Page 80 of Avenging Angel

Bennett takes the cup gratefully. “All right. Tell me everything you know so far, and we can come up with a plan.”

I smile at Bennett. “We already have one.”

Chapter thirty-two

Angel

With Daisy’s back pressed to my chest, I wrap my arms around her waist as Owen tells Bennett about what he’s learned concerning Brad. No detail is left out.

“What’s that?” Bennett asks, pointing to the phone next to the computer.

Okay, so one detail was left out.

Owen looks at the device. “Oh, this? It’s Brad Callahan’s cell phone. An onsite fingerprint analysis confirms it. Currently, I’m using a code that will crack the encryption.”

Bennett comes closer, careful not to touch the phone. “What do you expect to find?”

“A clue to Genevieve’s location. Something. Anything that will point us in the right direction.”

Bennett begins pacing around the room, mulling over what we’ve told him. “What I don’t understand is why you think you’re the next target, Daisy. While you fit the description of the missing girls, you’re much too old.”

“Thanks,” she replies. “That’s just what every woman wants to hear.”

He dismisses her comment with a wave of his hand. “That’s not what I meant. If what Kenneth told you was true, then these girls are being experimented on. The question is: why? They’re all between the ages of 14 and 18. That has to be significant, and no offense, you’re twice that age.”

“Fair enough. Are you honestly going to tell me that you had no idea what Dominion was up to? The wife of the CIA director is one of the missing girls you showed us, Bennett. I find it hard to believe that you missed that.”

“I’m more or less on a ‘need to know’ basis,” Bennett retorts. “My directive was simply to contain the backlash and suppress media attention around the abductions to protect Dominion. I didn’t ask questions or investigate. Looking back, I should have. I was merely showing up to play my part and be a presence to keep a lid on things. Protecting a CIA resource like Dominion was the priority. I’ve answered your question; now please answer mine. Why do you believe you’re a target?”

I step forward, keeping Daisy’s vision a secret. We need Bennett to be a part of the team if we stand any chance of getting a lead on Dominion, not have him question her sanity. “Daisy has been hunting her whole adult life for the man who took Sadie. She told you this. Now that she’s closing in, her life has been at risk three times. There’s no reason for us to believe differently. She has the rest of us watching her back. Are you willing to do the same?”

Bennett bobs his head twice. “Of course.”

Roger’s phone rings, and he informs the group. “It’s Jerry.”

Daisy gets excited. “He’s usually more of a bearer of good news rather than bad.”

Bennett sneers when he registers the name of the caller. “After our last conversation, I can’t say that I’m his biggest fan. He hates me.”

I shake my head. “He doesn’t know you. Jerry hates what you stand for, Bennett.”

“Yes. The CIA is the villain in every movie or book; lucky me. It’s not like I’m the one who went after his wife and six kids.”

He really doesn’t get it. It’s about his values and the fact that his moral compass, and the CIA’s, are pointing due south.

Roger grits his teeth, doesn’t respond to the rude comment, and puts the call on speaker. “Hey, Jerry. What have you got for us?”

Jerry says, “Not sure. I’m sending Owen a file I composed of everything I found on Emily Bloom. Make of it what you will. For now, I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version. When she died, she was in her senior year at the University of Colorado. And get this: Emily was majoring in neuroscience and had been working on her capstone project since her junior year. The title of the paper is Cognitive Autonomy Under Pressure: Susceptibility to Coercive Persuasion During Late Adolescent Neurodevelopment.”

“Brainwashing,” I say.

“In a nutshell,” Jerry replies. “The paper is actually quite fascinating. Teenagers, especially from 14 to 18 years of age, have a brain that, in the physical context, is nearly fully formed. However, in a neurological context, the prefrontal cortex is one of the last regions of the brain to mature.

Daisy’s eyes widen as she looks at me. “Now we know why it was a targeted age range.”

Jerry continues. “At that age, they’re in a heightened stage of neuroplasticity, meaning their brains are rewiring. During their teen years, they are at their most vulnerable point for behavior changes beyond the early stages of infancy. On average, the human brain can process an entire visual scene in roughly 13 milliseconds.”

“How long is that?” Scott asks.