Page 4 of Unbroken

Aiden glanced around, then gestured toward a small ballet studio across the narrow alley. “Anyone check with them yet?”

“They just opened,” replied the detective from the local precinct.

Aiden nodded to his partner. “Let’s go check it out.”

He scanned the façade of the building as they crossed the street and winced internally when he saw no evidence of a camera mounted outside. A little bell over the door jingled as they stepped into the lobby, and a middle-aged woman greeted them with a smile.

“Can I help you, gentlemen?”

Aiden nodded to the woman. “I’m Agent Aiden Taylor from the FBI,” he said, flashing his badge. “This is Agent Sean Kennedy.”

Her brows drew slightly together in question. “Nice to meet you. I’m Mary. What can I do for you?”

“Would you happen to have any cameras that overlook that parking lot?” he asked, pointing toward the coffee shop.

She gestured to a camera positioned near the counter. “I have this one, but it’s mostly just to keep an eye on the door. I don’t know if you’ll be able to see much.”

“Anything you have may help.”

He briefly explained what had happened the night before. As he spoke of Maya’s disappearance, a lump formed in his throat.

He still couldn’t believe it. Even though he didn’t know her all that well, he had met her. She was real. She wasn’t just another name on a case file, and that made the case feel that much more personal.

Aiden shoved the thought to the back of his mind and forced his emotions back in check.

“Would you mind if we take a look?”

“Not at all.”

“Thanks, Mary.”

She stepped out of the way as they rounded the counter.

“Is this the recording from last night?”

She nodded. “It keeps about a week’s worth of footage before it starts recording over it.”

Aiden was familiar with the system, so he rewound to the previous night around 8:00 p.m., when the coffee shop closed. The black-and-white image on the screen was grainy, but the angle through the large bay window was surprisingly good.

Aiden watched on the screen as a young woman left in a small sedan. The minutes ticked away until he finally watched Maya Danvers exit the coffee shop.

As she approached the corner of the building, a lumbering shadow moved in front of her.

He watched as she struggled against the man’s hold until she went limp. The man dragged her backward, pulling her off-screen, and anticipation raced through his veins.

A minute later, a light-colored van drove down the alley separating the ballet studio from the coffee shop.

A streetlight illuminated the passenger-side window, highlighting the man’s profile, and Aiden caught a glimpse of the person who had abducted Maya. He wore a ball cap, but with the light behind him, it was too dark to make out his features.

“There’s our guy,” he murmured. “Now let’s figure out who he is.”

Aiden rewound the tape to around 7:00 p.m., watching intently for the van.

It never came.

“Wonder if he came in from another direction,” Kennedy mused.

It was entirely possible. Aiden glanced at Mary. “I’d like to review this a little closer.”