“By the way, it’s great seeing you again,” Lovell said and then disappeared back downstairs to his desk.
Grimm took a deep breath and got himself settled on the large, white leather sofa. It stood out among the dark décor of the other sofas and made a statement. He bet Channon had picked it out. Like she stood out amongst all the men who Kenneally recruited to work for him.
They came from all walks of the military with varied backgrounds and disabilities that prevented them from holding normal jobs. Some were more screwed up than others. But they had one thing in common. They enjoyed working alone. Which was fitting since the agency was called ‘Lone Wolf’.
He stared at the picture of the forest with a pack of wolves on a rocky hillside. He’d always wondered if their leader had selected that painting to represent the men who worked for his agency or not. Or if he just had a thing for the animals.
Finally, the office door opened, and the man himself stood in the doorway. Tall, late forties, ruggedly sporting a neatly trimmed salt and pepper beard Kenneally looked as if he was still in the military because of the way he worked out every day, but he wasn’t alone. A man similarly built, looking to be ten years his junior was with him and they were shaking hands.
“Here’s one of my men now. Hank Patterson, I’d like you to meet, Grimm Stallings. Grimm, this is the founder of the Brotherhood Protectors.”
Grimm stood and walked over to shake hands with the man. “It’s a pleasure, sir. I’ve heard only good things about you and the men in Montana.”
“The pleasure’s mine. It’s always good to meet other team members,” Hank said. “I won’t keep you from your meeting. Let me know what you think about that project, Ken.”
“I’ll do that.”
With that Hank headed for the stairs and disappeared out of sight.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Come on in, Grimm. I hope your drive over was pleasant.”
“Not bad. The early fall in Virginia is never a bad time to be driving around,” he said, shaking his employer’s hand in greeting. “How have you been?”
“Never better. Glad you feel that way because I’m sending you up to Central Pennsylvania for a while.” Kenneally picked up a file from his desk and handed it to him. “There’s a potential serial killer case being investigated by the Altoona Observer, and the reporter, Quinlan Moynahan, is already receiving death threats. A local private investigator Logan Burrows, who I know from my days in the service, has reached out and asked for me to send someone to help. This isn’t explosives or IEDs which a Radar Intercept Officer like yourself is trained to deal with, but I figured you wouldn’t mind a shift in assignments for a change.”
Grimm grinned, shook his head, and opened the folder. He loved how Kenneally always started an assignment with him this way. Reminding him of his former duties as an RIO, even though he had left that life behind when he was injured in IRAQ when the Hornet F18 he was riding in was shot down while IED hunting. Months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed brought him back to near capacity, but he’d been medically discharged from the Navy. Growing up a Navy brat it hadn’t been easy to swallow this letdown, but when Kenneally approached with a job offer he’d found the idea promising.
He skimmed the dossier in front of him. Read the headlines of the newspaper articles the reporter had written and whistled. “She doesn’t mince words. No wonder she’s getting death threats.”
“Burrows assures me she is ruffling the feathers of more than the local PD. The politicians and judges are not too happy either.”
“Damn.”
“And she claims she doesn’t need protection,” Kenneally added.
“Then why am I even going?” Grimm questioned. “If this woman isn’t going to listen or take the protection being offered then I don’t have the time or the inclination to put up with her bullshit.”
“Because Burrows and her editor believe otherwise, and I think you’ll agree too after looking at that file.”
Grimm was silent as he read more of the file, but he slowly nodded. “Yeah. I do. Nothing worth accomplishing ever came easy.”
“That’s right,” Kenneally agreed. “Channon will be your lifeline when you need her, and I’ll be here as always if you need me.”
Grimm stood, nodding. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Burrows is a friend, and he’ll be in Altoona off and on since he’s working for one of the missing women’s families. So, tap him if you need him,” his boss said.
“Will do.”
Taking the file, he left and stopped only for a moment outside of Kenneally’s office to look in Channon’s direction. She glanced up as if sensing him and smiled, then looked back at her computer display and began working again. He hurried down the stairs and out to his Rubicon. He had many miles to go before he reached Altoona before nightfall. And a stubborn woman who was already refusing to accept his help.
CHAPTER 2
“How didyou dig up so much of this information so fast? I thought you gave me all of what you had the other day?” Quinn asked Burrows as they sat in the conference room at the Altoona Observer with file folders of research in front of them.
“No, honey. I only gave you a taste to get you started. I’ve been interviewing people who knew Barbie Martin on campus and off, and I’ve followed every lead, even the dead ends. This isn’t something I put together overnight. I’ve been working on this since her disappearance. And it’s finally paid off.” He opened his messenger bag and brought out one last folder. “I think this is paydirt here. I believe this is where it all started. We just need to find out who it started with.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
