Pulling in a supporting breath, Trace added, “I think...” He licked his lips. “I think I’m falling for her.”
“Nah.” Coop shook his head confidently. “You’re already there.”
The man was right. Trace was in love with Emma. He’d finally found a woman who gave him everything he never knew he needed...and he’d lost her.
Oh, god.
“D’s got something!”
The announcement came from Grant, who was standing in the open doorway.
Without hesitation, both Trace and Coop rushed back inside to find Trevor and Derek at the table looking at the computer, Ryker off to the side on his phone, and Grant heading back to join them.
“What do we got?” Trace asked as he made his way over to the table.
With a light in his eyes, Derek looked up at them and said, “We know where she is.”
“What?” Coop practically shouted. “How? Where?”
It was Derek’s turn to take the lead.
“You know how I said we needed another video?”
Ah, fuck.Trace’s stomach dropped.
Sensing this, the tech guru shook his head. “Nah, man. This is a good thing.”
“Give us the computers for dummies version,” Coop ordered. “Quickly.”
“Basically, it’s the same video as before. Only in this one, Khaled cut out the part where Emma defied him by saying all those great things about us and replaced that with himself. Instead, he went on and on, reciting some bullshit speech about how great Asad Al-Karim is and how the new Syrian government will happen, yada, yada, yada.”
“Of course, the asshole deleted what she said.” Coop scoffed. “She defied his order.”
Yes, she had. And Trace couldn’t have been prouder.
“The next part of the video showed the other man with the machete at Emma’s throat, followed by the frozen image of her lying on the ground with her eyes closed. The other man was standing next to her holding the bloody machete. And before you lose your shit”—Derek was quick to add—“the blood on the blade looked wrong.”
“Wrong how?” Trace fought to keep the image the other man had just described out of his head.
“It was smeared. Like someone had spread it on with their hand, rather than from a lethal cut.”
With his nerves prickling away at him from the inside out, Trace asked, “How does any of this help us find Emma?”
“I’m getting there.” Derek put a hand up. “This video wasn’t just sent to us. It was sent to every major news station in the world.”
“I don’t get it.” Coop looked as confused as Trace felt. “How does that—”
“It was sent simultaneously,” Derek explained. “Because of the added speech and then the image at the end, the video lasted much longer than the one we saw. A file that large can’t be sent through the encrypted system Sadiq used with the first one.”
“Meaning?” Trace needed the man to hurry the hell up.
“Meaning, he had to use a different system. One that wasn’t encrypted.”
Understanding struck Trace like a bolt of lightning. “You were able to trace the IP address.”
Derek nodded proudly. “We’ve got him.”
“Where?” Coop looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin.