AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He glanced at her. “Did I tell you?”
“No. I dug around. Quietly. Because she hates my guts.”
“She doesn’t hate you.”
“She sure as hell doesn’t like or respect me.”
“That’s not true. While this week is rough, now that she’s back with the FBI, she can move past what happened.”
“Is that how grieving works? Take time off, wallow in pain and guilt, then move past it?”
Matt frowned.
Kara continued. “I’ve lost lots of people. Guess what? You don’t just forget. You think I’ll ever forget what happened to Colton? Or Sunny?” Or any of the other people she’d watched die, by her hand or others. “You deal with it, because if you don’t, you go insane. True, work saved me. Maybe it’ll save Catherine. But her grief doesn’t give her a pass to negate my investigation or informed opinion.”
“That’s not what she did—”
“Yes, it is. I told her yesterday that Madelyn Jeffries was a low priority; she put her as number one. Then today we have a West End specific target and I question whether it’s IP. We don’t have enough information—but she dismisses my analysis. You know damn well I’m not saying someone there might not be involved, just that the history of the organization doesn’t support this specific type of violent act. But when Ryder gets information, she puts Neil back at the top of the list. Then I suggest that I need to dig around on Marcy—not because I think she’s a bomber, but because of something Cal McKinnon said. And she wants to turn a comment into a full-blown investigation. We havenothingon Marcy Anderson foranythingillegal. We blow this, we could blow something big. I know what the fuck I’m doing. I’m following up on everything, doing due diligence, working with the DC office to verify information, but my gut is never wrong.”
“Kara, I trust your judgment but—”
“But? Either you trust my judgment or you don’t.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Call Catherine to the carpet for the way she’s treated me? I’m a cop. Just like you. Just like her. I might not have the rubber stamp of approval by some college or Quantico, but I’m just as smart as either of you.”
“What do you want me to do?” Matt asked, clearly frustrated. “When you and someone else on my team disagree, I need to make a call.”
“Then make the fucking call! Don’t placate me, don’t placate her. Don’t hem and haw because Catherine is grieving, or you don’t want to hurt my feelings. If you think I’m wrong, fucking tell me to my face and give me a damn good reason why you think I’m wrong. I’ll listen. I’m not blind, nor am I deaf. I listen better than anyone because that’s how I survived twelve years working undercover. If I didn’t know how to read the playing field, I’d be dead a dozen times over.”
Matt had never seen Kara so angry. So volatile. How could he convince her that hedidtrust her? That he valued her as a member of his team?
He had read her file. It made him sick to his stomach and proud at the same time.
“To be honest,” he said carefully, “I’ve never had a team of agents who have so much experience. I’ve always been the leader, I’ve never had a problem giving orders. But I have multiple leaders on this team. Every one of you is capable of running this investigation.”
“Butyou’rethe boss. Make the call.” Kara stared at him with her intense blue eyes as if to tell him he should have known that.
But it wasn’t that easy. He respected Catherine and she was an expert in her field, but Kara had a sixth sense when it came to crime. He’d never met anyone whose instincts were so honed. Because they had to be, he reminded himself. She’d be dead if she couldn’t rely on her gut. That unnerved him.
“We have a killer on this island,” Kara said. “Someone with no remorse for killingten people. But this person is also a coward. They use bombs. Because they get their rocks off watching the explosion? I don’t know. Garrett Washington was in the wrong place at the wrong time—he wasn’t a target. Maybe the killer intended to take out one of the Colfax family. It was their dry dock; Ted said himself that he does a lot of the boat work. What if he blew it early because the guard surprised him? Are we dealing with a smart bomber or a lucky bomber?”
“Michael is on top of that angle. I trust him.”
“Of course you do. This is his wheelhouse. He knows exactly what to do and what to look for.”
“Then what’s with the tone?”
“Because you need to show me similar respect that I know what I’m talking about. I’m not going to dig into the whys and what-fors that Catherine does. She knows what makes these killers tick. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why people do the shit they do. But when it comes to reading people, to observing, I’m the best.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t apologize, Matt. I just want you to do what you do best. I’ve only known you for a few months, but I’ve never seen you indecisive. You usually make the right call. But you make the damn call and take responsibility if you fail.”
“Fail?” He smiled. He wanted this: the conversation, not the anger. He needed to decompress. Talking with Kara, seeing her, being with her, helped him, especially after a day like this one had been.
“You pretty much admitted you don’t think those kids, Craig and Valerie, set the bombs,” said Kara.
