Page 44 of Hunted in the Silence

“Cole.” She kept her voice low and certain. “Over there. North end.”

Cole’s gaze followed hers. Then he spoke into his radio, and within seconds, agents moved on the woman, and Cole followed.

When they reached the south door, they found it unlocked. Cole pushed it open, and Brynn, one step behind him, entered the room.

Four girls.

They were huddled together in the far corner, perfectly still, as if they’d learned that stillness was safer. Three Brynn didn’t recognize. One she did.

Caitlin Marsh was in the middle of the group, her arms around the girl on her left, her eyes on the door. There was a bruise along one cheekbone, she’d lost weight she didn’t have to lose, and her eyes, when they found Brynn’s face, belonged to someone who had been forcing themselves to stay alert and on guard for anything.

“Hey,” Brynn said. She stayed in the doorway, careful not to get any closer, and kept her voice low and calm, the way she did in the interview room at the center. “My name is Brynn. I run the Blackridge Victim Advocacy Center. You’re safe now. All of you. Nobody in this building is going to hurt you.”

Seconds passed where nobody moved.

“You’re from the center.” Her voice was raw but certain. “I’ve seen you there.”

“That’s right.” Brynn kept her voice steady. “I’ve spoken with your grandmother, Caitlin. She’s been looking for you every single day. I’m going to make sure you see her today.”

Caitlin closed her eyes for one second. Then she opened them and looked at the three girls around her and said, in a quiet, steady voice that told Brynn she’d been holding this group together for eight days through sheer will, “It’s okay. We can go.”

***

The next two hours were less adrenaline fueled and more methodical. In the aftermath of all the chaos, Brynn moved between each of the girls, giving them what they needed, which was different for each one. The youngest, who was thirteen and hadn’t spoken since they arrived, simply sat beside another girl with one hand available and said nothing until the girl reached out and took it. The oldest, sixteen and whose fear had converted itself into anger, she met directly and honestly and gave her information instead of comfort because information was what that girl needed to feel like she had some control back.

Caitlin she saved for last, which she seemed to understand.

By the time the paramedics had the girls loaded and Brynn was standing in the building’s main floor watching the van pull away through the open front door, most of the emotions she’d been holding had worked their way through her and settled. Not gone, exactly. That wasn’t how it worked. But settled down deep, becoming manageable.

Cole appeared beside her.

He didn’t say anything for a moment. They stood in the open doorway with the sharp cold air filtering around them, the street outside filled with activity as the operation wrapped up. She was acutely aware of him beside her, the way she always was, and this time, she leaned into the feeling instead if avoiding it.

“The woman,” she said, knowing Cole would understand.

“In custody. She played victim and acted confused for a few minutes and then dropped the act when she realized no one was buying it.” Cole’s voice was introspective. “She’ll talk. Silas was right that she’s the key to the management structure.”

“And Devlin?”

His jaw worked, and she sensed his irritation though his face remained impassive. “Not in the building.”

Brynn had known it was possible. She’d told herself it was likely. Still, the frustration and disappointment flooded her.

“He knows,” she said. “By now he knows.”

“Yes.” Cole stared out at the street. His jaw was tight, not with anger exactly, but with the focused determination of a man who wasn’t going to let this minor setback keep him from getting his man. “But we have the woman. We have Teller and Webb in custody. We have the building and everything in it. And we have Caitlin Marsh on her way to see her grandmother.” He paused to look at her. “That’s not nothing.”

“No,” Brynn said, staring up into his eyes. “It’s not nothing.”

In fact, it was everything. Four girls, rescued and being returned to their homes as they spoke. And she thought about Ruth Marsh and how she would feel when her granddaughter walked through that door.

She’d made a promise, and they’d kept it.

“He’ll run now,” she told Cole, voicing the fear living inside her.

“Maybe.” Cole met her eyes again. “Or he does what Silas said. He goes after the thing that represents the biggest threat to his control.” He held her gaze. “I’m not going to let that be you.”

She stared up into those gray-green eyes in the cold morning light, the dark hair, the set of his face that was tired and certain in equal measure. They were standing closer than they usually did. She wasn’t sure when that had happened. But she didn’t step away.