After checking in with Sophie’s parents and Aunt Natalia, assuring them Jersey was asleep, she and Sophie left the hospital to grab some food. It wasn’t easy leaving, but they knew they needed to clear their heads in order to be any good to Jersey. On the way to her car, Holly found herself searching for Nick, knowing he was likely still with his sister. She hadn’t realized she’d been half-hoping to see him inside.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Sunday, May 26

Two blocks from the precinct and stopped at a light, Alyssa took a call from Hal. ‘Tell me you’ve located Tatiana Salazar.’

Hal cleared his throat. ‘Sorry. Not yet, but we’ll find her. Also, as we expected, all the men brought in yesterday are still squawking about it all being a great big misunderstanding that’ll get cleared up in the light of day.’

‘Of course, it’s a big misunderstanding. Isn’t it always?’ Cord’s jaw looked like it might crack if he clenched his teeth any tighter.

‘Usually,’ Hal agreed, ‘but that’s not why I’m calling. Like you asked, we’ve been tracking Steve Yarmini’s credit cards.’

Alyssa shifted in the driver’s seat, unintentionally pressing the accelerator and jolting the car forward. She hit the brake inches from tapping the car in front of her.

‘We just received a credit card alert that Steve Yarmini just purchased a one-way plane ticket to Nepal. Flight leaves at 1:16 from United heading into Dallas.’

Alyssa glanced at the clock displayed on the dash. 11:18. ‘Is he trying to throw us off, or is he really that thick?’ Though she muttered the question more to herself than to Hal, he answered as if she’d asked him directly.

‘Not that thick, Alyssa. It’s my understanding, after all, that Nepal has a no extradition treaty with the United States.’

‘Thanks, Hal. Can you update Hammond for me?’

‘Sure thing. Anything else?’

‘I’ll let you know.’ At the intersection, she flipped the car around and sped toward the freeway. Cord was already on the phone with Joe.

‘You and Tony get to the airport and get in place. We’ll be there as soon as we can. That plane isn’t taking off with Yarmini onboard.’

The second she hit I25, she hit the accelerator, the speed on her Tahoe steadily climbing to seventy-five, eighty, ninety as she hurried to intercept Steve Yarmini. Thankfully, it was before noon on a Sunday and traffic was still fairly light, so less than ten minutes later, the car barreled onto airport property.

Inside the terminal, they stopped at the large display for departures, noting what gate they needed, and then took the escalator two at a time. At security, they flashed their badges, and one of the guys ushered them through. Maneuvering around the cleaning crew, Alyssa and Cord sprinted down the corridor to Gate B. The crowd was sparse, and they picked out Yarmini right away. His head was in a magazine, but he darted nervous glances out the window every few seconds. It was during one of these that he spotted them, and he leaped to his feet, his head jerking left and right as he spun around in a circle, desperately searching for an escape route.