Kate stared, as if having an inner battle about what to say.
“What’s going on?” Lucy pushed.
“Stay under the radar and away from Laughlin.”
She sat down on her bed and leaned forward. “Why?”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
She was lying, and Lucy called her on it. “It has everything to do with me. And you. Tell me, Kate.”
“Trust me, Lucy.”
“I always have.”
Kate sagged in relief. “Good. Just get through the next couple months and all will be fine.”
But Lucy wasn’t willing to drop it that easily. “I trust you, Kate; you need to trust me. Tell me what’s going on with Laughlin.”
Kate stared at her, stunned that Lucy had called her on the carpet. Secrets had burned Lucy in the past, she wasn’t going to be kept in the dark.
“I can take it, Kate. My imagination is going to create far worse scenarios. Tell me what was going on in your office. What were you and Laughlin arguing about?”
“Let’s just say there are people here who will look for any reason to expel you. Keep your nose clean.”
“He wants me out of here?”
“It’s complicated. I can’t go into detail.”
“You mean you won’t go into it. Don’t I deserve the truth?”
Kate stood. “I’m sorry, Lucy.”
“Kate-”
Lucy wished she hadn’t sat down, because now Kate towered over her. “You wanted to get here on your own merits, but nothing is done in a vacuum. It doesn’t matter if you’re J. Edgar Hoover’s granddaughter or the prodigy of Eliot Ness, people have long memories, and some people want to tear down more than lift up. Never forget it. It’s politics, Lucy, and if you want to survive you’ll blend in. Being right or intelligent isn’t going to save you. Being smart might.”
“Keeping me in the dark isn’t going to help, either!”
Kate walked out, firmly shutting the door behind her.
“Dammit!” Lucy walked over to the door, ready to go after Kate, then rested her forehead on the frame. She needed answers, and Kate wasn’t going to give them to her yet.
But she knew the one person who could find them.
She strode over to her bag and grabbed her cell phone.
Sean answered on the second ring. “Lucy, I just walked in and was going to call you. You must be psychic.”
“Maybe I am.” She sat at her desk and rubbed her forehead with her free hand. “I need a favor.”
“It’s not a favor when it’s for the woman I love. What do you need?”
“I think I may have rubbed one of my instructors the wrong way, and I have no idea how or why. I don’t know anything about him, other than his name is Rich Laughlin and he’s an SA out of the Detroit field office. I can’t risk asking-”
“I know exactly what you need, and I’ll get it without tripping any alarms.”
Always, she could depend on Sean. “You’re amazing.”
“Luce, why not talk to Kate?”
She sighed. “Because Kate knows why and she won’t tell me.”
“She knows this guy is harassing you?”
“I wouldn’t say harassing, more … closely observing.”
“I already hate him.”
“Kate doesn’t like him, either, which makes why she’s being so tight-lipped about him even more strange. I want to keep this quiet for now. When we learn something, I’ll talk to her.” The tension of the day dissipated. “How was Sacramento?”
“Same old. I’ll tell you about the job when I see you this weekend-I am seeing you.”
It wasn’t a question. “As far as I know, I can leave.”
“I hear a ‘but’ in your voice.”
“It’s about me not making waves.”
“Is that what this Laughlin thing is?”
“Something Kate said. But, no matter what, I’ll find some way to see you.”
“It’s been nearly four weeks, Lucy-I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” She bit her lip, needing to tell Sean about the dead writer but not quite sure how to explain it. “There’s something else that happened. Remember that reporter who called me before I reported to Quantico?”
“Rosemary Weber. Of course I remember her. She upset you.”
“She was murdered last night. Suzanne Madeaux called me.”
“Why are the feds involved?”
“Because Weber was writing about a federal investigation.”
“Did Suzanne tell you why she gave Weber your name?”
“She said she didn’t. I believe her, Sean. I should have asked her four weeks ago.”
“Does she know who spilled the beans about you? Because Weber never called me.”
“Suzanne promised to research the leak. Tony is heading to New York to consult with Suzanne and the NYPD, and I’m sure he’ll fill me in when he returns. My supervisor has forbidden me from following up with Suzanne without her permission.”
“You focus on getting your badge. I’ll call Suzanne and let you know what I learn.”
Lucy smiled. “Thanks.”
“Thank me in person, this weekend.”
CHAPTER SIX
New York City
Suzanne was ten minutes late to the restaurant and Joe DeLucca was already there-with two cold bottles of beer in front of him.
She grabbed the full beer. “Thanks.”
“I knew you’d come.”
“Maybe I’m a figment of your imagination.”
“I ordered our pizza.”
“I became a vegetarian.”
Joe laughed, thin lines framing his eyes. A familiar flutter spread through her body. Suzanne didn’t want any of the old feelings. She didn’t want to remember how much she’d once cared.
She stared at him. “How’s Stephanie?”
He scowled. “Don’t.”
“Same old, same old.” She drank a long swallow of beer. “Okay, sorry. Ex-wife is off the table. But this”-she gestured between them-“is work only, Joe, nothing more.”
“Seeing someone?”
“More or less.” Less right now. For the past year, she’d hooked up with her best friend and sometime lover Mac whenever she wanted company. Mac was safe, trustworthy, and wanted nothing more from their relationship than she did. But as time passed they’d become better friends and less lovers. Which was also fine with Suzanne. She was too busy to stress over the whole he loves me, he loves me not thing. She got over it a long time ago.
Joe didn’t blink. “You’re lying.”
“Any news from the M.E.?” Keep it business, Suz.
“Autopsy’s in the morning. One visible stab wound, narrow weapon-like an ice pick.”
“Like an ice pick or actually an ice pick?”
“Impatient, as always. We’ll know more in the morning. You can observe if you want.”
“Nope.” She had no time to hang around the morgue, and depending on who was running the case, it could take hours. “Security cams?”
“The only useful tape showed Weber in her car, alone, entering the parking lot.”
“Killer was on foot?”
“Possibly. We have the tape of everyone driving in, but it’ll take days to go through all the faces, and unless we get some info to narrow the parameters that’s not my focus. However, I have a couple rookies going through everyone who left the stadium thirty minutes prior to time of death. Because the game was close, not many people left early.”
“Good idea.” She paused. “I don’t think the killer was at the game.”
“Based on?”
“If you’re right and she was killed by someone she knew, someone she planned on meeting at the stadium, why would he buy a ticket?”
“Maybe it’s someone who was there with others and slipped out to kill her, goes back in, and sits with friends. Alibi.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I must be more devious than you.”
“Some
times.” She sipped her beer. “Did you print the car?”
He stared at her.
“Of course you did. Sorry.”
“So far, nothing. Just Weber, her sister, and Weber’s research assistant. Crime techs are looking for trace in the vehicle. Talked to the sister-they lived in a town house on the Upper East Side, inherited from their deceased parents. Bridget Weber, forty-three, divorced. Ex-husband some schmuck who works for the governor in Albany. Sister is an interior designer. Seemed upset, but she does get half of her sister’s estate.”
“Sizable?”
“The town house has right of survivorship, so that’s free and clear. My techs are going through financials; she’s probably looking at a quarter mil when all’s said and done.”
“Life insurance?”
“Small policy-both sisters had a hundred thou, sister said to cover any expenses related to their demise.”
“Other half of the estate?”
“Donation to her alma mater, Columbia University. Which brings me to the assistant, a grad student at Columbia who’s worked for the deceased only a few months. Seems she gets a new grad student for every project, becomes part of their thesis or some such thing. I talked to the faculty advisor and he’s hooking me up with her new assistant tomorrow.” Joe grinned. “Want to join me?”
“I have another two dozen calls to make, and I hate the phone.”
“It’ll be fun. Old times.”
They’d met on a case five years ago when Suzanne was first assigned to the Violent Crimes and Major Offenders squad in New York City. They worked well together. Played well together, too.
She didn’t smile. “Not old times.”
The pizza arrived, authentic Italian according to Joe. Suzanne didn’t care-it was simply the best pizza in Brooklyn. They ordered two more beers.
“So was I the only one working today?” Joe said between bites.
“I spoke to half the people from the files you sent over-focusing on those she’s interviewing for the Cinderella Strangler case. So far she seems to be in research mode-I have the file with me so I can go through it tonight and try to figure out what her strategy was. She called our civilian consultant from the case, but Lucy said she told Weber she had no comment on the case.”
“Lucy who?”
“Kincaid. She’s a recruit going through the Academy. Her involvement wasn’t made public, but someone told Weber, someone who had enough information to make me think it’s one of mine, or one of yours.”
“Is she a suspect?”
“Kincaid?” Suzanne snorted. “No. And she wouldn’t talk without clearing it through proper channels, just like I would have had to do. But she doesn’t want the book written, wouldn’t talk to any reporter.”
“She doesn’t want the book written, but she’s not a suspect? What am I missing?”
“I told you, she’s at Quantico. And I know her. She didn’t do it, but to make you happy I’ll verify her alibi.”
“Appreciate it.” Joe finished off his first slice and grabbed a second.
“I dug deeper into Weber’s files and went back to her first book about the Rachel McMahon kidnapping and murder, out of Newark. Fifteen-year-old case.”
“That was before my time-I was still at SUNY.”
“And I was still in Louisiana. But I knew one of the agents assigned to the case, so thought I’d start at the beginning. SSA Presidio, out of Quantico. He’s a profiler and is coming up to help.”
“Profiler?” Joe shook his head. He’d never been one to listen to shrinks. “I forgot to mention, the ring the victim wore is worth over fifteen thou. It’s looking more and more like a robbery.”
“You said it didn’t feel like a robbery.” Suzanne grabbed her second slice before Joe ate the whole pie.
“You’re right-but with a ring worth that much, I have to follow the angle. Besides, I don’t like profilers. Good detective work solves more cases than shrinks.”
Suzanne used to agree with Joe, but after working with Lucy Kincaid she’d somewhat changed her opinion. She saw value in understanding the psychology of criminals.
“I’ll let you know what he says. You might even get to meet him.”
“You think maybe someone Weber wrote about was pissed off enough to whack her?”
“Anything’s possible at this point. Any threats?”
“Nothing the sister or faculty advisor knew about. I’ll ask the assistant tomorrow.”
“We’ll ask the assistant.”
Joe grinned. “It’s good to work with you again, Suzi.”
She glared at him. “That’s ‘Agent Madeaux’ to you, bud.” She glanced at her vibrating phone.
Rogan.
“Boyfriend?” Joe asked.
She rolled her eyes and answered. “I thought you might call. How’ve you been?”
“No complaints. Lucy told me about Weber. I just did a little checking on her. Crime reporter for ten years, then switched gears to write true crime books and special features for magazines. People, Time, US News, others. What happened?”
“It’s an ongoing investigation, Rogan. I can’t talk about it.”
“You called Lucy.”
“She’s one of us now.”
“Her supervisor isn’t letting her get involved. We need to know how her name landed in the reporter’s file. I don’t have to explain to you why.”
He didn’t. Suzanne knew about Lucy’s background, and she understood why Lucy would be concerned if she thought Rosemary Weber had information about her past.
“Fair enough. I’ll let you know when I find out.”
“Why was she killed?”
“That’s the million-dollar question.”
“I just finished a case, if you need my help-”
Suzanne laughed. “The FBI is working with NYPD on this; why would we need you?”
In mock insult, he said, “Because I’m the best.”
She snickered. “Later.” She hung up.
“That was interesting,” Joe said.
“I’m sure you’ll be meeting him in the next few days.”
“Who was it?”
“Sean Rogan, P.I. out of D.C.”
“And he’s in New York?”
“He will be.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
FBI Academy
After two hours, Lucy put her books aside.
Tony’s file on the Rachel McMahon homicide beckoned her. Not just because it was connected to the murdered writer, but also because there were basic similarities between Rachel’s abduction and that of Lucy’s nephew Justin. Kidnapped from their home in the middle of the night and murdered before dawn. But that’s where the similarities ended.
Rachel McMahon had been a week shy of her twelfth birthday when she was killed. The killer had raped her in her own bed. According to the autopsy report, she’d suffered two cracked ribs and had likely been unconscious or unresponsive when Kreig kidnapped her. Though Kreig never once spoke about the rape and murder, Tony’s theory was that the murder wasn’t premeditated. Kreig had planned to rape her, but he thought she was dead or dying. In an effort to cover up his crime, he removed her from her room alive. She died of internal injuries within hours. Had she received immediate medical attention, she might have survived.
Though there was an extensive grid search and numerous volunteers and police looking for her, she wasn’t found until Kreig led authorities to her body six days later. However, the coroner’s report indicated that she’d been dead nearly as long.
MISSING GIRL FOUND DEAD
Rosemary Weber, Senior Crime Reporter
NEWARK, NJ-Six days after Rachel McMahon was abducted from her second-story bedroom, her body was found in the woods less than five miles from her home.
Though police refuse to confirm or deny the circumstances surrounding her death and discovery, sources close to the investigation say that her body was located by cadaver dogs in a shallow grave.
The search for Rachel McMahon bega
n last Sunday morning. Her nine-year-old brother awoke during a storm and went to his sister’s room at three a.m., but she wasn’t in her bed. The police contacted friends and neighbors, but no one had seen Rachel.
The investigation was stymied by the missing girl’s own parents, who had a wild party the night she went missing, later identified by this paper as a “swingers’ party” where married couples swap sex partners for an evening of drugs, drinking, and sex. Because of the delay in obtaining a guest list, incomplete statements by both Mr. and Mrs. McMahon, and the two-day storm that destroyed physical evidence, the investigation was delayed.
No one has been arrested for the crime, but sources close to the investigation indicate a search warrant has been issued for one of the McMahons’ guests who has been in police custody for two days.
The Newark office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, working in close conjunction with the Newark Police Department, devoted all available agents to interview witnesses, process evidence, and search for Rachel. Media Information Officer Special Agent Dominic Theissen stated, “We are deeply saddened at the discovery of Rachel McMahon’s body late this afternoon. An autopsy and thorough investigation will be completed to ensure that justice will be swift.”
The McMahons were unavailable for comment.
The FBI confirmed that there is no connection between Rachel McMahon’s disappearance and that of Camille Todd, a twelve-year-old girl who went missing from Newark the previous week.
On the surface, the case appeared straightforward-an eleven-year-old girl had been kidnapped from her bedroom late on a Saturday night. The time of her disappearance was a bit sketchy. No one had seen her between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. Her brother told police they’d been playing games in their playroom until 10:00 p.m. when she went to her room to call her best friend. He fell asleep and woke up at 3:00 a.m. The house was quiet, he went to her room, and she wasn’t in her bed. Her friend told police, and phone records confirmed, that they’d spoken for nearly an hour, hanging up at 11:03 p.m. Rachel wanted to go over to her friend’s house that night, but the mother had forbidden it. For the first day of the investigation, local police falsely believed that Rachel had either run away or left to visit her friend. The search focused on the four blocks between the McMahon home and the Miller home.
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