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“Yes, sir. They didn’t find anything to support the theory that the victim was connected to the cartel.”
“There has to be something.”
Hannah looked down at the notebook and fleet logs. “I’m thinking Tim Jensen was just a wrong place, wrong time kind of thing.”
“Let’s hope you’re right. Regardless, we need to stop this cartel moving up and down the I-95 corridor at will.”
“Agreed.”
“One last thing.”
She waited until the silence scraped her nerves. “Good news or bad?”
“That depends on the perspective.”
Her stomach pitched and rolled, but she knew Maria’s secret recipe would do her no good this time. “Sir?”
“I’m questioning your romantic inclinations, Agent Thalberg.”
“Agent Bartholomew,” she corrected, more than a little offended with the direction of the conversation.
“Exactly my point, Hannah. You married in a very unconventional way. It only gives the prosecutors ammunition about your judgment and Bartholomew’s nature. We cannot relocate a criminal.”
They did it all the time if the criminal flipped on others higher up the food chain. Bart had friends in high places who would surely help him out, but she knew he didn’t have connections within the cartel. “Listen to me. Karl Bartholomew isnota criminal.”
DeVries sighed. “If you’re wrong, you will be relocated without him. Resign yourself to that.”
She didn’t care who was listening. Didn’t care about right or wrong agendas. Her boss was practically announcing a takedown was on the horizon. He wasn’t prone to jumping in without cause and he wasn’t prone to theatrics. Her dedication and loyalty to the job warred with her personal loyalty to Bart, something she’d never anticipated when she’d met him.
She knew Bart was innocent of any wrongdoing, she just had to find the proof. “Why are you so convinced my judgment is off?”
Please give me something, she thought. A direction, a clue, a neon sign with an arrow pointing to the persons involved would be helpful.
“It’s a matter of perspective. I’ve got the bigger picture here and it looks to me like your focus is either blurred by emotions or simply too narrow.”
She ground her teeth together. He’d never spoken to her this way. Of course, she’d never given him cause. He was throwing her under the proverbial bus. Standard, but never a fun part of the process.
“Then it’s a good thing I’m on administrative leave.” She slapped the phone back into the cradle and leaned back in her chair, refusing to let the tears of frustration fall.
Chapter 11
Haleswood, South Carolina
“We have a wedding shower to attend this afternoon,” Ross announced. “Allie and I are leaving in less than an hour, but I want you two up there for support.”
Ross had gathered his team and changed up the assignment in light of the text messages and emails coming out of Bart’s truck stop. His friend needed help, whether he knew it or not.
They were in Eva’s office and he was ready to hand out assignments. “Eva, get me an overhead view of the truck stop.”
“How wide?”
“Ten mile radius.”
Her fingers tapped in a rush over the keyboard, went still, tapped again.
Ross glanced to Rick. “Who do we have in the area?”
“It’s not like the DEA in general doesn’t owe us a favor for plucking that nasty piece of work out of their ranks last fall.”
