in the building. Use them. Time to get your badge out."
"Already got it," Jason promised, turning back toward the Deviant booth.
He was going to kill someone if he didn't stop backtracking soon. Every second wasted got his girl that much further away from him. All of them! While he was here chasing his tail, Soul Reaper was out there with five women and the intent to harm them. Fuck the rules. Fuck caring about interfering in someone else's investigation. Jason just walked right into the middle of the SWAT team still checking the people at the Deviant booth and headed right for Chance.
"I need your truck."
"Keys are in my left front pocket," Chance told him. "What's up? They're not telling us anything."
Since Chance was handcuffed, he couldn't get them out himself, so Jason reached into the man's pocket. "They have our women. I'm going to get them back."
"Sir!" an officer said. "You can't - "
Jason just set down his gun case and turned to the man. "I can. They're keys. He's my informant, so I suggest you clear him soon because his partner's just been kidnapped, and we're expecting a ransom notice soon - or a body. That's why you were called here." Then he looked down at Chance. "Ruin's on it. Centralize the team. I need everything, Chance. I need to know where I'm going, and I want to fucking get there first."
"Yes, Agent," Chance told him. "Just..." He paused to swallow. "She doesn't have a plushie!"
"She'll have Crysis," he promised. "They haven't killed them yet. That means they want something. The question is what, and I need you to figure that out. Time's up, Chance. It's now or never." Then he looked at the SWAT officer again. "I wasn't kidding when I said to fucking clear him! I don't have time for this shit!"
"Do it," Alex said, stepping in. "Because if you don't, I'm going to call jurisdiction here, and I will. Chance, who do you need?"
"My devs," Chance told her. "All of them, because this? It's about to be a shit-show. Without Dez? I'm going to need every last one of them. At least we have Knock."
"Go," Alex told Jason. "I got this. When you figure out where they are, we'll send this SWAT unit that way."
Jason grabbed his gun again, but there was a problem: he wasn't sure where he should go. To Chance's truck, sure. That was parked on the first level of the parking garage. Jason knew that from when he'd arrived. But then? How the fuck could he save their women if he had no idea where they'd been taken?
"I need a damned laptop," Jason growled.
"Take it," Chance said, jerking his chin at one on the closest desk while the SWAT officer was unlocking his cuffs. "Deviant and Lachesis. Default username and password for all admin. Go."
So Jason went. His mind was spinning, running through all of his options, and more kept hitting him, but he wouldn't turn back now. Instead, he picked up his phone and dialed.
"Knock?" he asked when the kid picked up.
"Yeah?"
"I need you to crack that computer wide open. If it's locked, go upstairs. There are a million USB drives around. On my D drive, there's a folder called toys. Copy the whole thing. Use what you want. Government-level access programs. I need you to tell me who this asshole is, what he wants, and why he has our gamer girls."
"Cade," Knock said. "Yeah, I'm on it, Cyn. I'm freaking the fuck out, but I'm on it!"
Jason ended the call just as he hit the back door, with Crysis right behind him. From there, it was an easy jog upstairs to the next level. Just as he stepped off the stairs, Bradley fell in beside him. They didn't slow; both of them knew where they were going.
"Cops have the phones and are pulling videos," Bradley said. "I told them to make sure Alex has access. I think she'll let your CIs have a peek."
"It's Soul Reaper, isn't it?" Jason asked. "It has to be, right?"
"Or someone trying to replace him," Bradley admitted. "The man is damned good at making sure someone else takes the fall for his screw ups. The original five, Arturo, and now this?"
"But why Dez?" Jason asked just as they reached the truck. He paused for a moment, tossed the keys to Bradley, and then went around to the passenger side, pausing to put his gun behind the front seat. "This all started with her, and