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By the time that Brook made it around her desk, Theo and Sylvie’s conversation had all but faded away as they exited her office.
“Sloane,” Brook greeted once she’d set her mug down before reclaiming her chair.
The warmth from her space heater elicited a chill through her body. It also could have been due to the number that she’d recognized on the display of her cell phone.
“Ms. Sloane, do you have a moment?”
“For you, Agent Houser…yes.” Brook leaned back in her chair, deciding to preface something first. “If I recall, we did agree that I had a week to think over your proposal.”
“That’s why I’m reaching out to you, Ms. Sloane. The U.S. Marshals refuse to take part in such a sting under any circumstances.” Agent Houser’s sigh of disapproval came across the line loud and clear. “I couldn’t get them to agree, so I’ll have to go back to the drawing board.”
Brook might have been focused on their current case, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t been mulling over Jacob’s recent actions. She’d jumped to the conclusion that her brother would want to locate Sarah Evanston through her surgeons, but no marshal in North Dakota would have had access to such information. Not unless someone from that specific office had been assigned to Ms. Evanston, which was doubtful.
“The answer to what Jacob was looking for resides in the location. North Dakota isn’t one of the major cities, nor is it a secure data depot, yet it was close enough to the state where Evanston’s half-brother lives.” Brook sat forward and leaned her forearms on her desk. “He was killing two birds with one stone.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Agent Houser stated in defeat. “Ms. Evanston will remain in witness protection, she’ll get the surgeries that she needs, and we’ll be left to figure out another way to apprehend Jacob Walsh.”
Brook didn’t have the energy to think back over their past conversations. He had a tendency to rub it in her face that she was the sister of a serial killer. If she wasn’t mistaken, Agent Houser might be warming up to her. She couldn’t say the same, because she still believed that he was fully in over his head.
Jacob was running circles around him, but it wasn’t like she had much room to talk.
Brook had attempted for decades to locate her brother to no avail. He’d stood in the middle of her condo, and she still hadn’t been able to bring him to justice.
“He’s patient.”
“Excuse me?”
“Jacob is patient in ways that you could never understand,” Brook said as she picked up her coffee cup. Theo had already grabbed his coat and left the office. She hadn’t seen Sylvie leave just yet. “While I do believe Jacob will try to figure out which surgeon has been assigned to Sarah Evanston’s procedures, he wouldn’t be able to surveil each of them. He’d want more information to whittle down his percentages.”
“Like?” Agent Houser prompted, his interest unmistakably piqued. “We’ve already agreed that Jacob would be well aware of the procedures regarding the U.S. Marshals Service. The moment we realized that he’d accessed their computer systems, Evanston was given a new handler.”
“Exactly.” Brook walked past Sylvie’s office, noticing that she’d taken a phone call. “Jacob could very well be gathering every single piece of information in order to connect the dots. Think about it. If I was able to narrow down the surgeons to three in the entire country, Jacob would be able to do the same. If he had a comprehensive list of handlers, he could start weeding through them one by one.”
“Do you know how many handlers there are in the U.S. Marshals Service, Ms. Sloane?”
“What I know is that Jacob would focus on those three plastic surgeons, research exactly what hospitals they worked out of, and then compare that to the handlers’ current locations. And before you give me all the reasons why that would be improbable, you should know that Jacob possesses one thing that you don’t have—patience. My brother has all the time in the world, and he isn’t even giving you one moment of his time. He’s not worried about you finding him or ruining his plans, because by the time you figure out what he is up to…he’ll have already completed his mission and faded back into the darkness. His plans are highly detailed, multifaceted, and in place far ahead of your reaction time.”
“Even if I were to entertain the idea that Jacob Walsh was able to download a list of names from the system, you expect me to believe that he can locate their whereabouts?”
“I suspect most senior handlers have families, don’t they?” Brook countered, reaching for the glass carafe that was on the burner. She’d made a fresh pot of coffee upon returning to the office. There was basically enough for one more cup. Seeing as she planned to be working until well after midnight, she might as well brew up another pot. “Jacob will monitor every single family member of those men and women until he figures out where Sarah Evanston is located. Trust me, Agent Houser. Jacob is always two steps ahead of us.”
Agent Houser fell silent as he took her words under advisement.
“You might as well start calling me Russell.” Another resigned sigh came through Brook’s cell phone. “Goodnight, Ms. Sloane.”
Agent Houser disconnected the call before Brook could respond in kind. She’d do so in their next phone call. Unfortunately, there was no doubt that there would be more on the horizon. That was a given, not that she’d been prepared to be on a first name basis of the federal agent in charge of her brother’s case. She and Agent Houser couldn’t be more different in their approaches to investigations if they tried, but she found herself getting used to the oddity of late.
As a matter of fact, her entire life had done a one-eighty recently.
She somehow had to find time to either stop by a grocery store or have groceries delivered to her condo. She didn’t consider herself much of a cook, but she had memorized her mother’s lasagna recipe back in her teens.
“Heading out,” Sylvie exclaimed from the hallway. “See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight,” Brook called out, finally pressing brew now that she’d prepared the coffee machine for another carafe. “Drive safe.”
She wasn’t sure that Sylvie had heard her parting words.
Brook picked up her topped-off coffee mug before making her way back to her office. She paused just outside the conference room. Having a change of heart, she crossed the threshold and didn’t stop until she was standing in front of the large monitor. She turned it on and stepped back, waiting for the touchscreen to display the latest case files. Once they had the appropriate time to load, she then opened the four files that she had created less than thirty minutes ago.
