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Brook understood that lawyers had a job to do, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Still, she returned his handshake. Nathan Dante clearly wanted nothing to do with her, so she turned on her heels and gestured toward her office.
"Can I get the two of you any coffee? Water?" Brook led the way, leaving her office door open so that neither man believed she would want to keep their conversation private. There wasn't a chance in hell that she was allowing either man near the conference room, so her office served a two-for-one purpose. "Please, have a seat."
"I think we're good in the beverage department," Mason replied, seeking Nathan's agreement. They both took a seat on the couch with the lawyer setting his briefcase down next to his leg. "My client is curious as to why you believe he would have anything to do with murdering Kelsey Elliott. As far as we are aware, someone has already been convicted of her murder."
"While it is true that the case involving Kelsey Elliott has been reopened, along with six other investigations that are under the jurisdiction of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, we are still in the very early stages of sorting through the mistakes made during the initial investigations and subsequent trials," Brook explained as she made herself comfortable in the black leather chair. "If any of the NCIS agents or my firm had evidence of Mr. Dante's involvement in any of these murders, I can assure you that we would not be sitting in my office discussing his involvement. I guess you could say that the phone calls made from my office were made in an effort to eliminate any chance of your client's possible involvement."
"Eliminate? I should sue you for tarnishing my reputation," Nathan exclaimed in anger. He leaned forward until he was sitting on the edge of the couch, brushing aside his lawyer's attempt to keep the conversation civil. "Do you even know what it is that I do or who I work for? Do you know who my father is? I could have this place shut down by this afternoon. You're the sister a fucking serial killer. What gives you the right to—"
"I'm going to give you a pass on your inability to control yourself today, Mr. Dante," Brook replied evenly, a part of her feeling sorry for Mason Cooper. It couldn't be easy trying to keep others to maintain control when they didn't even have the ability to bite their tongues when it was in their best interest. "I can understand why a few phone calls might have been upsetting to you, but we were doing our best to be discreet."
"Discreet?" Nathan practically spit as he repeated her. "You—"
Mason Cooper had been rubbing his forehead in frustration, but he finally reached over to put his hand on Nathan's shoulder.
"Don't say another word," Mason warned him, going so far as to pat the man's back. He then lowered his voice even more, if that was possible. "You agreed to let me talk, so allow me to do my job here."
Nathan sat back on the couch with a little more force than necessary, causing Brook to second-guess this man's intellectual age. He was acting more like a sullen, spoiled teenager who was being accused by his parents of sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night.
"We feel that the person of interest in this case attended several of the funerals, and Mr. Dante's presence in four of them over the last five years raised a red flag or two," Brook revealed in an attempt to damper the flames before this visit turned into the frivolous lawsuit Nathan had previously mentioned. "Considering who he works for and his contribution to our country, I attempted to go through some back doors to cross his name off our list. I won't apologize for attempting to give back the lives of seven men or the closure to those families still waiting for justice to be served. If your client is unhappy with the way in which we are conducting our inquiries, I suggest your client avail himself to the courts in seeking a remedy. We will be here tomorrow, the day after that, and so on until I decide otherwise."
Brook left out the fact that Nathan's father was a powerful man with even more powerful friends, but even he had his limits. Who Nathan was related to had no bearing on the case. She wouldn't have given a hot damn if he'd been the son of the President of the United States. If Nathan Dante was guilty of murder, then she would see to it that he was put behind bars for the rest of his miserable life.
"The sole reason that we are here is to cooperate with you so that there is no doubt that my client had nothing to do with Kelsey Elliott's murder," Mason explained, relaxing a bit once Nathan didn't react carelessly and go on another tirade. "As I'm sure you are aware, Ms. Sloane, for such a large community, we can be rather small knit. Captain Dante heard that other investigations were about to be reopened by NCIS, and he thought it best that his son get in front of any other questions that you may have. The Dante family is revered in these social and business circles, and he would like the family reputation to remain intact. As such, we are more than willing to provide you with alibis for any dates in question."
Brook heard what the lawyer had to say, but her focus had been on Nathan. His demeanor had changed after hearing her response, almost as if something she'd said had triggered a memory.
"Mr. Dante, you attended Kelsey Elliott's funeral, along with those of Melanie Harlock and Lori Snyder. You were also in the areas in question at the time of their murders. I realize that you have business on certain bases in the country, which is why we haven't given a list of names to all the NCIS agents involved," Brook explained, speaking directly to Nathan. Mason could play the referee all he wanted, but they would get to the point a lot faster if she could ask a few simple questions. "There are several people who we would like to question, but we want to ensure that we have the facts, which is why I made a couple of discreet phone calls first."
Mason appeared as if he wanted to once more tack on that the phone calls hadn't been so discreet, but she ignored him when Nathan met her gaze with less hostility than before.
"You must have a long list, because a lot of us in the community went to those funerals. A lot of our families socialize at military events, but there are also a few civilian contractors who've become good friends with those they work with," Nathan explained as he rubbed the back of his neck. Something was bothering him, because he'd reacted twice in the same manner when she'd brought up the funerals of the victims. "General Elliott and my father were in Iraq together. I don't know the man well, but our family decided to pay our respects, as was expected. As for Melanie and Lori, my mother is friends with their mothers. Again, it was expected that we attend. My father was out of the country at the time, so she asked me to go with her. As for alibis, you tell me the dates that you're interested in, and I'll make sure you have my whereabouts as best as I can recall them. In return, you instruct General Elliott to spread the word that I had nothing to do with his daughter's murder. In fact, I'd also like it to be known that I'm helping your investigation to locate the real perpetrator."
Brook didn't appreciate ultimatums, especially from such a privileged boy.
"General Elliott is being kept apprised of our investigation, just as he would be if he were any other client. He is aware that we are taking the same approach on this case as I would have had I still been under the employment of the FBI. Your father was the one who reached out to General Elliott." Brook paused long enough for Nathan to accept that she hadn't declared all-out war on him. "You come from this social circle, Nathan. You understand more than most how delicately I must move around the families involved in order to obtain the answers that I seek. It would certainly go a long way if I had someone of your stature to help me navigate my way through these treacherous waters."
Brook hadn't initially seen the conversation going in this direction, but there was something about his authentic reaction that had her changing course.
Nathan glanced at his lawyer, who nodded his approval.
"Who are the victims?" Nathan asked with caution, still unsure of how much he should trust her. "I already know that Kelsey Elliott, Melanie Harlock, Lori Snyder, and Christen Brooks are on your list. I also attended a few other funerals for military members in the last five years, come to think of it."
"Jenna Spencer, Tanya Russell, and April Chartier."
Brook had been studying him very closely, searching for any signs that he was playing with her. There had been a very good chance that she'd revealed quite a substantial amount of information, but with the NCIS agents already in the process of reopening their investigations, word had probably already spread like wildfire.
"I don't know the Spencers very well, so I didn't attend that funeral," Nathan shared with a frown, something still on his mind from earlier in their conversation. "I also wasn't acquainted with the Chartiers."
"Someone went to one or more of the funerals who you found out of place," Brook surmised, hoping for some feedback about either Isaac Ambrose or Les Snyder. She was leaning toward Isaac Ambrose, because something wasn't sitting right with her regarding Lori's brother. Her unsub had initially used the classified military project as some sort of justification to start killing, which meant he had formed some semblance of attachments to their loved ones. It was doubtful in her opinion that the unsub would be able to justify murdering one of his own family members. "And that specific someone went to the funerals that you didn't attend, but you somehow became privy to the information. I'm guessing in casual conversation with someone you know. What name flashed through your mind earlier, Nathan? I'm imploring you to help me with this investigation. Give me a name."
Nathan cleared his throat a couple of times as his previous anger and resentment at her dissipated.
She had finally gotten through to him.
"Daniel Snyder."
Brook refrained from reacting to the name. Daniel Snyder not only didn't fit her profile, but he had alibis for two of the murders. Solid alibis, at that. He also hadn't attended one of the funerals, but his brother had been to most of them.
