Chapter 6

Michael

"Tell me again."

"You know, the least you can do is feed me something more than a few doughnuts since I've been here for over an hour going over this with you."

Rolling my eyes, I press my fingers down on the small little buzzer Penny insisted I put in here since her desk is outside of my office. Since Deek was somewhere out of the country when he boarded the plane, he wasn't able to get into Colorado until this morning. We've been here in my office since seven this morning going over everything.

"Yes Mr. Taylor?"

"Penny, could you please order some food for us? We'll take" Before I could finish, Deek pushes me to the side and speaks loudly enough for her to hear him clearly without the intercom.

"Two sub sandwiches, a large pizza, a large bag of pretzels and some bite sized kit Kats." I stare over at my old technical analyst with shock, watching as he hangs up with a large smile on his face. Catching my stunned stare, Deek's smirk falls as he opens his mouth to speak again. "What? All I've had for the last ten hours are airplane peanuts."

Rubbing my thumbs into my eyes, I count to ten then look at him again. "Tell me again."

"The phone came back on last night, but this one was different. It created a video."

"And you have access to it?"

"Right." He answers quickly then pushes me out of my chair, only to sit down himself. Grabbing my laptop, he fires it up, then starts typing a million miles per hour. "By the way, passwords are supposed to be harder to guess than your father's name. Any good hacker could get into your files very easily."

"Thanks Deek, make yourself at home why don't ya." I answer sarcastically, but he ignores it, too busy pulling up file after file.

"Okay, now I have the ability to catch anything this phone does while it's on. When it made a video last night I figured our whole street kid grabbed it idea was right, but then I took a look at the video itself."

"And you saw her." I finish for him. "You saw Whitney Donaldson, alive?"

"Yes, only I wouldn't push on the alive part much." His grim face looks from the laptop over to me as I make my around my desk to stand on the same side as him.

Inspecting the laptop screen, I almost fall onto my knees with what I am currently watching. Whitney Donaldson is alive but is currently being tortured. The angle from the camera is from above and the assailant is turned the other way, but it's with no doubt the girl everyone from this town was looking for four years ago.

"Waterboarding." I whisper but apparently Deek hears me enough to confirm.

"Yeah, I know this isn't easy to watch, but I need to know if anything stands out to you Mike. I can't find much. She could be in some back house or even in a cellar of some kind. Like I said before, the stingray picked up her location. She is somewhere near Moscow, but I can't get any kind of address or definitive area."

I continue watching the video, ignoring everything around me. I watch as she begs but nothing comes out of the fucker hurting her. Finally after what feels like hours, it ends, and the assailant stands and walks over to the camera to switch it off, and that's when I see it.

"Wait, Deek, can you enhance that last shot?"

Deek gets to work stopping the footage and enhancing the image as best he can. "I've tried as much as I can, but I can't get much on his face."

"It's not his face I'm looking at."

Deek stares over at the screen once again as I point out with my index finger what I'm starring so harshly at.

"Is that?" He whispers his question, but I'm too busy pressing the intercom button down harshly.

"Mr. Taylor?"

"Penny, get Mr. Lamino down here now."

-

"I can't believe she's alive." Lamino mutters to himself.

The three of us have been in this room for over an hour going over every detail, frame by frame of the video. After calling George in here and breaking down how we were able to obtain all our information, we are now trying to figure out our next step.

"Sir, we need to deploy a team to her immediately." I state starring at him as he watches the screen in horror.

His gawk leaves the screen then comes to me. His face doesn't show a look of hope and joy that she's alive, but sorrow and regret. "Mike, it's not that easy."

"What do you mean it's not that easy? It's very easy, we go and get her and bring her back. She has been missing over four years and now we know she is alive and being tortured. You want to make a bet that wasn't her first time being waterboarded?" I turn to Deek hoping to get some kind of assistance. "Deek say something."

"Sir, it's true. We may not have a window to get to her much longer. If this person holding her captive finds out we know where she is, they could move her and their operation."

"You two don't even know who it is holding her. I can't call this based on a video that was shot by a cell phone of a missing girl. You can't even see the assailants face in the video." Lamino speaks calmly but I can tell he is fighting himself on this one.

"We do know who it is sir." Lamino turns to me with a stunned expression written all over his face, but I continue before he could speak. "His name is Malcom Dorson. He's an ex agent. He was a part of my old team."

"Care to explain yourself Taylor?" Lamino addresses crossing his arms at his chest. His stark green eyes target mine like missiles.

"He was an agent, part of our team a few years ago. We were targeting one of the operators of a sex trafficking ring that was based out in Florida. We got too close, Malcom's family was targeted, and he lost his wife and newborn daughter. He left the team, left the agency, but always told us he would go after the son of a bitch that destroyed his family." Lamino rubs his temple this time, frustration obvious through the pulsating vein on his forehead. "I think he found them George. I think he's been the one to turn on Donaldson's phone."

"How do you know it's him?"

"By his tattoo." Deek answers for me. "It's barely there covered instead by some kind of brand, but it's legible enough to us to know it's him. It's his daughter and wife's name. He got it shortly after their deaths."

"He wanted us to find her, he knew one day someone would come. He's there protecting the girls." I shout, blocking the image out of Malcom's face when we got to his home and saw his family with blood all over them.

We we're too late then. I won't be too late now.

"Does that look like protection to you?" He shouts pointing at the laptop that is stuck on the screenshot of Whitney's torment.

"Sir, I know this doesn't look right, but please, trust me, this is our only shot. We have to check out the location."

After what feels like hours starring at the man that holds all the cards, he nods his head then turns and heads for the door. "I'll make some calls, but Mike, this has to remain secret. I can't allow a team of agents to fly into a different country, break into a home, and practically kidnap someone based on a hunch."

"Sir, I'd like to go with them." Lamino's facial expressions turns confused so I continue. "They may need my help on this, and I would prefer to be there. You already know I can, I just need the approval."

"Fine. But get her and your team back here in one piece." He states then leaves the room.

I turn to Deek who's smiling at me like the Cheshire cat. I ignore him and speed dial my brother's phone.

"Mike?"

"I need you."

A few quiet seconds later I hear the words I'll always get from my brother.

"You've got me."