“Did it occur to you to pick up the phone?” Astra asks.

He turns to her with a wry smile on his lips. “And would you have been honest enough to tell me what you know? I know how you Feds are with sharing information.”

Astra chuckles ruefully. “Fair enough.”

“So, you thought you’d just break in here and steal whatever information you could?” I ask, incredulous and angry.

“I apologize. I just… I want to help,” he offers.

“Breaking into our war room is not the way to help,” I growl.

“Yes. You’re right. I apologize. I just can’t stand feeling useless.”

“I have a better question: How did you find us?” Paige pipes up. “And maybe better yet, how did you bypass the security systems?”

They are such good and obvious questions to ask, I want to slap myself upside the head for not thinking of it first. The corners of his eyes crinkle as he softly grins.

“I apparently didn’t bypass them all,” he says.

“That’s because I installed a secondary fail-safe not hooked into the site’s main system. He was able to bypass the house’s primary system, but when he did, he triggered the one I installed.”

I turn to see Nina and Rick standing in the doorway watching the proceedings. Rick’s hair stands on end, and he looks like he’s just been pulled out of a deep sleep. He might be the only one who’d managed to find sleep.

“Thank you for that, Nina,” I say.

“No problem,” she replies, eyeing Lieb suspiciously.

“So? How did you find us?” Paige repeats.

“Because I’m very good at what I do,” he answers.

“Elaborate,” I say.

“I installed a tracker on Senator Barlow’s vehicle some time ago… for security reasons,” he says. “I review his movements daily, and when I saw that he’d come here—somewhere very far off his usual track—I grew curious.”

“So, you thought you’d break in and see what he was doing?” I ask.

“Yes. And when I realized it was your operations center, I decided to take a look,” he tells us. “I want to know what is happening, and I want to find Ashley. Perhaps even more so than you.”

“I don’t doubt that’s true,” I say, “but breaking in here is a crime. Tell me why we shouldn’t have you hauled in—if for no other reason than to keep you from getting in our way.”

“Because I can be an asset to you out here in the field,” he says simply.

“You’re not much of an asset if you can’t follow orders,” I tell him.

He laughs softly to himself. “My understanding is that your superiors say the same of you.”

My cheeks flush, and from the corner of my eye, I can see Astra, Mo, and Paige all trying to suppress their own smiles.

“So, a second child was taken. A boy this time,” Lieb says. “Have you found a connection between Ashley and this boy—Peter, was it?”

“We can’t have this conversation, Lieb,” I tell him.

“I want to find Ashley,” he says.

“You need to step back and let us do our jobs.”

“I don’t think you appreciate how personal this is for me, Chief Wilder.”

I pause, letting the next words I was about to speak wither and die on my tongue. To be fair, I suppose I understand how personal all this is to Lieb. Senator Barlow and Ashley are like family to him. I’ve been where he is before, and when it comes to family, I can’t say I haven’t colored outside the lines. I understand but can’t afford to have him poking around in our investigation. At the same time, he’s not wrong. He is a good resource to have simply because he can go places we can’t. He might be able to turn up information we don’t have access to.

But it’s a fine line to walk, simply because I can’t authorize him to do anything. Nor can I directly use anything he gives us. But he’s already seen where we are with the case. I can’t undo that. And if he can use what he knows to perhaps turn up information that might give us a starting point or illuminate a path we’ve not yet seen … wouldn’t I be a fool to not use every resource at our disposal?

“Listen, I’m not unsympathetic to your position,” I tell him. “But you’re a civilian and can’t work with us in any official capacity. I would encourage you, though, in the strongest possible terms, not to take anything into your own hands. If you take direct action or directly involve yourself in Bureau matters, you will be arrested for obstruction of justice.”

He looks at me curiously for a moment, then seems to comprehend the meaning between the lines. Lieb nods.

“I understand.”

“Go on. Get out of here,” I say. “And do not ever break into our war room again, or I’m going to arrest you on the spot.”

Lieb gets to his feet and exits the house, gently closing the door behind him, and we’re plunged into silence once more. Though the adrenaline rush is starting to ebb, I’m wired and know sleep isn’t going to find me again tonight.

“You do realize you pulled the pin on that grenade, then just tossed him back out into the world, right?” Astra asks.

“She’s right, Chief. That guy is a loose cannon,” Paige offers.

“What else can I do? Even if I did toss him into the can for breaking in here, he’ll be out in a few hours anyway. And he’s already seen what we have,” I say. “You heard him; he’s not going to stop digging into this. Better to focus his attention in ways that can help us rather than having him go complete cowboy on his own out there.”

They all fall silent and exchange glances; it’s not difficult to feel the unease that’s saturating the air in the room. I know I’m right though. No matter what I say, Lieb doesn’t seem like a man willing to throw in the towel just because I asked him to—not when it comes to dealing with a situation as personal as this one is for him. But he’s not a trained investigator. I have my doubts that he’s even going to be able to turn up anything that can help us.

But yes, they’re right. I may have just kicked a pebble down the road that might turn into an avalanche. I don’t entirely disagree with their concerns. But what’s done is done.

Now, I just have to hope it doesn’t blow up in all our faces.

Barlow Residence, Rivercrest District; Arlington, VA

We stop the SUV abruptly in the driveway of the Barlow home, jump out, and rush for the door. Violet opens the door before we get to it and ushers us in. She has a strange look on her face and won’t quite meet our eyes. Something is wrong here.

“Is everything okay?” I ask.

“Yes. Everything’s… fine,” she replies sheepishly.

“Fine?” I ask. “You told us somebody had broken in—”