“Must be,” Tom agreed. “I expect the party to go on for another few hours. Bowie Security will shuttle some of the guests to the airport tonight for red-eyes back east. Everyone else will stay here overnight and leave throughout the day tomorrow.”

“We’ll be here. Shift change happens at six tonight, then again at six in the morning.”

“Thanks. I’ll stay until the party breaks up.” Tom took another trip around the Sokolovs’ property, paying attention to each bordering house, wondering where DJ Belmont was hiding. It had to be close. He wouldn’t have been able to follow the Bowie SUV otherwise.

He wished they could search each house, but unfortunately they didn’t have cause. It was frustrating as hell knowing that Belmont was close by. Maybe even watching him now. But so many of the houses were empty because of the holiday weekend. If he was hiding in one of the houses nearby, all he’d have to do would be to ignore their knock. Without a search warrant, they’d never know he was there.

It didn’t have to be a direct line of sight, though. Not like Ephraim had achieved in the house across the street. It could be a block away. Two blocks, even. Probably no farther than that.

Grabbing a tactical helmet from the back of the Bureau van, Tom strapped it on and shrugged into a bulletproof vest.

“Going somewhere?” the agent asked him.

“For a walk. Belmont is here. I know it.”

“Give me a second to gear up. I’ll go with you.”

The two of them walked the Sokolovs’ neighborhood, eyes peeled for anything out of place. They still didn’t have an ID on the woman Belmont had murdered the night before and they didn’t know what kind of car had been stolen. But they were looking for anything out of place. Anything that caught their attention.

It didn’t matter, though. There were no cars visible in driveways. All had been parked in the garages or had been driven out of town by the homes’ occupants.

“I see nothing,” the agent said when they’d walked two blocks in each direction.

Tom blew out a breath. “Me neither. Dammit, this is so frustrating. I know he’s here.”

“Maybe he’s hiding somewhere else after last night.”

“Maybe. But this is a prize that Belmont won’t be able to easily ignore. Mercy is here and so is Gideon. He has to know that. He was watching last night. He knows that we had SUVs going back and forth to the airport. I can’t see him walking away from this opportunity.”

“If he makes a move, we’ll be ready. If only we had search warrants for the neighborhood.”

“I wish,” Tom muttered as they started the walk back to the Sokolovs’. When they’d reached the van, he took off and stowed the tactical gear.

He needed to tell Rafe about the dead cops before he and Mercy were driven home. Rafe needed to be on full alert, even if he didn’t share the reason with Mercy.