Ela closed her eyes.
Fear would come later.
For now, she needed information.
She tested the restraints.
Plastic cuffs.
Not standard federal restraints.
Interesting.
She looked around.
The camera in the corner was blinking red.
A recording device.
She smiled faintly.
"You're recording this?"
No response.
"Good."
Kale turned his head slightly.
"Keep quiet."
"No."
Ela leaned back against the wall.
"You wanted me silent. That's why you came before sunrise."
Kale said nothing.
"You didn't expect me to recognize the difference between a real federal operation and an illegal abduction."
"We have authorization."
"Then show it."
Silence.
Ela continued.
"You don't have a judicial warrant."
Kale's shoulders stiffened.
"You don't have a signed detention order."
Nothing.
"You don't even have the proper agency identification."
The driver suddenly looked at Kale.
Ela noticed.
That tiny glance told her more than either man had said.
They were nervous.
Good.
"You two aren't ICE," she said.
Kale's voice became low.
"You should be careful."
"I've spent twelve years in Washington. I know what federal agents look like."
"You don't know everything."
"No."
Ela stared at the camera.
"But I know enough."
The vehicle turned onto a wider road.
She tried to estimate their direction.
North.
Then west.
She looked at the digital clock mounted above the partition.
6:31.
Fourteen minutes since she had been taken.
Her staff would notice she was missing soon.
Her chief of staff, Marcus Reed, was obsessive about schedules.
If Ela missed her first call without warning, Marcus would immediately start asking questions.
By seven, someone would know.
By eight, the entire congressional office would know.
And by nine, if she was still missing, Washington would explode.
Kale seemed to understand that.
"You have a lot of enemies," he said.
Ela looked at him.
"Apparently."
"You should have stopped asking questions."
"About what?"
He didn't answer.
Ela watched him through the partition.
"The oversight committee?"
His jaw tightened.
"The detention contracts?"
Nothing.
"The private transport companies?"
Kale's silence was confirmation.
Ela had spent six months investigating a network of private contractors receiving enormous government payments to transport undocumented immigrants between detention facilities.
At first, the contracts had looked ordinary.
Then people started disappearing.
Not officially.
On paper, they were transferred.
In reality, families couldn't find them.
Attorneys were denied access.
Records were altered.
And several whistleblowers had told Ela the same thing.
Someone inside the system was selling information.
Names.
Addresses.
Legal statuses.
Travel schedules.
People were being targeted.
Ela had been preparing to expose the network.
Apparently, someone wanted to stop her.
The SUV slowed.
Ela heard another vehicle approaching.
Then a phone rang.
Kale answered.
"Yes."
A pause.
"She's secured."
Another pause.
"Understood."
He hung up.
Ela smiled.
"Who was that?"
"Nobody you need to worry about."
"That's not what you sounded like."
Kale turned.
"Listen carefully."
He leaned toward the partition.
"You are going to be processed. You are going to answer questions. And then this ends."
"Where?"
He didn't respond.
"Where are you taking me?"
Still nothing.
Ela's voice became quieter.
"Somewhere outside federal jurisdiction?"
Kale looked away.
That was enough.
She knew now.
This wasn't an ICE detention.
It was something darker.
The SUV turned onto a rural road.
Trees replaced houses.
The road narrowed.
Ela's breathing remained steady.
Then she heard a distant siren.
Kale looked at the driver.
"What?"
The driver shook his head.
"I don't know."
Another siren.
Closer.
Kale reached for his radio.
Static.
Then a voice.
"Unit 12, pull over."
Kale froze.
The driver accelerated.
Ela smiled.
"You've been found."
"Shut up."
The siren grew louder.
Red and blue lights appeared behind them.
Kale grabbed the partition.
"Who called the police?"
Ela didn't answer.
She didn't know.
But she knew someone had.
And whoever had done it had moved quickly.
The SUV swerved.
A patrol car pulled alongside.
Then another.