Sloan checked her watch and called the meeting to order. The next hour basically consisted of him and Yael being grilled about every detail of what had happened.

When Yael finally finished her account, she looked about ready to fall over.

“Zenko called me pretty.” Yael shuddered. “That was almost the last thing he said before he died.”

Yael still looked freaked out by the events and Shane wished he’d grabbed another HRT operator or another agent rather than dragging a civilian along for this afternoon’s ride. He hadn’t expected things to go quite so dramatically sideways.

“You did great work today. None of us expected the UNSUB to go after Zenko,” Sloan reassured her.

Ashley spoke up. She’d been working quietly in the background throughout the meeting. “I think I know why. We found communications on the cell that Agent Livingstone retrieved from Zenko’s cabin that suggest Lloyd Zenko decided he hadn’t charged EG enough to end up on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.”

“Zenko was blackmailing EG?” Shane asked. Bold.

“Looks like.”

“Which means Zenko either knew who EG was or thought he had a way of giving the FBI information that would lead to his arrest,” Alex Parker suggested. “We need to track Zenko’s movements, online and real, until we figure out how these two intersected. Did they know each other in real life? Or did EG hire Zenko specifically to set a trap for law enforcement in Houston?”

Alex Parker checked his watch and Shane heard Yael’s stomach growl loudly.

“Time to get some rest but I want everyone back here in the morning to discuss next moves,” Sloan said abruptly. “State police have BOLOs out on the white van. SSA Randall’s team is going over every detail of Lloyd Zenko’s life in North Carolina and he plans to courier any electronics here overnight.”

Chairs were pushed back.

Alex Parker came over to Yael. “Want me to follow you home?”

“I’ll do it.” Shane stood. “It’s on my way and the least I can do after dragging Yael into the field today the way I did.”

“Yael?” Alex insisted.

She thrust her laptop into her bag. “I’ll be fine.”

Both he and Alex Parker stood staring at her and she looked up with dark shadows under her eyes. “I’m just tired, Alex. Honest.”

“I’ve got this,” Shane put in. “I’ll pick up some takeout on the way and make sure she eats.”

Yael yawned. “Whatever gets you two to stop treating me like a kid.”

“Call me if you need anything and don’t go anywhere except home,” warned Alex.

Yael nodded and Alex headed over to Ashley Chen and the two of them left together.

“Got everything?” Shane asked her.