Page 72 of Flash Freeze

A message came right back. I thought you caught the guy. I was there and everything.

We got him, all right, just not enough evidence to charge him with murder yet.

And you must get that evidence tonight? 🥺

Athena’s heart sank. She would much rather spend the night with Flash and Snuffles than at her desk. The sooner we wrap this the better, and I have plans for tomorrow. ❤️

Flash responded, 🔥🔥🔥, making Athena laugh. Then she read, Do what you do. I’m already falling asleep. I’m off tomorrow, will be here when you get home, ready to go spelunking. 😉

You’re a terrible tease, Athena typed as a tingle ran through her. Love you.

Putting her phone down, she woke her computer and got to work.

Chapter 33

Saturday, February 14

Athena woke with a crick in her neck and an ache in her back. She hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep at her desk while running Mora’s family and associates. Nothing substantial had surfaced. It was still dark outside. She sat up and glanced at the clock. 5:42. Her stomach growled.

She’d forgotten about dinner and gone down to the second floor to raid their healthy vending machine around ten last night, grabbing a protein bar and a piece of fruit, having polished off the last bite of her burrito long before.

Pushing up, Athena stretched, feeling every one of her forty-five years. The bullpen outside was dark and quiet as she slipped through. Paulson must be in the crib. Everyone else had gone home. It seemed surreal to see the situation room in hibernation, with no voices, lights, phones ringing, or the tapping of keys, just an ambient glow and the soft pad of her bootless feet across the tile. Peaceful, she thought.

Athena showered, applied her hair products and makeup, and put on a designer wine-colored silk dress she’d left hanging in her locker. She paired it with black hose and a pair of matching pumps, then took the elevator back to the second floor to snag another protein bar and piece of fruit. John rolled in around 7:30, catching Athena finishing her power breakfast and first cup of coffee.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you so fresh this early,” he commented. “Did you sleep at all?”

“Some.” She blotted the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “I want to box this guy in today so he can’t wiggle out of it. Then you and I are going home and spending Valentine’s night with our significant others.”

Paulson raised the mug of coffee he’d just filled. “I’ll toast to that! Did you make headway at least?”

“Only the usual.” She sighed. “Abusive, controlling father, sad, submissive mother, one sibling under psychiatric care, another killed on active duty in Afghanistan. No wonder he hates authority. His IQ is off the charts, but he’s left a string of alienated friends and coworkers behind. I managed to dig up one ex-girlfriend, and that was from seven years ago.”

“I’ve been thinking,” Paulson said. He pulled up his chair near hers, locked a wheel, and leaned in. “I suspect he started up that private eye business to gain observation skills and to meet members of the criminal underground. Smart guy, he had to realize that to get anywhere he needed to blend in better, learn how to get along with ordinary folks. Then his year and a half, two years off the grid?”

“He spent part of that living with a cousin,” Athena inserted. “Nothing linked him to the address, but he had a bus pass. I called his cousin before it got too late last night, and he said Isaac crashed at his place for five or six months. The cousin didn’t know exactly what he was up to, only that he spent a lot of time listening to podcasts, writing, and going out at night.”

“If he’d started planning his money-making scheme, he might have been making criminal contacts, forming connections,” John said.

“But he couldn’t have known he’d be working for Gulf Allied Chemicals that far in advance.”

John lifted a brow in speculation. “Maybe he did, maybe not, but he knew he’d be working somewhere that he could get his hands on contraband to sell.”

“Good morning, boss!” Agent Ice’s voice was much too chipper for this hour on a Saturday morning. Athena could guess what he’d spent the night doing. “You know, I almost missed my turn. My subconscious wanted to take me downtown to Lieutenant Cash’s building to pick you up.”

“Thanks for the thought,” she replied with less enthusiasm.

The rest of the team trailed in behind him, hanging coats, grabbing coffee, and firing up their stations. “I’d better get back to my office,” she said, rising from the seat she’d occupied. “Time to check in with the lab.”

“Nobody’s called or sent me an email yet,” Bach said as he hovered near Karen’s desk. It seemed his mere presence made her blush. Athena refused to imagine what they might have been up to last night.

“Sometimes they need a nudge,” she replied.

A phone rang, and Howard answered. He sprang from his chair, twisting toward her, as waves of excitement radiated outward from his skinny frame. “A GAC employee just called the hotline, said he witnessed Mora and some guys loading barrels into a strange truck in the middle of the night a few months ago.”

“Why didn’t he say so when we interviewed him?” Bach asked.

Howard shrugged. “Probably didn’t think it was relevant. But the late news report had a short bit about the car chase and Mora being taken into custody. The caller must have seen it too.”