Time to get to it.
Chapter 31
Tuesday eveningin the comfort of her own home, Jane frowned at her phone, not recognizing the number. “Hello?”
“Jane Cannon?” It took her a moment. Her newest “CI,” sounded so young on the phone.
“Christian. Nice to hear from you. How are you doing?” She sat at home, having had one heck of a long day.
A message from Diego had confirmed that Louis Miller’s sister and her family lived in Kirkland but that he’d had no contact with them in years. It had taken Diego longer than he’d anticipated to track it down.
Apparently, Louis had been adopted and raised apart from his younger sister. They’d reconnected at some point then gone their separate ways again. Diego had gleaned quite a bit from the sister’s social media.
Her address had changed a few times. As soon as Diego got a spare moment, he’d track that down for Jane as well. Since the family had already passed, if that video was indeed the sister and her family, Jane didn’t worry that delaying finding her would result in more harm.
Unfortunately, Louis wasn’t much help. He didn’t share muchpersonal content on his social media, just glowing points about Senator Scott whenever the mood struck.
But what really bothered her—Jane still hadn’t heard from Matthew. Earlier in the day, SSA Grimshaw had been complaining about him returning her call a day late. So at least someone had talked to the guy.
She knew he had a lot going on, probably circling around his parents’ possible involvement with the Collective. But he could be better about communicating.
Christian answered, bringing her focus back. “Well, I had a weird night. I just got a new dog.”
Jane sat up straight at the kitchen island, ignoring the frozen veggie mix she’d been about to microwave. “A new dog? Like Bandit?”
“Just like Bandit. But this time, the guy didn’t hide his face. I saw him.”
She described Victor, down to the odd scar at the corner of his mouth.
“Yep. That’s him. He’s pretty scary looking.”
“I know. But you’re all right?”
“Yeah. He left Lassie with me. And he had a message for you.”
“For me, specifically?”
“Yep. He told me to tell FBI Agent Jane Cannon that he looks forward to seeing you again real soon. Those were his exact words.”
“Hmm. He didn’t do or say anything else?”
“Nope. He handed me Lassie and her leash then left.”
“Did you see his car?”
“No. He walked around the corner of a building and disappeared. I didn’t wait around for him to come back.”
“And Lassie? Is anything wrong with her?”
“Nope. She’s fine. She’s a really nice dog.”
“Good.”
“The shelter’s closed, so I’m taking her in with me and Mom for tonight. But I’ll drop her off tomorrow.”
“You’re sure you’re okay? I can come out there and?—”
“Don’t.No offense, but you look like the police. I’m going home, where it’s safe in the woods. You’ll scare everybody.”
