KAEL
The address came through at 3:47 AM.
Steven's voice crackled over the encrypted line: "We have a location. Confirmed sighting of the vehicle. Industrial district, abandoned apartment complex on Seventh and Hayes."
I was already moving before he finished the sentence.
"Mobilize everyone. Now."
Within minutes, the convoy was assembled. FBI SWAT, my private security team, local police, every resource I'd deployed over the past forty-eight hours converging on a single point.
I led from the front vehicle, Hayes driving with the kind of controlled urgency that came from years of tactical operations. Behind us, a procession of black SUVs and tactical vans rolled through empty streets, lights off, sirens silent.
We weren't announcing our arrival.
The building came into view, a decrepit four-story structure, half the windows boarded up, graffiti covering the lower levels. The kind of place people went to disappear.
The kind of place where you'd hide a kidnapping victim.
