AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rana cocks an amused eyebrow. “Despite your impressive ego, Professor Locke, you’re not the only philosophy expert out there. If you refuse to cooperate with the feds, then your services are no longer required and you can return to the Briar Institute.”
I catch the smug curl of Kallum’s lips before he adopts a somber expression.
When he doesn’t push the subject, Rana plants her arms on the desk. “All right. Now that everyone’s on the same page—” she returns her attention to me “—I need to know if Devyn Childs would flee the area.”
I could deter the manhunt for Devyn right now. She didn’t leave her hometown, but one suggestion to the contrary would divide efforts to locate her.
“I’ll need to see the shafts of the mine to answer that question with any authority,” I say instead.
Rana shakes her head. “There are teams of agents already covering every square inch of the tunnels.”
“You mean, destroying any potential evidence that could be recovered by analyzing the scenes,” I say, and Kallum cranes an eyebrow at my boldness.
Her sigh is heavy, filled with the kind of weight a leader bears. “Find me something useful tonight, and I’ll see what I can do tomorrow, St. James.”
For a moment, I witness her defenses weakening. I can see the strain she’s under in the darkened skin beneath her eyes. “Bringing in Childs is top priority,” she reiterates, her tone a touch softer. “A federal agent was murdered, heinously, gruesomely, in this town. Within forty-eight hours, my superiors will arrive and expect results.”
The impliedor elselingers in the dense air.
Agent Rana is on the figurative chopping block now. The higher ups need somewhere to place blame. Someone has to stand before the media and accept responsibility and explain the tragedy of this case to the public. If Rana doesn’t secure a suspect, she’ll become the one to bear that obligation.
Reading the room, Kallum says, “Someone always has to be the scapegoat.”
“Unless I get some results, I won’t be the only one,” Rana says, her statement edged in clear warning.
Detective Emmons takes this as his cue to exit the office, leaving us in the brewing tension.
Hernandez waits until the door clicks closed before he says, “Is no one going to mention the fucking antler things on that girl’s head? What the hell is going on in this town?”
Agent Rana glances at the door where the detective just left. “Something really wrong,” she says wearily. “As sympathetic as I may feel toward the locals and their plight, we can’t discount anyone here. Childs didn’t do all this alone. She had help.”
The weight of that implication bears down heavy in the small office. This is the angle Hernandez and I have been working since he recovered me in the mansion library.
“The locals won’t talk to men in black suits,” Rana adds, her gaze landing on Hernandez. “They don’t trust the feds or outsiders. So…” She trails off, waving her hand. “Find a way to get them to talk before any more of them lawyer up.”
Hernandez speaks up again. “Demanding to see their heads would connect the antler dots for who’s involved real quick.”
“I think the perpetrator is more hidden,” I say. “They won’t have such extreme body modifications. They have to be the one people trust, who can go undetected.” I shake my head, my thoughts delving deeper. “Tabitha likely doesn’t know much. She served her purpose. While there are probably others like her around this town, I’m not sure what that means.” I glance at Kallum, waiting for him to provide insight on the society angle.
He raises his chin with a hint of stubborn assertion. He’s not just trying to be unhelpful, he’s purposely being obstructive.
I exhale a lengthy breath. “But we’ll look into it.”
Rana nods slowly. “I’m working the inside perp angle with a special sub team. I suspect when we start to close in on this person, it could get volatile.”
I hold her gaze, feeling the abysmal truth of her words, before she dismisses us.
Once we move into the hallway, Hernandez looks my way. “You got to remain on the case.”
I drop my voice as we pass a group of officers. “And you know why that is, Gael.”
He grunts his acknowledgment. “They’re using you as bait.”
“Precisely.”
As the three of us exit through the doors of the HRPD building, the cool night air douses some of the fire still simmering beneath my skin, but only until I reach the back of the SUV and turn toward Kallum.
Noticing the sudden, unstable shift, Hernandez pointedly looks over his suit. “I’ll change into civilian clothing first,” he says before heading off in the direction of the hotel, leaving Kallum and me in the darkening parking lot.
