She sent all the information to Kane from her personal account—RCK could dig deeper into Hirsch’s personal life than she legally could without a warrant. Most likely, Kane had asked Sean to run a full background on Hirsch. The only thing Sean couldn’t access were criminal records, unless they were in a public court document. So she put the information she had aside and called her good friend Suzanne Madeaux, the FBI liaison to the NYPD. Suzanne had been in her wedding, and Lucy trusted her to keep her request confidential.
“If it isn’t Mrs. Rogan,” Suzanne said. “I haven’t heard from you since your wedding—except for the very nice thank-you note.”
“Trying to get caught up. We have a new SSA.”
“I heard.”
“Oh?”
“Nothing bad or good, just info. You’re okay though, aren’t you?”
“I think so.” Lucy glanced around. No one was at their desks. Everyone had real cases to work, not the grunt cold case review Rachel had assigned her. Still, she kept her voice low. “My new boss doesn’t like me. She’s given me crap work and for the last two months I haven’t been out in the field. Most recently I’ve been updating contact information on witnesses and victims for all cold case files.”
“Shit. I’d hang myself. Still, you are a rookie and Violent Crimes doesn’t have the same resources as other squads.”
Lucy wished it was just because she was a rookie, but she suspected it was directly related to her investigation into Justin’s murder. “I keep telling myself that. I have a personal favor to ask.”
“Shoot.”
“A low-level drug dealer named Martin Hirsch was arrested twenty years ago in Manhattan. Did six months for possession with intent. Prior to that he pled out a rape case and did three months. Left New York after his probation and moved west to Las Vegas. He’s a person of interest in a sex trafficking case.”
“I thought you weren’t in the field.”
“I’m not. This isn’t an active investigation. Just gathering information.”
“Gotcha. What else do you have on him?”
Lucy read off his Social Security number, last known address. “He was taken down in a joint task force sting. Before your time—before Joe’s time—but maybe Joe can find out more about him. I’d really love to know how a two-bit dealer rises to running a major sex trafficking organization.”
“Cream rises to the top,” Suzanne said sarcastically. “I’ll dig around. Known associates, see how the bust happened. Joe’s old partner retired a couple years ago, but he used to work Vice. He might have some intel.”
“I appreciate it. If any of the players he ran with then have connections out of state—particularly in the southwest. California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas.”
“I’ll see what I can get on the QT.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t be a stranger. When are you and Sean coming to visit?”
“I don’t think I’ll have any vacation time for the next ten years.”
“That bad?”
“Maybe.” She was about to say goodbye when she remembered that Jason Lopez had spent his two rookie years in New York. “Rachel just brought in a new agent. He has seven years in, last five in Phoenix, but spent his rookie years in New York.”
“Hmm. We have a gazillion agents in this building, and seven years ago I was in counterterrorism.”
“He was in violent crimes, that’s all I know.”
“That’s easy—I know all those guys. Is he giving you shit?”
“I don’t know.”
Suzanne laughed. “Evasive.”
“Rachel Vaughn brought him in, he followed me to lunch.”
“Followed?”
“I was meeting someone off the beaten path. I don’t know how else he would have found the place if he didn’t follow me. And he was acting odd when I was in the office. I can’t explain it—I just have this sense he’s been watching me. I want to know if he’s spying on me for Rachel, or if there’s another reason.”
“Either way, that’s fucked. Watch yourself.”
“Ten-four.” Lucy hung up and went back to the conference room. She finished up her report and sent it to Rachel, along with a list of follow-ups she planned on starting tomorrow—people she couldn’t reach but hadn’t confirmed that they’d moved or died. While on the one hand, she’d hated every minute she had to work on this project; now that it was done she felt a sense of accomplishment. She’d also streamlined the process so next time, there was a sheet of everyone she spoke to, verified, who moved, and the like. It would go much faster.
If it ever had to be done again.
She hated watching the clock, but she had an hour before five. She pulled out the notes she’d made on the cases where she hadn’t been able to reach anyone involved and reviewed them, then wrote out a strategy for tomorrow’s follow-ups. She was actually excited to get back out in the field, even though it would be grunt work. Grunt work outside the office was better than riding a desk. If she timed everything right with traffic and expected length of interviews, she could complete the entire project by Friday afternoon.
She hadn’t seen Kenzie or Jason since lunch—she hadn’t seen Nate, either, and wondered if he had gone off with Kane. Nate had been in the Army, like Jack, and had the same edge that her brother and brother-in-law shared.
“Lucy,” Rachel called from her office. “A word.”
Lucy stepped into the threshold.
“Close the door.”
This wasn’t going to be good.
Lucy shut the door and sat down. Rachel was forty, attractive even though she wore her hair and make-up quite severely. Her dark blond hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, not a hair out of place. She dressed impeccably in a pant suit and white blouse.
“Is there something wrong with my report?” she asked.
“I haven’t read it yet. Why were you running Martin Hirsch?”
Lucy blanked. How did Rachel know she’d run Hirsch? No way would Suzanne have tipped her off. She hadn’t talked to anyone else. She’d run the name through …
The criminal database. She had to put in her badge number and a case number, which she’d created just for this purpose. That wasn’t unusual. Agents did it all the time. Noah told her how to do it when she was still a training agent in the DC office, before she even went to Quantico. She didn’t think twice.
Maybe she should have.
“His name came up.”
“You have no active investigations. You created a case without approval.”
“Just informative at this time—”
Rachel interrupted. “Why did you run his name? Does it have something to do with your brother-in-law paying you a visit?”
Lucy fumed. Jason had reported to Rachel about Kane? Why?
“I had lunch with my brother-in-law, I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
“If you’re using government resources to assist a private contractor in a private investigation without approval, that’s a breach of protocol and possibly a violation of the law.” She stared at Lucy. Did she want Lucy to dig herself into a hole? Did she want Lucy to justify herself? Apologize?
Lucy kept her mouth shut.
Rachel spoke first. “Based on your record last year, you regularly put in ten- to twelve-hour days, closed dozens of cases, and had several letters of commendation from San Antonio PD, the DEA, and your former supervisor. This year, you run out when the clock strikes five. You put in your minimal time, and now you’re running a name through the criminal database for a case that doesn’t exist. Do you know what that tells me? When you’re working with your friends, you’re willing to go above and beyond. But when someone gives you an assignment you don’t like, you drag your heels and do the bare minimum to get by. The FBI is not all glamour. Most of our work is grunt work, paper work, building and closing cases.”
“I’ve spent the last two months reviewing every cold case file going back twenty years. I made over one thousand phone calls, s
ent hundreds of letters, and verified every address, name, and phone number in more than two hundred cases.”
“So because I gave you paperwork you don’t like, that justifies breaking the rules and running Hirsch for your brother-in-law?”
Lucy didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to put Bella in jeopardy, or RCK’s relationship with the FBI. She would have to take the consequences. She always had before—only this time, it burned because she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Hirsch’s name came up in an investigation that left a cop dead in Phoenix. I was doing a favor, yes, but it was for a legitimate reason.”
Her eyes clouded, just for a second. Rachel knew something about it.
“Is this related to the Roger Beck homicide?”
Lucy hadn’t heard the name of the dead cop, but she nodded.
“That’s out of our jurisdiction. Send me what you found out and I’ll pass it along to my former office. And that’s the end of this, Lucy. This isn’t your case. You don’t work for your brother-in-law or your husband. If you can’t separate the two, then we’ll have a problem.”
“Ma’am, there is no problem,” Lucy said.
“I certainly hope not.” Lucy rose and Rachel said, “I’m not done.”
Lucy sat back in the chair.
“My strength is asset management,” Rachel said. “I’ve made changes in this unit in order to maximize our limited resources. Violent Crimes has gotten the short end of the stick since 9/11, and that’s not going to change in the foreseeable future. I’ve read every case file you’ve worked—as well as every case file for the last two years of everyone else in this unit. My predecessor, Noah Armstrong, was here temporarily after the Nicole Rollins fiasco. While he did an exemplary job at cleaning house—a necessity considering the circumstances—he wasn’t a manager. He spent nearly as much time in the field as his staff.
“I want to send you back out into the field. Your skill set is unique and could be an asset to our unit. Unfortunately, your loyalties are divided and that’s a problem for me. I can’t have you running around doing your own thing, using FBI resources to run criminals for your husband’s private business—their connection as a private government contractor notwithstanding. There is a process to use civilian consultants and you need to follow it. Your fellow agents are skeptical and concerned. I don’t appreciate being kept in the dark about operations that were undertaken by this office, or that several files have been redacted by national headquarters. All files that you are connected to.”
Lucy wanted to justify everything she’d done, but she didn’t. She hadn’t redacted anything—that was the decision of her superiors. She’d always played by the rules until she realized that sometimes, rules didn’t work. She would stand up for what she’d done because in the end, right or wrong, lives were saved.
“When I say that I’ve gone over your cases, I mean I’ve gone over every word of every report you’ve written and the ones your colleagues have written that involve you. On the one hand, I want to sing your praises—Armstrong’s report into the black market baby operation you, Agent Dunning, and Armstrong shut down in September showed me that you’re not only smart on your feet, you are levelheaded in the field. You saved numerous lives, including the baby of a dying woman. I called the doctor who treated the infant because I thought that Armstrong may have exaggerated; I learned instead that he toned down your heroics.
“And then,” Rachel continued, “I saw a series of vague and partially redacted reports a month later about the recovery of another infant from Mexico. Considering how complete and detailed Armstrong’s reports were about the initial investigation—and how completely vague and ultimately misleading his reports were a month later, I realized that the private government contractor that had gone to Mexico to recover an infant was most likely your husband’s business partners. It’s clear that the FBI can’t operate across borders without jumping through numerous hoops that take time and money, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they quickly asked for private assistance. Nothing illegal about it that I can tell. Maybe the government didn’t ask. Maybe you did. Still, nothing overtly illegal.”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say,” Lucy said, choosing her words carefully. “RCK has a long history of rescuing American hostages.”
“As well as accepting bounties on fugitives and the like.” That comment was said with venom that Lucy didn’t have an opportunity to analyze before Rachel continued. “They have quite a checkered history. However, what is not okay is for a federal agent to travel to Mexico and retrieve an infant then lie about it on official reports. And honestly? That’s what I think you did.”
“I didn’t go to Mexico to rescue baby Joshua.” That was the truth. But if that’s what Rachel thought happened, Lucy was relieved.
If she knew the whole truth, there would be far more problems for Lucy and for RCK.
“I’m not a fool, Agent Kincaid. I know how this business works. I understand that you have friends in high places. You earned this spot and graduated high in your class at Quantico across the board. That can’t be faked. Your master’s degree in criminal psychology is an asset, and your ability to apply your experience and education in the field has been exemplary. You’re a certified forensic pathologist, you’ve been certified in underwater search and rescue, and you have a unique criminology background that is a big help in the field. At the same time, I know that your mistakes have all been erased.”
Lucy hated confrontation, and she didn’t know what to say now. Rachel first commends her then criticizes her? Shares her theory about Lucy going down to Mexico—as inaccurate as her theory is. Yet mistakes? What mistakes? Yes—there had been situations that had been glossed over or redacted because of the people involved. Or the places Lucy had to go. She wouldn’t risk her friends, family, or colleagues by exposing them when everything they’d done was to save human lives. But mistakes? No. She wouldn’t own up to mistakes. Because how could it be a mistake when someone lived who would have died had she done nothing?
Rachel nodded, as if she’d seen something in Lucy’s expression that Lucy was pretty certain she’d hidden well. “I’m telling you right now, Lucy: you don’t have a free pass with me. You will not work any unsanctioned investigations. For the remainder of your time as a rookie, you will not be working on any joint task force because I would not be your direct supervisor. You have friends in the DEA—and the new assistant agent in charge, Brad Donnelly? I understand he’s a personal friend of yours. I know Brad from his time in Phoenix, and he’s a maverick. He will look the other way, and I suspect he has many times—likely because you and he operate in much the same way. He’s requested you twice in as many months to liaison on different DEA cases, and I declined. Because I can’t control your actions, and he will sugarcoat any transgressions. Probably encourage them.
“I cannot let you operate as you have been for the last year. It damages morale and creates problems in this office and with sister agencies. If your fellow agents can’t trust you, you have a problem. I hope to rectify that quickly. You will answer to me anytime you overstep, and I expect a complete and honest answer. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Lucy was surprised she could say anything. This was the most that Rachel had said to her since Rachel came on board nearly five months ago.
“Think about what I’ve said. You have the potential to be a great agent. Before I came here, when I first got the jackets on all the staff, I was intrigued by you and excited to meet you. I thought we had the foundation of a terrific team and I was thrilled to get this position. Then I read your reports, talked to your colleagues, heard about those last two cases. I grew concerned. And not three months after I started you lied to me about why you went to San Diego. You put yourself in the middle of a cold case investigation, lied about it, and got away with it.”
“That’s not how it happened.”
“You don’t see how difficult this is for me, do you? I would
have fired you—or at least had you written up and facing OPR. Then I get a call from the ASAC in San Diego about how you negotiated a tense hostage situation and saved the lives of two federal agents and a young boy and his family, and she wanted to put a commendation in your file. That’s when I realized we have a huge problem. I won’t tolerate a maverick like Brad Donnelly. It may have worked for him, but trust me when I tell you it doesn’t usually end so well.”
Lucy didn’t say anything. After months, she finally understood Rachel Vaughn. She almost couldn’t blame her—other than her theory about the infant Joshua, nothing she said was inaccurate.
But she couldn’t very well tell her new boss that she had in fact been in Mexico, nor why she’d been down there.
“Am I dismissed?” Lucy asked.
Rachel stared at her. “I’m assigning Agent Lopez to work with you to follow up on the cold case verifications.”
Of course she was. Because Jason was her spy, and he had already ratted Lucy out about who she was having lunch with.
“I’m looking forward to it.” Lucy commended herself that she could keep her emotions under such tight control when she’d rarely found herself this angry—and this worried—all at once.
She left Rachel’s office, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the building.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lucy went straight home after meeting with her boss. Meeting? She wouldn’t call it that. She didn’t know what to call the conversation. Part lecture, part praise, but all antagonistic.
She wasn’t surprised to see Nate’s truck parked in front of her house. She pulled into the garage and the door lumbered closed behind her. She stayed in her car, took a long, deep breath.
Rachel was right about so many things. Lucy had taken so much for granted. She’d been given a lot of autonomy when she worked on the joint task force with Brad Donnelly, and then when Noah was here to clean up the office after corrupt DEA Agent Nicole Rollins and her criminal enterprise was taken down, he trusted her and gave her the freedom to run her investigations the way she saw fit.
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