy and a woman with long brown hair tied back in a high ponytail. The woman wore a sparkling rock on her ring finger. Alex obviously knew them well. Yael remembered seeing them last night. They’d been in the bar and then on her street questioning her neighbors.