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The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “Please have a seat.”
“I’d rather stand.”
“I, um, I’ll be right back.” He went into the office and closed the door.
Jake stared at that door so intently, his eyes watered as he fought the temptation to barge in there and demand the information he wanted. As five minutes passed and then ten, the temptation grew exponentially. He’d taken a step toward the door when the young man emerged.
“He’ll see you, but he only has five minutes.”
“That’s all I need.” Jake brushed past the guy and stormed into Forrester’s office as the USA came around the desk with his hands up. “What the fuck, Tom? What the actual fuck?”
“I can’t discuss it, Jake,” Forrester said in his distinctive New York accent. He looked terrible, as if he’d been up for days. “I’m sorry, and please pass along my apologies to your detectives as well.”
“What do we say to the victim’s parents? They’re calling every day to ask if we have the killer in custody. So far, we’ve been able to say yes, we do. But if we release Bryant, we have much less of a case against the mastermind.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m giving Rachel Fortier’s mother your phone number so you can explain this to her.”
“I can’t tell her any more than I’ve told you.”
“This stinks to high heaven. We find out the kid’s father is a congressman, and the next thing we know, the USA is telling us to release the kid? What’s going to happen when the media catches wind of this? Which they will, because the parents will go public.”
Forrester ran a trembling hand through salt-and-pepper hair.
That’s when Jake realized the other man was scared. “What the fuck is happening, Tom?”
“I can’t.”
They engaged in a visual standoff.
After a long moment, Tom blinked and looked away. “I’m sorry. Please tell your people…”
“Save it. This is fucking bullshit, and when it comes back to bite us in the ass, we’ll tell the truth about what happened.”
“Do whatever you need to.”
“Unbelievable.”
Jake turned and stormed out, brushing past the young man standing outside the door so quickly, he nearly knocked him over. In nearly thirty years on the job, he’d never experienced this level of outrage—and that was saying something. He called Sam.
“How’d it go?”
“I know as much after seeing him as I knew going in, except for one thing. Forrester is scared.”
“Really? He’s the most unflappable person I’ve ever known.”
“That’s my impression as well. Whatever this is, it’s big.”
“Are you going to release Stevens, too?”
“No,” Jake said, deciding in the moment. “We’ll do what we can to make a case against her without Bryant.”
“That’ll be tough.”
“I know, but I refuse to let them both go. The order was for Bryant.”
“A good defense attorney will get Tori’s case tossed at preliminary.”
