Chapter 3 #4
Ryan set his cup aside and picked up the first map.
“Well, Schaffer. We’re looking for a cemetery close to a nursing home or medical resource for the elderly.
Some kind of facility that provides assurance or support of some sort.
Could even be a bank or a security company that supplies home monitoring.
” He gave her a look that said she knew as much as he did. “Could be just about anything.”
She nodded her understanding and grabbed a couple of maps. As she strode to an empty chair, her hot-pink cowboy boots snagged his attention. The charcoal suit was classic, the boots a definite challenge to the establishment. She probably kept these guys walking the line.
Before diving into the maps, he asked the room at large, “Where’s Worth?” He needed an update on whatever the man was able to get from Alyssa Byrne’s father. That information could impact what they were looking for.
All present glanced up, but Grace was the one to answer. “Worth is in his office preparing to question Alyssa Byrne’s father. He’ll brief us as soon as he has anything. ASAC Hoyt Talley is coordinating the backup we may require with Birmingham PD’s liaison.”
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Talley was the only one Worth hadn’t left with Ryan. The boss had to have someone to order around.
“Good,” Ryan said, though Grace had already returned to her map search. That left him wondering what to do next. He kept waiting for those old instincts to kick in, but they just kept holding back.
For several lingering moments, he watched the interaction in the conference-room-turned-command-center.
One thing quickly became clear: The guys gave Grace a wide berth as if they didn’t want to risk crossing her.
He would have to catch her in a weak moment and ask her why.
He had her tagged as an ice princess, but the jury was still out on that one.
Maybe she just didn’t know how to do the team thing.
That was a personality defect with which he was intimately acquainted.
Maybe they had something in common after all.
Right now he needed to lose himself to the process . . . and find that little girl.
An hour passed like a minute with the shuffling of maps and the tossing back and forth of building names and purposes.
“Wait.” Ryan hesitated on one map in particular. “What’s this?” He tapped the image of the various buildings in the distance beyond a downtown cemetery.
Grace listed several business names, none of which struck a chord with Ryan. “What about this one?” He gestured to the structure that had snagged his attention.
Schaffer moved in to get a better look. “That”—she pointed to the building in question—“I believe, is the Social Security Administration.”
“That’s correct,” Davis chimed in, his fingers running over the computer keys. “Employs three hundred fifty people.”
“Oak Hill Cemetery is a historic landmark barely a block from here,” Grace said, leaning past Ryan to get a better look at the map. “It was the first cemetery in Birmingham proper.”
Ryan’s long-slumbering instincts suddenly roused. Would the unsub have the balls to use a cemetery that close to the very authorities he was baiting? Judging by his actions thus far, that was an affirmative.
If the location was even a cemetery. For now that was a hunch, the only one they had. He could be wrong. The term stiff as used in the email might not carry a double meaning as many of the other phrases obviously did.
“Cemetery’s on a hillside?” he confirmed with Schaffer as he traced the highlighted area on the map.
She nodded. “It certainly is.”
It all fell into place as if the answer had been typed in big bold letters in that email. He tapped the map again. “That’s it.”
Grace chewed on her bottom lip a second, distracting him when he shouldn’t have been distractible.
“How can you be so certain?” she countered. “This seems too easy. Sure, the Social Security Administration provides a form of assurance to the elderly, and maybe Alyssa Byrne’s father isn’t paying as he should, but we can’t be certain.”
“Don’t forget,” Pratt piped up, “our unsub said ‘where hundreds can see.’ The SSA employs hundreds.”
Grace exchanged a look with Pratt as if she didn’t appreciate that he had challenged her assessment.
“You said Byrne owns a construction company,” Ryan said to her, his certainty solidifying in spite of her questions.
“Two of them,” Grace confirmed, still seeming unconvinced.
“It wouldn’t hurt to look into how many off-the-record folks he employs,” Schaffer offered, looking from Grace to Ryan.
Taking that ball and running with it, Ryan pressed, “Does he pay Social Security on every employee?” When Grace still looked skeptical, he tacked on, “This is the best lead we have based on the clues we were given. Unless we get something else, that’s where we go.”
Grace turned to Schaffer. “Can you nudge Worth to question Byrne about his hiring practices?”
“ASAP.” Schaffer strode off to get it done, her boot heels tapping against the floor.
Ryan glanced at the clock on the wall. The hours were counting off way too fast. The urge to make a move was palpable. “I don’t want to wait,” he said to Grace. “Let’s go. Pratt, Davis, and Aldridge can rendezvous with the Birmingham PD team and meet us there.”
“What if this turns out to be a wild goose chase, McBride?” Grace asked, caution and inexperience making her hesitate. “Is there a backup plan?”
He picked up the map for Oak Hill Cemetery. “Then we’ll do whatever we have to. That’s our backup plan.”
“I have to give Worth a heads-up.”
“Do it.”
Maybe this was too easy. Maybe he did have it all wrong. But there was only one way to find out.