Ambulances were already on the way. She could hear the frantic shouting of someone telling “Scotty” to stay with them over the HRT’s feed.

The HRT operators were scrambling.

“We need eyes. What the fuck is going on over there? I need a vehicle,” Shane shouted. He dragged his right hand over his features, clearly struggling to rein in his emotions.

A local agent ran toward Shane and they rushed out of the room. Tim left, looking as if he were about to throw up.

Alex exchanged a look with Yael. His expression was calmly furious. “Is it the right place, or did we get played?”

She had no idea. The feed on the right-hand side continued to show Evi1Geni-us doing his gruesome worst with a box cutter as if nothing had disturbed him.

“What’s the status of the HRT operators?” Alex called out to the tactical team leader.

The man’s expression was stony. “We have several casualties. One serious.”

Yael’s fingers clenched. This was her fault. She’d missed something.

“Can they see inside the room?” Alex’s voice was rough. “Is this the right place? Did they arrest this bastard or is he in the wind?”

Yael shot Alex a look. She wanted answers too but the people on the other end were dealing with what sounded like severe injuries.

She watched the images now coming online from several of the operators’ helmet cams. One black-clad man was on the ground being treated by another man. It was the guy who’d held the breacher. The guy who’d taken Shane’s place because Shane had broken his arm.

It looked bad.

Tears blurred her vision but she blinked them away.

She needed to figure out what the hell had happened.

Someone wearing a camera looked inside the room and sure enough, a gurney sat there complete with the dripping remains of what had surely been Anya Baker. But no UNSUB. No Evi1Geni-us.

“He’s not here. There’s a laptop here playing a video of him torturing the girl. But the UNSUB is not here. Repeat, UNSUB is not here.” The words crackled over the comms.

“Dammit.” Alex ground his teeth together. “You were right. The bastard recorded it. He makes everyone think it’s live and that they have a say in what happens during the auction but they are being conned. He’s already made up his mind what to do and what the polls will say. The ‘live’ aspect of the auction is nothing but a fake poll.”

That was the least of the man’s crimes.

Yael fought nausea. Anya Baker had likely been dead before they’d even had the chance to save her. Even so, Yael felt as if her guts had been ripped out. She’d failed.

“He’s never boobytrapped the crime scene before,” Ashley Chen pointed out sharply.