Chapter Nineteen #3
As they headed toward the two ex-detectives, Elizabeth was watching their body language. Mac had his hand on her cheek, and in that moment, she knew.
“They absolutely are a couple,” she said. “Me thinks I’ve been bamboozled.”
Ivan laughed.
“Yeah, they are. Look at the way she’s staring into his eyes, and he’s inches from her. Friends, even close ones, don’t get that close. I’ve never put my chest that close to yours, mostly because I’m afraid I’ll get cooties.”
She snorted.
Oh, well, the two ex-cops were about to learn a valuable lesson.
Don’t.
Lie.
As she moved toward them, they both stepped apart. That’s when Tora went there.
“I guess our offer to be agents is rescinded too, after that,” she admitted.
Elizabeth shrugged.
“It’s actually rescinded since you both lied to me,” she stated. “Because there’s no way I’m believing that you aren’t banging each other. It’s like people in Holladay think I’m on my second day on this job.”
That caught them off guard.
“Mistake one…When you made coffee for her instead of letting Tora make it when her douchebag boss told her to. I saw you run your hand across her back in reassurance. Mistake two, is that hickey on your neck, when I know for a fact that you both were supposed to be working together last night,” she said, pointing at Mac.
Well, shit.
“Mistake three is that you quit your job when she quit hers, after I watched you about to punch your boss in the nads. Partners are close, but they don’t get punchy feely with their boss’ balls for shits and giggles.
Mistake four is the lovey-dovey looks I just watched go down.
I’m not an idiot, guys. It’s like you think I got this job from blowing men, when I just told you I didn’t. ”
Tora knew they were screwed.
Big.
Time.
“I’m sorry we lied,” she said. “Honestly, it’s a gut reaction to protect what we have. Mac and I have been a couple for about seven months. Most times, it’s frowned upon, and we have to fight damn hard to protect it from men like him.”
She let them explain.
Was she upset?
Not particularly.
She had too much on her plate, to be honest. This was a drop in the bucket, and she understood it. Look at how she and Chris had to lie for years.
“We really do try to keep it out of the workplace, and especially when it can be used against us. Again, I’m sorry, and I hope you can forgive us.”
She was to the point.
“What did you find?” she asked. “Tell me, and I’ll think about how I’m going to handle this.”
Mac pulled out his little notebook.
“We were tasked with the ten people who went into the graves, and we didn’t find anything that was odd. We did notice that one worked for the church. That was the closest we got to unusual.”
Yeah, they had that too.
Elizabeth clued them in.
“We found out about Steph Lewis. Oh, and by the way, she turned up last night in an open casket with her head missing.”
Unfortunately, they heard when they arrived at the station to meet up with Elizabeth.
Tora was curious.
“So it’s tied to the church?”
She wasn’t sure.
Yet.
“What else did you find?” she asked.
Mac shared.
“We sent over the information on Ernie Kotile, and how he has a record.”
She was aware of that, too.
“Good work on that. Tell me what else.”
Mac continued.
“We did a deep dive on Larry Springer, and honestly, there was nothing on him. We did find that he had one major client before he worked for Devon Slater.”
She was curious.
“Who?”
He shared.
“His father. It looks like Devon inherited the man after the death of his father.”
She understood that.
Rich people liked traditions. She knew that Chris used the same attorneys that his mother used. That familiarity made it easier to do business.
“He likely knew him, and felt comfortable with him. Clearly, he should have gotten a new one, because Devon is in this mess because of the council and his lawyer not getting anything done.”
That would have been her cue to cut her losses.
“Lastly, we were given the task to keep digging on that shell company, Sundown Real Estate. Finally, we seem to have reached the last layer to the original owner. It’s a pharmaceutical company that bought into some real estate, and then, it went under.
It no longer exists, so that was likely why they were selling off assets to get capital.
They sold off all of the buildings to get money to pay investors. ”
She was curious.
“Do they tie to this case in any way shape or form?” she asked, just to make sure.
They both shook their heads.
“Not that we saw. That appears to be the dead end. The only thing we could find that they were ruled by a board of trustees.”
Elizabeth knew it wasn’t easy to find a shell company’s controlling board without MATE, so she gave them props for that, BUT that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to double-check.
She’d learned that mistakes happen, and when they did, they bit you in the ass.
A LOT.
It was time to bring out the big guns, and by that, she meant the artificial intelligence.
“MATE,” she said, activating her AI assistant.
When she appeared, both Mac and Tora took a step back because it caught them off guard.
Yeah, that was normal.
Only, before she could go there, the one cop did.
“What is that?” Mac asked.
Because she was the ‘that’ he was referring to, MATE focused on the two detectives.
“Oh, you’re pretty,” she said.
Mac looked confused.
“Pardon?”
MATE stopped him.
“No, not you,” MATE clarified. “Her. She’s pretty,” she said, waving her hand and then looking just like Tora down to her boots, but with MATE’S electric red hair she favored.
Tora gasped.
“Hey! That’s my face!”
Elizabeth sighed.
She didn’t have time for this today. It was looking to be a long one. There were interviews to do out the wahoo.
“MATE, I need you to dig into the pharmaceutical company in the male’s phone. Clone and get to work. Make sure they aren’t tied to our case. They went out of business, but keep cross-referencing everything in my drive as to the suspects to make sure we’re not being bamboozled.”
Mac looked wary when she said that.
“She can clone my phone? Just by being near me?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“She just cloned your partner. Do you need to ask that?” she asked.
Uh, okay.
Elizabeth had a very valid point.
“I’ll handle it, Mother,” MATE said, winking at Tora and then walking around her looking just like the detective.
Mac eyed her up, which was kind of amusing. It was a mix between his girl was in danger, and she was being hit on by a hologram.
It was clear he didn’t know which to be more offended by at that point.
“Go, MATE,” Elizabeth said. “Get that handled, and message me when it’s cleared.”
The hologram disappeared, and she explained.
“It’s not that I don’t trust your ability, but when my life is on the line, and I’m the focus, I don’t like to risk it. In my division, it’s common for a fresh set of eyes to look at something in order to keep the investigation moving.”
Well, that was all fine and dandy, except for one thing.
Tora was to the point.
“So, this is it? We’re done?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“Pack up,” she said.
Tora sighed, but she wasn’t shocked. They’d lied to her, and they were NOT going to be in the FBI—which sucked since they both just quit their detective positions.
“It was a pleasure, Ma’am. I’m going to go work on my resume and see if I can find a job.”
Elizabeth stopped her.
Clearly, they were confused.
“You have a job,” she said. “I keep my word, and you did the work you needed. Will you be partners in my division? No. Not at first. See, I have a problem with lying. That makes me not trust you. So your choices are this. You come to the FBI and work, but on separate teams, until you can prove to me I can trust you, or you can decline my offer, and stay detectives. I’ll give you a letter of recommendation to any department in the country you apply to. ”
That hung there.
Both ex-detectives stared at her like there was a trick.
“Legit?” Tora asked.
She nodded.
“You don’t have to lie to me. I’ve been doing this long enough to read a room. Hell! My Marine knew you two were banging, and they eat crayons for shits and giggles to taste the colors.”
Ivan laughed.
“I like eating the blue ones,” he joked, knowing Elizabeth would get that his wife had the same name.
She just rolled her eyes.
“When you learn that I can be trusted, as your boss and a friend, you’ll work your way back to each other.
For now, separate partners. What happens going forward is up to the two of you, and how you can prove that apart, you’re decent investigators, but together, you’re far superior. I only want superior on my team.”
That was all they had to hear.
Mac reached for Tora’s hand.
“Thank you, Director.”
She pulled out her card, and handed it to them.
“That’s my email. Send me yours, and I’ll send back packets for employment. Once you pass qualifying, which is hella physical, you will be on my team. I suggest you take the next couple of weeks to get in really good shape to pass qualifying. I expect you to be at my standard.”
Ivan cleared his throat.
“She runs ten miles for fun,” he muttered. “Good luck.”
Well, yeah.
Because lunatics could chase her through the woods on any given day, and she had to be able to stay ahead for the long distance.
To thank her, Tora hugged her, and Elizabeth patted her on the back.
“I’m not like your old boss. I’m not the enemy. In my division, we’re a family. When you can figure that out, it’ll all be so much easier. You will need to understand that relying on someone, other than your partner, isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
Tora set her free.
“Thank you, Ma’am, and I can see that.”
Elizabeth focused on Mac.
“Send me your files you created on the research you did. You’ll get full credit when I close this case, but I need to have access for my report.”
He nodded.
“On it, Director.”
Elizabeth glanced over at Ivan.