Case Wrap Up
ASHA
“What is it that I’m supposed to do?”
You could feel how the air had shifted in the room when I was brought into the FBI offices that had been my second home away from home.
As soon as I arrived I’d been whisked directly to Ori.
I almost didn’t get in the car with the agent he sent until he got on a video call and demanded I bring my ass on.
Well, he knew I wasn’t going to stand for him talking to me like that so I got my ass in the car to curse his existence in person.
We both ended up getting what we wanted.
Now every agent was waiting around stuffed in one of the conference rooms to hear what the next steps were.
DNA had come back and the sketch drawn off of it looked dangerously similar to Christopher Clancy. Somehow strings had been pulled and a warrant issued for his arrest. I could only imagine that Natalie’s father had something to do with it.
I directed the question with a lowered voice toward both Alec and Ori since I didn’t know what they needed me here for.
“You’re going to help us catch whoever this is.”
Ori hadn’t bothered to answer probably still pouting about how I’d told him off when I got here but I didn’t care. Alec didn’t have an issue with speaking to me so I directed my next question to him. “So, like talking with him—”
“Absolutely the fuck not.”
His voice was heavy. Resolute. Final.
He had me fucked up.
“Who do you think you’re speaking to like that?” My voice was still low not wanting to alert anyone to the discourse on our side of the table but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to gather him up about his disrespect.
“You think I’m going to let—”
I choked on the words I wanted to say in order to keep the veneer of decorum. “Let? I wasn’t sure that I’d agreed for you to be my master when I agreed to work on this case with you. You all came to me.”
“And you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.
These people don’t have shit to lose. We bring them in or hunt them down and you think they’re going to care that you’re a woman?
This piece of shit killed a girl and tried to eat part of her.
Her life was ended violently. You think either of us want you to be the next dead body that we have to identify at the morgue?
” His voice almost rose to a level high enough to be considered a normal range.
“O—”
“Nah, ‘cause you’re going to sit here and say I’m being too hard on her ass when I’m not.
There’s a vast difference between studying this shit in the aftermath and having to watch it unfold.
The smell of blood and the coldness of a body when you’re too fucking late to do shit to save them.
Forgive me for not wanting that to be your fate. ”
“I’m more than capable of handling myself. I never said anything about putting myself in danger. And frankly, if you can’t protect me in a room with a serial killer what bloody good are you?”
“She has a point, Nakoa.”
Our heads all snapped up realizing that we’d apparently begun to speak much louder than we’d realized. Our eyes fell on Director Cochran and I was completely embarrassed. I thought to offer apologies but she spoke before I could.
“As it stands you and Alec are going to interview the kid since you’ve already established contact with him.”
“They couldn’t get anything the first time. What makes you think that they’ll be more successful now?” Anderson spoke up and even I felt like he was whining, which was completely unprofessional.
“I normally don’t like having my decisions questioned but since you felt the need to do it—“
“I didn’t mean—“
“Of course you did. Now, as I was saying the reason they’re going to be sent in is because they had contact.
They might rile him. Play bad cop and then have someone else come in and smooth things over.
You see how that works, Anderson?” She stood in front of the room waiting on Anderson to open his mouth again. Something I was sure he was regretting.
“Yes, Director, I do.” His face was tight and I no longer felt as embarrassed since someone else was the target of the room’s attention.
“Now that I’m done being interrupted, Dr. Avery, I need you to observe the interview. Study his body language if you don’t mind. I know you’ll see nervousness or stress but I have a feeling you will be able to parse out the difference between nerves and guilt.”
I nodded bolstered by her confidence and hoping I would prove worthy of it.
“Everyone else we need to go back through his social media accounts and see if there is anything else we’ve missed. We have less than sixteen minutes before he gets here. Everyone, get your shit together so that we can wrap this case up. If he’s guilty, he deserves everything coming to him.”
I did as I was told and stayed behind the glass partition, observing.
I knew that I was going to have to break the rules soon because Ori wasn’t going to get anywhere with the man in front of him.
This man was all too eager to test Ori, to prove that he was the most macho in the room and the mere presence of the two men who were very obvious at the top of the man food chain meant that he would continue to play around with them and not provide any information.
“I need to go in there.”
“I’ve been giving explicit instructions—”
I kept my eyes on the glass ignoring how Agent Anderson attempted to posture in front of me by asserting authority I wouldn’t acknowledge.
“You don’t care anything about that. It’s clear you hope they fail so that you can swoop in at the eleventh hour and attempt to be the hero. I hope you know that there isn’t anyone who will forget the work they’ve put in so why try to eat off of what another man kills. It’s quite pathetic.”
“We are trying to keep you safe—“
I looked at him then because he really was audacious. His arms were crossed and nothing about his body language made it look as though he wanted to be protective or cooperative.
“Oh, come off it. You want me to believe that this bureau founded in a nation that never wanted Black Americans to have equality has suddenly gotten to where you’re too worried about the life of one Black woman?
And an immigrant at that? Never insult my intelligence again by thinking I would believe such a fallacy. ”
“Why would you—” I held up my hand to stop the lying because he was irritating me and I was trying to listen to what was going on.
“Just say that Ori and Alec scare the piss out of you and that they’ve threatened you to within an inch of your life. That much is far more believable.”
“You think I’m a racist or something like that?”
Hello Captain Obvious. I wasn’t even going to honor his comment with a response and changed the subject. “Do you know why I’m here?”
“So that you can help with the case.”
“I’m here because I can provide insight that others miss.
One look at you and I can tell I’m not your favourite person.
Additionally, you hate the two of them because you feel as though their success should be yours.
You positively reek of jealousy and disdain.
” I wrinkled my nose up as I looked at him to make my disgust plain.
“Hold up—”
“Shhh! Do be quiet! There’s no reason for you to deny it because I’ve already observed your behavior. You roll your eyes when they talk and you’ve been shuffling around since you were relegated to stay here and babysit. Why don’t you just lie and say I got away from you if they ask?”
“That would make me look bad.”
I perked up and grinned, since I’d already decided.
“Then I guess you need to concoct your story now.”
I opened the door and took a sharp right into the meeting room where Ori and Alec had been gaining no leeway with the suspect.
All three of them looked up in surprise as I entered the room and I walked in as if I belonged in the room. There was no need to speak to anyone; I was only here to observe. Like I knew he would Ori got back to business as soon as I got comfortable.
“You realize that the warrant for your arrest included a search of your home.”
Christopher looked as though the entire situation were a game. Not because he was innocent but because he thought he had outsmarted us. The smirk on his face wasn’t arrogance born of privilege and thinking he was the smartest man in the room.
He thinks he got rid of all the evidence.
“That’s going to be one hell of a lawsuit when it’s all over.
Especially since you don’t have any evidence against me.
” Christopher casually leaned back in his seat mirroring Ori’s behavior like he was stealing the power in the room from him.
It was laughable, since at best the Christopher boy was an inch taller than me.
Which meant both Ori and Alec towered over him.
“Do you know the most ironic thing about all of this, Christopher?” I spoke up then hoping to break the tension in the room. His eyes widened with interest as he heard me speak and I could feel the fury Ori was broadcasting as he burned a hole in my head.
“And what is that beautiful?”
Christopher sat forward and folded his arms on the table far less arrogant than before.
“Not once in all the time I’ve been observing you have I heard you say that you never did this. Why is that?”
His face broke out into a sweat and I glanced at both Ori and Alec who looked ready to jump across the table to him.
“Because dead men tell no tales.” He grinned but it was with far less condescension than before.
“And again, that’s not a refusal.”
Christopher blinked his eyes and they looked unfocused. I wondered if he’d taken something to calm his nerves in case they requested he do something as archaic as take a polygraph test.
Christopher looked at me, and his body almost vibrated before he coughed. “Is it supposed to hurt?”
It was the last thing he said before his body jerked violently and tumbled out of his chair.