Herald the Night

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It was all hands on deck at the FBI headquarters in the days following the attacks. Interrogations, investigations, field teams, and communications from outside agencies kept Abriella and her team busier than ever as they tried to weed through the information gathered and find some thread to connect it all together. Everywhere they looked resulted in dead ends and defeat. She was at her wit’s end, alongside everyone else who had become a part of the group.

She threw down the latest report with a groan. The ringleader of the Molotov attack at Theo and Connor’s home was a complete waste of everyone”s time. The junkie was barely coherent through his withdrawals, and his background check was just as inconclusive. Houseless, hooked on drugs, and unemployed. As far as she could glean from the transcripts of his interrogation, a tall white man with a beard paid him $500 in cash to execute the plan with his street-dwelling cohorts. The story was the same for every single one of the six men who had been arrested that night.

The Secret Service agents on duty that night offered little assistance. They”d secured the property as soon as the photos Abriella, Luke, and Connor had received were reported. After numerous patrols of the perimeter, they”d taken up post at the exits of the house to stand guard. No one was any wiser to the appearance of a half dozen attackers until it was too late. Zero casualties, limited evidence, and a dressing down by the Director of the Secret Service left the agents dejected and facing numerous accusations of being terrible at their job, half of which had come from her mouth.

They were getting nowhere fast and her frustrations had reached a boiling point. Chasing ghosts in a circle was never a good look, but it was even worse when it was her literal job to find answers and she and her friends were the targets. On top of the job stress, her friends were falling apart at the seams and she couldn”t do a damn thing to make it better. Taz was existing in a gummy candy fueled state of lividity that had everyone giving him a wide berth and Luke considering slipping a sedative into his soda. Lily called out sick every day since the night everything happened. Luke was dealing with Connor”s simmering rage at home, since the damage from the fires had forced Connor to stay with the Gendry family.

Even Elias and Caleb were feeling the pressure, even more so now that Parker had been witness to the fires in addition to the emergency response to the photos. The White House was silent on the matter. Adelaide’s silence spoke loudest of all, and that in and of itself had become a major point of contention for the Cohen-Williams duo. Abriella didn”t blame them one bit for their intense anger. Even without children of her own, she couldn”t fathom not being affected by the violence aimed toward the President”s own children. It didn”t make any sense whatsoever and left them all with rage that had no easily accessible target.

And then there was the issue of Theo and the kids. None of them, not even Connor, had been given the location of the safe house. Connor had screamed at her till his face flushed purple and the veins stuck out of his forehead, but she didn”t have the information to give him. Even if she begged and pleaded with her boss, she wouldn”t have been allowed in on the secret. Connor knew that logically, but the heightened emotions had pushed the already broken man to his limits. Their screaming match had dissolved into tears as she tried to hold all of her best friend’s broken parts together.

A knock at her office door had her sweeping the files on her desk into a pile as she called to whomever was on the other side. Hope had long since abandoned her. She didn”t expect anything good from the person on the other side. If she were lucky, it wouldn”t be more bad news. All she could wish for was no news.

“Garcia, we need you upstairs for an emergency meeting.” Agent Gallagher poked his head around the door with a wary expression. She made a mental note to try snapping less. Her impatience and frustration had been too often unleashed on the wrong target.

“Fine. Maybe we will finally get somewhere.” She collected her phone and keys from the desk and pushed herself to her feet. “You are coming?”

“Yeah, the Director asked for you, Luke, Taz, and I.” The younger agent stepped out of the way and lingered as she locked her office door behind them. For as new as he was on their team, he”d proven himself capable and eager. She wouldn”t claim she trusted him, but she could at least recognize his ability for what it was.

“Let us pray this is not another wasted update about nothing.” Abriella strode through the bullpen with Agent Gallagher, silently lifting up that prayer as they went. More and more, she found herself offering prayers to the saints and angels of her childhood. She’d even stopped at the nearest Catholic Church on a few occasions to light a candle. Her faith had always been a solace. One she kept close to her chest.

Entering the small meeting room a few floors up was like a flashback to the earlier meeting with Director Marissa Robins, except this time the Director of the Secret Service was their special guest. Abriella was only vaguely acquainted with the man, but she took heart in the fact that Connor had always held the man in high regard. Much like her, he didn”t go so far as to give him his trust, but respect was a close second.

“Thank you for joining us,” Marissa said with a curt nod toward the only two empty chairs at the table. Abriella gave a quick, humorless smile to Luke and Taz as she slid in beside them and turned her attention back to the head of the table. “We’ve gotten the results back on the physical evidence and all the reports from MPD and the crime scene investigators.

“There”s nothing new to report as far as the physical evidence is concerned. The only piece that didn”t flag a match with the incarcerated individuals is a partial footprint from the scene, so we”re still looking for at least one unsub. Given the rest of the evidence from the broader scope of our investigation, I”m inclined to believe we’re dealing with more than one.”

Everyone nodded like puppets on a string. Grim expressions all around came as no surprise to Abriella. She didn”t even bother writing down what the director had said. She”d had a gut feeling there was nothing to report before she”d even left her office, despite her prayers for more information. A sidelong glance revealed an incredibly sour looking technical analyst being held in his chair by Luke’s firm hand.

“We”re working closely with the Secret Service to ensure the protection of the targets,” Marissa continued with a nod toward the older man at her left. “I”ll turn it over to Director Moore.”

“Thank you, Marissa.” The man stood, towering over the table with a stern expression. “I”d like to extend my appreciation to the agency for your flexibility and willingness to join forces. For all the friendly competition between our agencies, we have the same goal. On that note…”

The director slid a sheet of paper from the folder in front of him and cleared his throat. “We’ve opened an independent investigation into everyone from our agency present that night, as well as every individual who was let go after the James Locke incident. I”m sure you have also done due diligence, but I”ve provided a comprehensive list of names for your ease.”

“Wow, really ahead of the curve there, Gramps.” Taz’ sarcastic quip drew everyone’s attention, and Marissa’s glare. “No, really. Because we haven”t had all of them under scrutiny already.”

“It’s all right, Mar.” Director Carl Moore set a hand on Marissa’s shoulder before his gaze slid back to Taz. “At risk of sounding trite and offering empty platitudes, I understand your frustrations, Timothy. We’re all frustrated. I can only imagine how you must be feeling as someone so closely involved.”

“Damn straight,” Taz groused. Abriella noted his lack of correction about his preferred name with a smile. “What I want to know is where the fuck we go from here.”

“Understandable. And I wish I had more to offer you today besides a promise to work together.” Director Moore slid the list of names across the table toward Taz. “Between our respective agencies, I”m confident we will find out something soon.”

“I apologize for my partner, but I”m inclined to agree with the sentiment, however off-color the delivery.” Luke reached for the sheet and brought it closer to them. “We’re running in circles. It”s troubling to me that the unsub is alarmingly ahead of us at every turn. I don”t think we’re looking at a former individual. This person or persons is working with information gleaned in real time.”

Abriella surreptitiously glimpsed toward everyone assembled at the table. The room was so silent, a pin dropping would have been loud enough to make her ears ring.

“Yes. That”s why we are all here today.” Marissa settled into her chair and indicated for Director Moore to do the same. She continued in a quieter voice. “Each of you was asked specifically to join us due to concerns about insider information being leaked. Timothy, despite his lack of tact, has been helping me narrow the scope of access and the information that the unidentified subjects are working with.”

She folded her hands over the table and let her gaze slowly move around the circle of faces. “Cell phone numbers for all those who received texts and video threats are listed on the background checks we ran as part of employment and security clearances. The location of the First Children’s home address was added to the Secret Service records as part of their work. This information was uncovered by a sweep of the dark web, so the location was compromised and we responded accordingly. The new location is presumed safe, but we have redacted it from all the records and only the agents immediately responsible for the protection of the targets are aware.”

“So what? Unless you have them on house arrest, someone is bound to see them. Proactive protection is all good and well until some fuck with a cell phone posts a picture with the right hashtag.” Taz snatched up the sheet of paper Director Moore had provided and began folding it into an origami animal. “We’re dealing with something more than this crap here. Do you know how many people”s clearances weren”t pulled after they were dismissed or quit?”

No one answered. Abriella squirmed in her seat with discomfort. She had a feeling she wasn”t going to like the figure Taz had on the tip of his tongue.

“Two hundred people. Two. Hundred. In the district alone.” He made a few more folds on the paper and then sent the origami frog jumping across the table. “Don’t worry, I fixed it for you. But we’re shutting the barn door after every damn horse, cow, pig, and sheep got out.”

Marissa rubbed her hands over her face before settling her elbows on the table. “Thank you. This is a perfect example of the disaster I was left with after Director Fields… retired. We’re running blind and that’s why I need you all. There”s a mess in the FBI and Secret Service. For too long, people have been acting without regard to the values we hold dear. All of you here today are the only ones I trust implicitly to help rectify the situation.”

“Cool, great. All due respect? There’s twelve people at this table right now and three of them aren”t even in the damn Bureau.” Taz pointed toward Director Moore and the two agents who had accompanied him. “New guy over there? I don’t even know his first name.”

Agent Gallagher shifted his eyes and stuck his hand out across the table. “Thomas. Tom or Tommy, if you”d rather.”

Taz eyed the hand and slowly arched his eyebrow. “Cool story.”

Abriella reached behind Luke and smacked the back of Taz’ head. “Play nice, T.”

Begrudgingly, the two men shook hands and the attention returned to Marissa and Carl at the head of the table. The unspoken question hung heavy in the air for a while more before Carl exhaled a lofty sigh.

“I”m glad you two spoke up. It”s not ideal. I really do truly understand the disillusionment. Please believe me when I say I feel similarly. The past can”t be changed, but we can move forward on the right foot. You were all selected because of the proof of your trustworthiness. We’re asking you to help us move forward and do right by what was done wrong.”

Abriella lifted her gaze to the ceiling and sent up another prayer for guidance before honing her gaze on Marissa across from her. “Si. Of course we will help. But we need help in return. Me, my family, all of us? We are stretching too thin. Almost two years now we are dealing with this. It is only so long that we can bend before we break. Director Moore knows about what happens when you push your best people to the breaking point.”

The silence hung even more oppressively over the conference room as all the eyes turned back to the Director of the Secret Service. Everyone knew the story behind Connor’s resignation from the Secret Service. The rumor mill had taken care of the rest of the details. Adelaide Montgomery, through her existence as well as her actions, was a catalyst for so much of the violence that had marked her Presidency. The failure of both the Secret Service as well as the Bureau in stopping the nation-wide wave of discontent and damage was a burden her and her family of friends bore all too much of.

“I am going to say the same to you that I said to Connor,” Director Moore replied with a somber tone. “I”m not going to ask you to trust me. I am going to ask for a chance to prove that you can and leave the decision up to you. All of you.”

“To borrow his words, I’m going to assure you that I am with you in the same way. Trust is not easily earned and even once it is, it remains a fragile thing. Help us with this goal. Trust or not, we share the same vision.” Marissa spread her palms over the table. “All we can do is try. I earnestly believe that all of us here are working toward the same end—we want to put a stop to the madness.”

A murmuring of agreement rippled around the table as the agents all shifted in their seats and cast sidelong glances toward those around them. Abriella wasn”t sold on it. Not entirely. She’d heard too many similar promises that turned out to be pretty words with no substance. Perhaps she was growing as disillusioned and mistrustful as her best friend. Or maybe she’d seen too much damage with too few efforts to repair it. Regardless, her own mumbled assent felt half-hearted and wary.

The fact that she put more belief in whispered prayers to heavenly figures and not the agency she”d sworn an oath to was telling. Blind faith was only appropriate for prayer, after all. She”d never again make the mistake of believing it had any place in dealing with flesh and blood people. The silent words that passed between her, Taz, and Luke as they made eye contact assured her she wasn”t alone in her hesitancy. At least in that respect, she knew where she could place her hard-earned trust. They had earned it in spades. Everyone else? Only time would tell. She wasn”t particularly optimistic.