The Agent

by C Paradee

"Yes." Megan replied. "You parked around back too?"

  "No, I walked."

  "You walked all the way from the Federal Building? Adding incredulously, "In those shoes?" Not waiting for an answer, she said, "Come on. I'll give you a ride."

  Tony wanted to be angry. But the look on Megan's face was so comical, she started chuckling and followed her.

  Megan used the key pad to unlock the doors to a blue Mercury Sable. Tony got in thinking it was a good thing the car had bucket seats because with her long legs she would never have been able to fit in the front seat with the short woman driving.

  Tony discretely watched Megan expertly maneuver the car through the downtown traffic. She drove with the same confidence and poise Tony had noticed throughout lunch.

  Never one to remain quiet for long, Megan began pointing out various buildings and naming them for Tony's benefit. As far as Megan was concerned the short drive was over all too soon. She'd have been surprised to find out Tony's thoughts mirrored her own.

  Megan returned to work and found David waiting for her in her office. "Hi."

  "Hi Megan. Where ya been? We got another case to do."

  "At lunch. What's it to you?" she teased the blond morgue assistant. David was usually assigned to help her with the cases she autopsied and they had developed a close friendship during her short tenure. Not only was he good at his work, he was just a delightful person to be around. "What kind of case?"

  "A wire." he replied, grinning mischievously.

  "I'm sure, David. A wire?" she inquired with her eyebrows raised.

  "How about a piano wire wrapped around the neck?" he replied innocently.

  "Oh great. Now they're getting creative." Megan pushed dark thoughts aside knowing David's gentle bantering was necessary to their sanity when dealing with the grim results of suffering and death, day after day.

  "What do we know?" she asked him, her high spirits replaced by the clinical detachment that best suited her line of work.

  "Male, 30-35, clothes indicate he was most likely homeless. Found on the West side near the gang hangouts. Probably an initiation killing. Jerry went out to the scene but since he's already working on two other cases, you got elected."

  Megan's forehead creased at the mention of Jerry. He was one of the other pathologists on staff and she knew he was still angry about her promotion. More than likely he just didn't want the case. But knowing what a sneak he was, she figured he went to Dr. Whitehouse to have the case assigned to her. Not that it was a problem, but she'd been getting more than her share of cases lately. Jerry managed to make his cases last longer than she thought was humanly possible. She knew it was all a front to get out of work, but that was up to Dr. Whitehouse to notice.

  David watched her sympathetically. He was very fond of Megan and would do anything he could to protect her from the treachery of the morgue staff. He knew Jerry and Dwayne, his assistant, had nothing but hatred for the little doctor. He had to give her credit, though, she ignored it for the most part and treated them with professional respect that they did not deserve as far as he was concerned. David and his partner Mike, had invited Megan over to dinner several times, and had enjoyed her company immensely. She was absolutely endearing and he wished there was something he could do about the situation at work. More than anything, he wanted to see her happy. David knew she was lonely. He also knew it was something that she had not really acknowledged. Instead, she had become so dedicated to her job that he wondered if she ever really left it behind. David knew from experience if she would just meet the right person all that would change.

  "Earth to David." Megan had noticed her friend go off to La La Land and hoped everything was ok. She knew if it wasn't he would come to her when he was ready.

  "Just visiting with my spirit guide," he replied grinning, "I guess you're ready to start."

  "Might as well get it over with. Has the body been prepped?" she asked, knowing the answer.

  Rolling his eyes at her, pretending to be indignant, "Of course."

  It was near 5pm before they finished and Megan returned to her office. Once there, she noticed the preliminary toxicology results were in her inbox. The toxicology was negative, but the GCMS had shown some abnormal chemical patterns. Megan felt a quick rush of adrenaline. But she also knew determining what these patterns represented could take a week to a month.

  Megan faxed the results to Sgt. Davies.

  Tony returned to her office and once again began reviewing the case file the police department had provided her. After soaking in every detail she turned her mind loose to identify anything she might not have noticed. Something about the bodies tried to surface, but the more she concentrated, the more elusive it became. Frustrated she looked for something else to turn her attention to. Walking around the office, she noticed some paperwork sitting in the fax tray. Curious, she picked it up and saw it was the background checks she had asked John to run before she left. Tony was a creature of habit and had decided to create her own dossier for this case. The background checks were on Sgt. Brian Davies and Dr. Megan Donnovan.

  Returning to her desk, she read over the information provided on Brain Davies skipping what wasn't pertinent. He was 39, born in Madison, Ohio, moving to Cleveland as a child. He entered the police academy in 1979 after being awarded an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice. He had done well on the police force with a 75 percent of conviction per arrest ratio. In 1983 he was wounded in the line of duty protecting a fellow officer during a domestic violence call. He had been married in 1985. His wife's maiden name was Jennifer Sheridan, age 33. They had three children, two boys, 12 and 10, and a girl, seven. In 1986 he was promoted to Detective and had been assigned to homicide. His record indicated he was very successful in homicide and had been credited with solving some cases almost single-handedly. Tony finished reading wondering why he was still a Detective Sergeant when his record was so outstanding. Looking at the picture provided, Tony smiled when she saw the height and weight.

  Next she picked up the file on Megan Donnovan. Picturing the attractive woman, a slight twinge of guilt was quickly displaced by an intense curiosity. Megan Donnovan 27 years old, was born on September 25, 1971 in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father, Charles Donnovan, was an attorney with Hughes, Smith, & Donnovan. He specialized in corporate law. Her mother, Barbara, had a part time career in real estate. She has two sisters, Ashley 30, and Taylor 24. She has one brother, Charles Jr., 28. All are married and Ashley and Charles each had two kids.

  While in high school, she was a member of the National Honor Society and the Literary Club. Sports included the intramural field hockey and swim teams. She had been accepted into the high school/college preparation program and completed her first year of college at the same time she graduated in 1987. Wait a minute, that made her only 16, Tony thought with admiration. She graduated in 1990 with a degree in chemistry and was accepted into the joint M.D./Ph.D. program graduating in the top ten percent of her class in 1994. She completed a short residency and began work at the Coroner's office in 1996. There was no record of any marriage. The remainder of the record was just the usual: no arrest record, no participation in student unrest, no evidence of drug abuse, no moving violations, no warrants, no military service, and no adverse credit.

  An image of the young doctor planted firmly in her mind, Tony found herself wanting to know much more about her than the basics provided by the background check.

  Megan was bored. She didn't want to go to Bally's. She didn't feel like cooking dinner. She didn't want to read a book. Pacing back and forth, she was unable to figure out why she was so restless. She decided to go on line. There were a couple emails from some of her professional friends. She quickly answered them and decided to go surfing. Wonder what the FBI had on their website. Finding that URL, she read the pages with interest. Not only did it have the history, but it even addressed Waco and Ruby Ridge. After reading everything from the history, to what VICAP and the profilers did, she then read about the services offer
ed by the FBI Laboratory. As she continued to read, her interest waned when she realized she was interested in one particular FBI agent, not the FBI.

  The phone rang interrupting her thoughts, "Hello."

  "Hi, Megan. I had to work late tonight. Let's go to dinner. John is watching the kids," replied Ashley.

  Smiling at the voice of her sister, she asked, "Ok, where and what time?"

  "How about I meet you at the Stone Hedge at 7:30 p.m. I'll call for reservations now."

  "Ok, Ashley. See ya then."

  Tony had stayed late at the office entering the few facts available on the case into the VICAP data base and NCIC. There wasn't much point in contacting the profilers. There aren't enough data to give them.

  When she arrived back at her room, she began wondering aimlessly around. Tony began to feel trapped. She was going to have to find some place to live. The hotel was already getting to her.

  Her thoughts once again turned to a certain young woman. Tony sighed exasperatedly, thinking, God, you'd think I was a high school kid with a crush.

  Knowing she needed a distraction, Tony decided to go explore. This was a new city and it was important to learn the layout. Opting to do it and get some exercise at the same time she donned a set of light weight sweats and departed.

  Jogging toward the huge lights of the baseball stadium, Tony took in the downtown businesses as she passed them. Noting that most of the streets went east and west or north and south, there were a couple that seemed to go diagonally across the others. The layout was much simpler than the insane cluster of streets she was used too in Washington, D.C.

  Tony leisurely moved along with her senses fully extended. She quickly assessed the other people she passed on the streets. While Cleveland was certainly not the crime capital of the world, it had its share of crime per capita. Tuning into the night life around her, she created a surreal image with her long hair flying behind her head--a single woman alone daring to breach the dark domain of gangs, drugs, sex, and violence.

  Rounding another street corner in her lazy loop around the downtown area, she saw three young men swaggering abreast heading her way. Thoroughly enjoying her night sightseeing, she decided to go around them and jogged off the sidewalk and into the street.

  The men dressed in the dark garb of predators of the night were both surprised and pleased that they had found prey so quickly and easily. The three lowlifes stepped into the street to block Tony's passage.

  Tony's entire demeanor changed as she coldly reviewed her options. She could simply keep running. With her athletic body capable of gymnastic moves that would awe the judges at world sporting events, she could easily maneuver around them. On a sustained run there was absolutely no way they would ever come close to her speed or stamina. She could stop and tell them she was an FBI agent and to get lost before she decided to find a reason to haul them in. She chuckled at this thought... like they would believe that. Or she could disable them and call the police. None of these solutions particularly appealed to Tony because from the moment they had blocked her path she had felt the familiar heat course through her body, and now she felt like kicking some serious ass. With the exception of lunch, where'd that thought come from, this had been the most boring day she could remember and she was ready for some action. Tony began waging a battle with her conscience. Overt FBI agents do not go around kicking butt. Maybe not... so I guess I'll be covert for about the next five minutes and besides, there's no doubt these guys are going to harm some innocent citizen somewhere tonight. You're just making excuses for your behavior. All right I'll compromise... I'll advise them I'm an FBI agent and if they take off, fine, but if they don't... knowing full well she'd get her wish for some action, conscience be damned.

  Drawing to a stop about 4 feet from the thugs, Tony's entire body tensed, ready for action, under the guise of relaxation and her narrowed, hooded eyes took on a glacial hardness. Smiling she said, "Something I can do for you boys?"

  "Oh yeah baby," the middle thug leered at her while grabbing his crotch suggestively as the other two began moving sideways.

  Tony kept them in her peripheral vision as she gave a warning that she considered a total waste of time, "I am an FBI agent and I suggest you move on before I find a reason to haul you in."

  Were these thugs any less used to preying on women and other innocent and harmless beings they might have sensed the aura of danger that rolled in waves off the tall woman standing in front of them. But they had become so used to taking what they wanted, when they wanted, the danger never permeated their brains.

  As all three began hooting derisively, the one in the middle guffawed, "Yeah, and I'm the President . . . "

  Another interrupting, "No man, I'm Elvis..." and doubled over laughing.

  The third offered, "No, I got one better, I'm Superman." Lowering the timbre of his voice until it became threatening, he said, "and we know he always gets what he wants."

  Moving closer, knives appeared in their hands.

  "I have a better one," she drawled ominously.

  "Yeah..." the one in the middle snarled tiring of the game.

  "I'm your worst nightmare," growled Tony. Her body became a flurry of motion, one foot slamming into the groin of the middle thug, a fist simultaneously slamming backward into the nose of the thug to the right. She grabbed the third man's wrist in an iron grip causing him to drop his knife while spinning her body and connecting with a bone breaking side kick to his ribs. She pivoted toward the only attacker still standing. Warily circling her, blood dripping from his nose, he feinted in and out with his knife. With a feral smile Tony taunted the thug, "Are we having fun yet?"

  Lunging forward, determined to slice this crazy arrogant woman open, he met only air as she deftly side stepped at the last moment. She grabbed his wrist rendering the knife useless, and turned her body into him. Stretching his arm over her shoulder and driving her other hand palm up under the elbow, the snapping of bone echoed through the night. Thrusting him away she said, "You're lucky I was in a good mood tonight."

  Tony looked with disdain at the scene, and watched them scuttle away, feeling no remorse but rather vindication knowing these three would not be targeting anyone else soon.

  Quite satisfied with herself, Tony continued her slow leisurely tour.

  Megan was thoroughly enjoying her dinner with Ashley. She very seldom got to see her sister one on one. She knew how many things Ashley had to juggle to take care of John, the children and a career. It wasn't that Megan minded visiting with her brother-in-law and two nieces. She just felt that their world was so far removed from hers. So the infrequent times when just she and Ashley could get together were that much more enjoyable.

  Ashley had brought her up to date on Caitlin and Cayley, her 5 year old twin nieces. Then she had continued on about John and his career, and her own.

  "So now that I've monopolized the conversation, what are you doing these days?" Ashley smiled over at her younger sister.

  "Oh, you know. Work mostly. They assigned me the Shadow case."

  "Yeah, I heard. I read the article that reporter you know did. Mark something. Are you still going out with him?"

  "Ashley, I never was going out with him. We're just friends. We go places together sometimes. That's not the same as going out." Megan said with a sigh.

  "Megan, I didn't mean anything," she continued, "You know Mom and Dad ask about you all the time. You don't visit them very often."

  "I know. But every time I do, they want to know who I'm dating and when I'm going to get married and I have to hear all about how my biological clock will run out if I don't do something soon. I'm only 27. When I meet the right person, they'll know. In the meantime, I just wish they'd give it a rest."

  Ashley wisely decided to change the subject, "Want to have some dessert? We've got time," chuckling at the delighted look on Megan's face. Some things never change.

  Ashley's thoughts turned back to their childhood. Megan had always been such a dreame
r. She was always reading. She practically lived in her books. That was before their father found out how intellectually talented she was and decided that she was going to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer. He had done everything he could to belittle all her interests except for those related to the textbook. Ashley remembered the day her father had finally put an end to Megan's dream of becoming a writer. He ruled with an iron hand and Megan was often at the receiving end of it. After that Megan did what he wanted and excelled at every academic challenge. He never could take away her genuine concern about other people though. Ashley remembered the two times Megan had stood up to him, consequences be damned. The first time she told him she was going to medical school not law school, and the second time when she had announced she was going to be a forensic pathologist. Their father had been so flabbergasted he was actually speechless, and that had to be a first because the man could talk. She just wished Megan hadn't given up on her other dream.

  "What are you smiling about over there?" Megan asked watching her sister.

  "Oh, just thinking about when we were kids," Ashley replied, quickly changing the subject, "I called you earlier today, but you were out to lunch. Did you get the message?"

  "No," Megan smiled remembering lunch. What a challenge that had been. But... a good sort of challenge.

  "Now it's my turn. What are you smiling at?" Ashley asked, pleased with the mood change.

  "I had lunch with the most interesting FBI agent. She was really different than what I expected. I've never met anyone like her before. I'm going to show her the crime scenes in the Flats tomorrow. She's new in Cleveland." Megan continued, "She's is probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen and she must be close to 6 feet tall and she was really intimidating at first, but, well you know with Dad, you get used to handling that," Megan stopped realizing she was babbling.

  Ashley listened to the whole exchange with interest. Megan's entire demeanor changed as she talked about the FBI agent. Now isn't that odd... or is it, she mused. It would certainly explain a few things. Megan was Ashley favorite sibling and whatever made her happy was fine with Ashley.