Their Special Agent

by Mel Gough

  “There!”

  Something white shone through the thicket of green. They had to fight their way through finger-thick brambles and what Carrie hoped wasn’t poison ivy.

  At the foot of a large tree with gnarled, twisted roots lay a body. Carrie scanned their surroundings. Everything was quiet. She didn’t stop Jay rushing to Lou’s side.

  “What’s his status?” For a moment she’d forgotten who she was with. Civilians weren’t good with the technical, often impersonal language that had become second nature to her. But Jay didn’t even seem to notice.

  “He’s breathing.” He ran his hands along the body now cradled against him. “Lou, baby. Oh god. Lou, come on. I’m here now.” He dropped his head and his shoulders shook with silent sobs. “I’m so sorry.”

  Carrie peered ahead. Some branches were still moving in the distance, where Greene had disappeared, trying to lose his tail. Soon there’d be no trace of him.

  She glanced at Lou’s ashen face. His eyelids fluttered and he moved his head a little. She steeled her heart, which wanted to burst from her chest. The best thing she could do was get help to him, pronto. She pulled out her phone.

  “Jay.” Her voice was sharper than she’d meant to. “Get your phone.” For once, he obliged without a dirty look. Carrie checked her phone. She wanted to hurry after Greene, but she didn’t want to leave her phone with Jay, just in case she got into trouble later. “You got reception? How’s the battery?”

  “Three bars. Sixty percent.”

  “Call George. Here’s his number.” She read it out and waited for his phone to connect.

  “Detective Lamar. We found him.” Jay listened, then added, “Half a mile or so southwest of the cabins. There’s a creek, we’re just up the bank from it.”

  Carrie couldn’t help but be impressed. He was a lot better under duress than she’d thought. She touched his shoulder. He looked up and she gave him an encouraging smile. “You okay until help comes?”

  He nodded. She squeezed his shoulder, then turned away, blocking out Lou’s pale face even though her heart was breaking. Her part in this was to catch the perp. It was a wrench to walk away from the two men.

  She hurried through the underbrush. Twigs and vines snagged at her clothes, but she moved as fast as possible. It was strange to suddenly be alone. She could focus fully on her surroundings, not be distracted by keeping an eye out for Jay. The fact that Lou was safe, and that help was on the way, took a load off her mind, too. She pushed away any lingering doubt that he’d be okay. He had to be.

  The desire to be with the two men by the foot of that tree was strong. Focus, dammit. Her distraction was payback for letting herself get involved.

  No longer encumbered by Lou’s quasi-dead weight, Greene could move faster now, too. But it became apparent quickly that that wasn’t entirely to his advantage. Whatever had been his job in the military, stealth couldn’t have been his forte. Even Carrie, with her rudimentary track reading abilities, had no trouble following the clues he left. She stayed a couple of feet to one side of the swathe he’d cut. Something was off about this bull in a china shop behavior. Carrie went slowly, bracing herself.

  The attack came sooner than she’d expected, but Carrie was ready. She might not excel at tracking down criminals in the great outdoors, but her self-defense skills were as good as they got. She’d taught many classes at Quantico, and was confident in her abilities.

  He jumped at her from behind, using the elevation on the side of a wide tree trunk as his launch point. On a lot of male cops and agents—taller, heavier than Carrie—this might’ve worked. But Carrie knew how to use her small size to her advantage.

  Ducking, at the same time lowering her center of mass, she curled up so her back was round and taut. She reached behind and grabbed Greene by the upper arm, which gave him an added impetus as he ricochet off her back with an ungraceful somersault. He landed hard by her feet, winded.

  Carrie straightened. Her heart hammered with nerves and exertion, but the hands that gripped her gun were steady. She pointed it in Greene’s face. “Sam Greene, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Barry Cornell and the abduction of Louis Zee.” She read him his Miranda rights, marveling at the anticlimactic vibe of the situation.

  Greene made no attempt to flee. He glared at her, but he remained curiously passive as Carrie spoke the formulaic words. He seemed almost glad that this was over.

  It was the first time Carrie had seen Sam Greene up close. The resemblance with his twin was there, the same crew cut, the same graying temples. But Sam’s face was more worn, in a way that Carrie recognized. At some point in his life, Sam Greene had been in the grips of a drug addiction. He looked well enough now, but the hollowness of the eyes and the age of his skin were at odds with what she’d seen in Nigel, who, despite his knee injury, had led a less body-ravaging life. It had been a risk to use his brother as a decoy. The bartender, when shown Sam’s picture, might’ve realized that he and Nigel weren’t the same person.

  “Roll over.” Carrie kept her gun trained on him. “And put your hands behind your back.”

  This was the most critical moment when making a solo arrest. If Greene wanted to try something, now was the time. But he did exactly as instructed, and held still while Carrie snapped her handcuffs on him with one hand. She’d practiced that move a million times, but she’d never had to do it in the field. It gave her goose bumps.

  She tugged on his arm. “Get up.”

  He clambered to his feet, nimble despite the cuffs. Her conviction that he was playing along because he chose to grew stronger. Carrie gripped his arm and held the gun in his line of sight, trained at his head. She didn’t think he’d try anything now, but it would be better to focus his resolve.

  She tugged him down the way they’d come. “Walk. And if you try anything, I will shoot you.” It sounded melodramatic in her ears. The tension made the back of her neck prickle, but she managed to hold the gun steady.

  He leered over his shoulder, amused by her posturing. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he drawled. “I don’t wanna be nowhere but here.” His voice was very different from Nigel’s. Their middle-class upbringing had been evident in the former cop’s enunciation. Sam had decided to dispense with refinement. As they walked, Carrie was more curious than ever about his story.

  With many perps, especially those likely to continue committing violent crimes until they were stopped, the internal war going on between the instinctive human urge for freedom and the desire for recognition was a constant source of tension. In very rare cases, a serial killer would acknowledge that he was better off behind bars. But this admission would come much later, once any possibility of committing more crimes had been thwarted by incarceration.

  Was Greene so blasé because his accomplices were still at large, biding their time to cause more mayhem? Or was he just really keen to tell his story?

  As if he were reading Carrie’s mind, he said, “I could’ve killed him, you know? Your little boyfriend? I still could.”

  “Shut up and keep walking.” She nudged him with the gun, not exactly a tactic condoned by the Bureau, but he was testing her nerves.

  He chuckled. “Keep your hair on, sweetheart.”

  Carrie hurried her step, dragging Greene along. She was desperate to get to George. Every moment she was alone with the suspect was dangerous, to her and to everyone who’d be affected if Greene escaped.

  In the distance, blue, yellow and green shapes were moving amongst the trees. Cops and paramedics swarmed around the place where they’d found Lou. The tall form of George was easy to make out. He stood still, looking in her direction. When he spotted her, he said something to the two uniforms by his side and they rushed forward.

  Carrie had never in her life been happier to see a familiar face. She handed over the captive to the two cops, then drew George aside before he could get swallowed up by the procedures.

  “What is it?” He was alarmed by the expression on he
r face.

  “I don’t like this.” Carrie kept her voice low. She didn’t want the other LEOs to hear her unease. “It was too easy. I’ve never seen someone this eager to be caught. We need to round up the band and have them watched twenty-four seven. This guy is playing with us.”

  22

  Before they were clear of the trees, George had dispatched a battalion of forensic scientists and a bomb squad to the Four Seasons. The bands’ rooms were searched and so were Phil’s, Carrie’s and that shared by Ant and Spider. Even though the squad found nothing, the decision was made to move the band to a different hotel.

  Carrie and George had just seen off the ambulance bearing Lou and Jay back to Austin when the call came that Greene’s two accomplices had been apprehended. “Grayson County Sheriffs’ Department has been paying attention to their dispatches.” George sounded surprised. “They caught them in a traffic check on Highway 75 just before they could cross into Oklahoma.”

  “At least something went smoothly.” Carrie rubbed her face. “Listen, could one of your officers drive me back to Austin? I should check in with my boss and file a report.”

  And check on Lou and Jay. She didn’t say that out loud. George didn’t need to know her private business.

  “Sure.” George motioned over one of the young uniforms swarming around the cabins. “You coming down to the station once we’ve booked him?”

  Carrie agreed. It wasn’t her case anymore, and she had no privileges when it came to interviews. But what did it matter? She wasn’t even sure she still had a job.

  She should call Gibbs right away. He’d be furious. An agent who did what she had done could expect only one kind of treatment. Disregarding a direct order from her superior to withdraw from a case meant dismissal. It didn’t even matter that she’d blotted her copy book once before. Even as a first offence this couldn’t have another consequence. But instead of calling Gibbs, she stared out of the window as the young officer drove her to St. David’s Hospital. Her dressing-down could wait a few more hours.

  When she got off the elevator on the ward, Corey and Jay were in the same waiting area by the nurse’s desk as before. They looked up as she approached. Both were pale, their eyes red as if from crying.

  Carrie made for Jay, who opened his arms and enfolded her in a hug. “How’s Lou?” She hugged him as tightly as she could.

  “All right,” came the muffled response.

  “Are you okay?”

  He gave a shaky sigh. “Better now, that’s for sure.” He buried his face against her hair. “Thank you for saving us.”

  She wanted to point out that it had been him as much as her who had done the saving, but Corey touched her by the arm. “The doctor’s coming.”

  The young physician in green scrubs addressed Jay. “He’s stable. You can go and see him for a few minutes.”

  They followed her to the opposite end of the corridor from Lou’s previous room. Carrie was grateful for that change.

  A low keening sound escaped from Jay as they stepped close to the bed. He made straight for the bed. “Oh, baby.”

  Lou opened his eyes. He looked exhausted but his gaze was clear, which was a big improvement from when the paramedics had loaded him into the ambulance. He stretched his uninjured arm out to Jay, who climbed straight onto the bed. Lou pulled him close and Jay hid his face in the crook of his neck. Lou kissed his temple as Jay’s shoulders began to shake, and he murmured quietly to Jay.

  The doctor frowned. Carrie turned to her to distract her from telling Jay off. “Did he sustain any additional injuries?”

  The doctor shook her head. “Nothing major. He was pretty out of it at first. I think the kidnapper used Versed?” When Carrie nodded, she continued, “It has left his system completely now. We’ll keep monitoring his organs, but so far it looks like no damage was done.” She indicated Lou’s right arm, which was bound to his chest again. “There was some bleeding from the laparoscopy incisions. And he was pretty dehydrated. But it could’ve been much worse.” She looked thoughtful. “I don’t think that guy wanted to harm him.” Carrie had the same intuition.

  Her phone buzzed. She pulled it from her jacket pocket.

  It was Gibbs.

  She turned and headed for the door. Corey caught her eye, but she shook her head. She retreated down the corridor, to a niche in front of a narrow window.

  “Sir.”

  There was nothing at the other end for a moment. Carrie’s heart hammered. She wanted to speak, but she wasn’t sure what to say. At last, Gibbs cleared his throat. “Special Agent McDonald, I should come down on you like a ton of bricks.”

  A small noise forced its way from her throat. In all likelihood Gibbs hadn’t heard it, as he continued without pause, “I’ve just come off the phone with the Austin Chief of Police.” He breathed hard for a moment. It sounded painful. “He wanted to thank the Special Agent in Charge personally for sending such a dedicated and accomplished agent to help them with their investigation.”

  Carrie wanted badly to ask whether Gibbs had put the Chief through to Maryam Bradley. Their SAC was a formidable presence, who was fiercely proud of her agents—especially if they brought the Baltimore bureau positive publicity.

  Carrie didn’t need to ask. “I believe Bradley and the Chief are still on the phone.” Gibbs’s sour undertone was unmistakable. “Congratulations, Agent McDonald. I believe when you return we will discuss your next assignment. Baltimore might no longer be diverting enough for an agent of your, ah, skills.”

  Instead of disciplining her, he would promote her out of the way. Carrie couldn’t argue with that. She’d miss working with Susan, but other than that, she had no real ties to the city. She wouldn’t miss the place. A new assignment, in a new location, sounded like a great idea.

  “I understand, sir.” She kept her voice as neutral as possible.

  “We will discuss the details on your return. Make an appointment for a debriefing with my secretary.”

  “I will, sir.”

  He ended the call. Carrie stared at her phone. She couldn’t believe they’d really had this conversation. She was almost ashamed of getting off scot-free. Her conduct been anything but exemplary. She didn’t deserve the strings that George had pulled to get his boss to phone Baltimore. In Gibbs’s place, she would’ve fired any agent who so blatantly disregarded an order.

  On the other hand, she didn’t feel like looking this particular gift horse in the mouth.

  “You okay?”

  Carrie looked up. Corey had come out of Lou’s room and he was regarding her with a worried frown. She nodded and put her phone away. “Dressing down from the boss. He’s not exactly happy with me.”

  “Oh.” He looked upset. “Not surprising, I guess, that you got some flack. It didn’t exactly all go by the book.”

  One day she’d have to tell him all the details, but not now. “Actually, I think it’ll work out for the best.”

  “That sounds intriguing. You gonna tell me more?”

  “Not right now.” She nodded toward Lou’s room. “Let’s focus on getting these two back on their feet.”

  Corey’s expression was hard to read. They would be coming to a crossroads, but neither of them was ready to acknowledge the choices that would have to be made just yet. For now, Carrie wasn’t going anywhere, and they didn’t want her to.

  Corey motioned to her. “C’mere.”

  She stepped into his embrace and leaned against him with a sigh. He held her tight. “You saved him, babe,” he whispered into her hair. “We’ll be okay now.”

  Carrie hugged him, praying that he was right.

  A little later, after checking that Lou and Jay had everything they needed, Carrie set off for the police station. George had called to let her know that they were ready to interview Greene.

  George met her at reception. He was carrying a folder, and led her down a different corridor from the last couple of times. He stopped before a bank of elevators and pressed the down but
ton.

  “Has he said anything yet?”

  “Not a word.” George hesitated. “I wasn’t going to mention it, because I don’t want you to feel obliged to be here, but I think he’ll be a lot more cooperative with you present.”

  George likely had a point. Out in the woods, things had become a lot more personal than she would’ve liked. But she’d formed a connection with Greene, and she’d be damned if she didn’t exploit that to their advantage. And she really wanted to hear first-hand what Greene had to say.

  Carrie didn’t feel like barring her soul before George, however. There were a lot of aspects about this case that made her feel uncomfortable on a personal level.

  “Thanks for getting your chief to call Baltimore,” she said instead.

  George grimaced. “I didn’t want you to lose your job over this mess.” He gave her a sidelong look. “Did it work?”

  “I think so.” George was right, it all was a mess, in ways he couldn’t even fathom. But now wasn’t the time to go into detail. They had other things to do. “When is his first appearance?”

  “He’s scheduled before the magistrate tomorrow morning.”

  When they stepped into the elevator, Carrie noticed for the first time that George seemed to carry himself differently. “You look like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders.”

  George smiled. “I was waiting for you to notice. We had some good news. There was a match with a partial thumb print from the rental car.” His smile widened. “The print was in blood.”

  Relief flooded her. “Great news! So even if he decides not to say a peep, it puts him in the right place for the murder.”

  “Yep.” George looked a good ten years younger. Carrie couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed right away. Then his expression grew thoughtful again. “I just wish I could understand why he did this. It’s almost as if he’d planned to be caught from the beginning.”

  They stepped out of the elevator. Carrie nodded. Strictly speaking, Greene’s motive didn’t concern them. They weren’t prosecutors, and the evidence to charge and—unless Carrie was rusty on her understanding of the legal system—convict for murder was compelling. But she needed to know why he’d done it. “I have a feeling we’re about to find out.”