“What are you planning to do with all these mannequins?” Sasha asked Blake.

She still had her gun out, but Blake hadn’t made any move at her, and as far as she could tell, he still believed she was just an escort. Yes, perhaps an escort who’d given up the location of his condominium, but not an undercover agent.

“They’re not just mannequins, Sasha. They’re a way to spread a message.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There are forces out there that have in mind to harm our country and destroy our way of life.”

“Terrorists.”

“That’s right. I want to protect us. And sometimes sacrifices need to be made in the service of the greater good.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Make a statement that will open up the pathway to a safer, more prosperous future for us all.”

++++

I parked down the block from the address Calvin had given me.

When I checked my messages, I saw that we’d received the cell records of the previous suicide victims. Although it might very well take hours to pore through them looking for connections to specific locations, I wondered if we could cut right to the chase.

I tried Agent Collins, but she’d left the office for the day, so I put a call through to Angela Knight in the Cyber division at Headquarters in D.C. I’ve worked with her in the past, she knows me, and she always comes through when I’m in a pinch. I filled her in, then told her the address Calvin had passed along. “See if you can pinpoint any incoming or outgoing calls from that location from the previous suicide victims. Add Thomas Kewley to the mix.”

I gave her the info she would need.

“Let me plug that in. Stay on the line.”

56

“Where’s Mannie?” Sasha asked Blake.

“Temporarily indisposed.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m afraid he’s otherwise engaged right now.”

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and realized that it was the man from the backseat of the executive car, the one who’d given her the water. He’d surreptitiously entered the greenhouse and was now coming her way.

“Sasha,” Blake said, “do you have any idea how long I’ve known?”

“Known what?”

“That you’re not who you say you are.”

“No one is who they say they are.”

“That may be true. But not many people are DEA agents.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why do you think Agent Greer hasn’t shown up yet?”

“What?”

“Agent Greer. Your backup. The tracking device in your shoe.”

How does he know? How could he possibly know about that? Unless—

Earlier, Greer had told her that he would contact her supervisor at the DEA once they had a location.

Blake got to one of them. He has to have. It’s the only thing that makes sense.