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By the time Brook had slipped into a pair of dark blue jeans and a cream cowlick sweater, a casual outfit that she'd never worn to the office but was more conducive to the outdoor weather, something that was said earlier in the day had her pausing from reaching for her dress coat. Wishing that she was standing in front of the white boards at the office, she made due with the wall that she'd dedicated to Jacob.
Colored strings were wrapped around tacks holding pictures and articles into place against the dining room wall. It was visible from almost every aspect of her condo. She concentrated more on the strings than anything else, replacing the information available to what she'd memorized from the conference room.
Every single lead throughout the entire investigation had led them to the Snyders. It seemed to have ended with them, too. Les was about to spend his entire life behind bars if they didn't capture their unsub, leaving the Snyder family reeling from yet another loss.
She'd ruled out Nick Dorn from being the unsub based on her profile.
She had to trust her profile, which meant that Dorn had simply been a scapegoat.
A very convenient and handy scapegoat who was most likely...still alive.
While there were some unsubs who went against their core nature to survive, this unsub was all about vengeance on the fathers' role in the military. The first few were clearly related to Project Grey Skies, but the others had been part of other missions that might not have gone according to plan.
While that was something that Bit could look into under the radar, they were running out of time. Derek was still sitting in a holding cell, Les Snyder was in the same boat, and Nick Dorn was being held somewhere that should he die...the unsub wouldn't experience the guilt of being the one responsible.
Only the unsubhadmade a mistake.
She simply hadn't caught it at the time it was being made.
"Got you," Brook whispered to herself as she quickly gathered her belongings, making sure she had her cell phone in hand. As she locked the door to her condo behind her, she wasn't so distracted that she forgot about the single strip of tape. She dialed Bit while reaching into her briefcase for the roll that she always kept in the front pocket. "Bit, I need you to go back through the injured parties of Project Grey Skies one more time. I believe that I know the identity of our unsub."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Brooklyn Sloane
January 2022
Wednesday — 11:26pm
"Whatareyoudoinghere?" Brook asked as she shook her head in disappointment. One, she didn't have time to update him on everything that had happened today. Two, she was freezing after walking the two blocks from her condo building. "Graham, now isn't a good time. I know that Brenda Snyder has probably been ringing your phone off the hook, but trust me when I say that we have things well in hand. Please go be with her, show her your support, and I'll keep you updated on the case as things unfold."
Brook had not only called Bit with instructions to search through the injured parties of Project Grey Skies, but she'd also touched base with Adrian. He and Ingram were still at the station. There was no doubt that he would want to be a part of what happened next.
All she needed was time to verify her theory before having him pull the trigger on her plan. She didn't care who pulled the proverbial trigger, and it might go a long way in establishing a working relationship between S&E Investigations and NCIS if they were allowed to make this arrest.
"This isn't about the case."
Brook quickly walked through the first of the double entry doors in order to escape the cold. The precipitation had already turned from random flurries to a steady downfall of snow. She hadn't had time to appreciate the beauty, and her facial features weren't thrilled with having gone numb a half a block into her walk. The winter boots that she'd purchased had been well worth every single penny that she'd spent on them.
Upon hearing the intensity of Graham's words, she stopped herself from opening the second door. The overhead heater of the small area suddenly couldn't chase away the chill that had nothing to do with the cold weather.
Brook didn't consider herself a coward by any stretch of the imagination, but something told her not to turn around. Maybe it was because she didn't want Graham to witness her reaction to what he might have to say in the next few minutes. She'd been studying him at each of their meetings and monitoring his voice, his mannerisms, and any tells that he might have. He only ever used that particular tone when discussing her brother.
Had Special Agent Houser actually done what she couldn't?
Had Jacob been apprehended?
Or had her brother gone and taken another life? He'd been dormant for so long, and then it was as if the gates to the dam had been forced open. The discovery of the body in Maine, his reminder to her that he was still lurking in the shadows, and then proving to her that not even a neighbor of hers was safe from his reach.
Maybe that was it...he'd gotten bored with hiding in the shadows.
Had he gone on another killing spree like the one in Illinois?
"Well?" Brook asked, though she could barely hear her own voice. She cleared her throat and then forced herself to turn around to face him. She was already attempting to compartmentalize everything that had happened today, and there was a damn good chance that she could solve one of their problems. Whatever he was about to say wouldn't change what happened in the next hour or two. "What happened that would bring you downtown this time of night?"
Graham practically raked his gaze over her face several times, as if he was gauging her strength. She tried not to be insulted, but she failed miserably. Right when she would have snapped something that she most likely would have regretted at a later point, he finally responded to her inquiries.
"Jacob was at the house today."
