Chapter 5
Parker
Before I knew it, I devoured the entire thing, then brushed the crumbs off my hands before wiping them on my pants.
Checking for any remaining traces of melted chocolate, I noticed the small cuts I had made in my palms earlier and grimaced.
They would heal quickly, but in the meantime, a small amount of dried blood remained.
I fished around in my satchel looking for a bottle of hand sanitizer that I always kept there.
I flipped open the cap and squirted a small bit into my palm, already hissing at the stinging.
I closed the lid and dropped it in my lap.
“Ow, ow ow,” I chanted under my breath as I rubbed my hands together.
It stung like a bitch. Once I had ensured that I had thoroughly doused my wounds with the hand sanitizer, I shook my hands in the air to dry them.
I blew on the cuts in an attempt to soothe the stinging away.
I only waited for a couple more minutes until the front door opened again, and all my coworkers stepped outside.
When the door to the van opened, I glanced over, expecting to see Monique.
Instead, SSA Walker climbed into the seat next to mine.
He gave me a nod, then called out to the driver.
“We’re ready to head to the police station. ”
With a nod in acknowledgment, the driver started the vehicle and pulled out onto the road.
Somehow, I had forgotten that he was even there; he had been so quiet.
As we began moving through town, I turned to look at my team leader, expecting that he probably had something to say since he’d chosen to ride with me instead of the other van that he had originally been in.
“I’m sorry about the bed-and-breakfast,” he began.
“I wasn’t aware that there were only four rooms when I agreed to let you come. ”
“It’s fine, really,” I reassured quietly. “I understand that I was a last-minute addition.”
He cleared his throat. “About that,” he began, “I did you a favor by allowing you to come. I understand how fucked up the rules can be when it comes to needing experience to join a field team, while at the same time being unable to join in order to gain that experience.”
I nodded my head. It was like that with many different types of jobs. “There is one thing I need from you,” he continued, and I felt my posture stiffening at his words. “Relax,” he gave a little chuckle. “While you’re a beautiful woman, I don’t take advantage of my subordinates.”
Though the way he eyed me up and down would suggest otherwise, making me instinctively lean back, trying to put distance between us. “I wouldn’t be opposed to a mutual relationship.”
He left the words hanging heavy in the air between us.
I fought to keep my reaction hidden. I understood the male ego.
If I outright rejected him or indicated that he was never someone that I could be physically attracted to, I didn’t want to face any backlash.
He literally held my career in the palm of his hand.
One word from him and I could spend the next 20 years doing a desk job or in some remote field office doing grunt work and dealing with petty crime cases instead of my dream of putting serial killers behind bars.
I needed to hunt them down like the monsters they were.
I did my best to keep the grimace out of my smile and kept the grip I had on my thighs loose, even though I instinctively wanted to clench my fists. It would be a disaster if my supervisor were able to read the disgust and anger I was trying to hide.
“Thank you, sir,” I said softly. “That’s very kind of you.
I think at this time I’d like to concentrate on my career since it’s barely getting started.
This job is very important to me.” I looked him in the eye, knowing that he’d be able to see the sincerity about my career goals, even if I was lying through my teeth about being flattered.
“Though I do appreciate the offer. I’ll certainly keep it in mind.
” No, I would not. I stressed in my mind.
I planned on staying single for a very long time.
He gave a thoughtful nod as he seemed to be cataloging all my microexpressions.
As a profiler who had a decade on the job, the man was experienced enough to see reactions that a person believed they had hidden successfully. All I could do was hope that with my training, I wasn’t giving away anything but what I wanted him to see.
“All right, Special Agent Parker,” he finally said. “I can certainly understand and admire your position. As I said, I don’t take advantage of my subordinates.” I gave him a nod and what I hoped appeared to be a grateful smile. “But if you ever change your mind…” he trailed off.
“Yes, sir,” I answered quietly, struggling to hold back the eye roll that threatened to break free.
“And,” he continued, making me want to heave in exasperation that he wasn’t dropping the fucking subject already.
“Everybody has needs,” he said suggestively.
“If you need to have that itch scratched, just know that I’m here. ”
I deserved a medal for the restraint I was exhibiting.
It took every ounce of self-control that I possessed to not punch him in the throat. His words felt almost dirty against my skin. I’d never felt the need to scratch any itches, and I wasn’t about to start now. Not with him, that was damn sure.
“I appreciate that, sir. Thank you for the offer.” I couldn’t bring myself to smile at him again.
It was one thing to let him down easy when speaking about a relationship, but being offered sex and being treated as if I was a hole he’d be willing to fill as a favor had rage flowing through my veins.
“Okay, enough of that for now.” His tone changed to one I was more used to hearing from him, and I knew he’d switched back into supervisory mode.
I felt some of the tension start to ease out of my stiff muscles.
“I expect you to be at the station every morning. You will not leave until you’re dismissed in the evenings. ”
I readily agreed because I had common sense.
“I will be checking out this Detective Nakamura,” he said. “I don’t want one of my agents put into a harmful situation.”
“I understand, sir,” I agreed.
“I feel responsible for you,” his tone went soft again, making me want to growl in frustration.
I answered just as softly. “I get that, sir. I do. You’re my supervisor. But,” I stressed, “just know that I have the same training as the rest of you. I am capable of protecting myself.”
SSA Walker didn’t answer. He just kept eyeing me until the van came to a stop and the driver called out from the front seat.
“We’re here, sir.”
After giving me one more long look, Supervisory Special Agent Walker opened the door and stepped out into the sunshine.
When he closed the door behind him, I expelled a gust of air from my lungs, thankful that the tense and awkward confrontation was over with.
I had a feeling that he was not going to let the subject of a sexual relationship go easily.
We would eventually circle back around to it, I was certain.
From what I had observed about the man, he was very hardheaded and determined, which made him good at his job, but did not bode well for my continued rejection.
After unclipping my seatbelt and grabbing up my satchel, I opened the door and stepped out to join the rest of the team.
We headed inside and stopped at the front desk to sign in as was customary.
Before SSA Walker could introduce himself, the officer manning the desk stood up and stuck out his hand. “Supervisory Special Agent Walker?”
My team leader nodded, then reached out his own hand, giving the other man a firm handshake. “Yes, that’s me.” He waved with his other hand to the rest of us standing behind him. “This is my team.”
“We’ve been expecting you. Welcome to Selene, Texas. If you’d like to step through that door and follow me, I’ll take you to the Chief’s office.”
SSA Walker gave a sharp nod and walked over to the door that was immediately opened from the other side.
As we all walked through the police station together, I glanced around, taking in the local law enforcement.
Unfortunately, it was expected that visiting FBI agents would receive some misguided hostility from local law enforcement.
During training, we were advised that we might occasionally encounter law enforcement that didn’t take well to the FBI coming onto their turf.
They mistakenly expected us to walk in and automatically take over their cases.
Many assumed that the FBI would keep them from the investigation.
Instead, our job was to complete profiles and study the case files.
We weren’t there to take over. We played a more supportive role in most cases.
Unless the police force didn’t have the capability to do it themselves due to a lack of training or staffing, we were merely advisors.
Looking around at the small station, they seemed to be well-equipped and well-manned.
We would just have to wait and see how the whole thing played out.
Eyes followed us as we trailed behind the officer from the reception desk.
He led us past a maze of desks until we reached an elevator at the back of the room.
We waited as the officer stopped in front of the lift and pushed the call button.
Once the doors opened, each of us slid in and waited quietly as he pushed one of only two buttons.
“I would just like to say,” the officer began as he looked over his shoulder, eyeing each of us. “Not everyone will be happy that you’re here, but I, for one, hope that you can give more insight into this case. That bastard needs to be nailed to the wall.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” my team leader said diplomatically.
The doors opened after the brief ride, and we stepped out into a scene similar to the one downstairs.
Desks were lined up sporadically in the center of the floor, and offices lined the walls.
Closed doors concealed more private spaces, generally for supervisors.
Larger rooms were meant for meetings or task forces like ours to work on high profile cases.
Anything that needed larger teams and more eyes.
Instead of heading to one of those rooms, we were led straight to the back.
There was an office that was mostly windows overlooking the larger room.
A brass plaque hung next to the door and read: Chief Ethan Hardgrove.
The officer who’d been leading us through the station gave a quick knock on the door. There was no hesitation as the voice on the other side called out, “Enter!”
Our escort turned the knob and swung the door open, then gave us a nod, indicating for us to enter before him.
Once again, I found myself in the back of the group, observing as everyone piled in.
There were two uncomfortable looking plastic chairs in front of the massive desk, with piles of paperwork covering most of the scratched and stained wooden surface.
Framed awards and commendations lined the walls, and family photos sat on shelves behind the Chief of police.
He was an extremely handsome man in what appeared to be his mid- to late 40s, possibly early fifties.
He carried it extremely well. He was wearing a black button-up with the top two buttons undone and his dark red tie loosened.
My first impression was that the man took his job very seriously—and that he was also very stressed.
With the way his thick, dark hair was sticking up in spikes, I’d wager the man had been running his fingers through it for quite some time.
It didn’t take a profiler to guess that it was from extreme agitation.
There was a streak of gray along both temples, adding to the overall appeal of the police Chief.
If Silver Fox had a definition in the dictionary, his picture would have been next to it.
He stood to greet each of us, reaching out to shake everyone’s hand, not just our team leader’s, which I appreciated.
He looked relieved and genuinely grateful to have us in his police station.
“Police Chief Hardgrove,” SSA Walker said. “It’s good to meet you. I have to say, we appreciate the welcome atmosphere so far. That’s not always the case when the FBI arrives.”
The Chief gave a strained smile. “As much as it pains me to say this, we need your help. Unfortunately, you will find not everybody is 100% on board with your presence here.”
“That’s okay,” SSA Walker said. “We’re used to it. This is a rather large police station for such a small town,” he said, glancing through the glass to see several sets of eyes watching us.
Chief Hardgrove nodded. “It is a small town, but it’s a large county. Being the most populated, the responsibility falls on our station to cover the entire area.”
SSA Walker nodded his head. “That’s understandable.
” He turned and pointed to each of us and began introductions.
“Special Agent Garcia,” he pointed, “is our tech specialist. Special Agent Thomas, Special Agent Hanson, and Special Agent Parker.” I gave a nod to the Chief when my name was called.
“Each member of my team is highly trained and eager to help.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Chief Hardgrove said. “Let me show you to the conference room that my detectives are set up in. I’m assuming you’ve read over the files?”
“I have. Each of my team members has their own copy as well. We’ve all been studying on the flight over. You’ll have to educate us on any new information. Also, we will have a lot of questions as we start to fill in any blanks.”
“That’s good,” the Police Chief said, then he stopped in front of a door. “Unfortunately, at this time, there hasn’t been any new information coming to light yet.” Then, without knocking, he turned the knob and pushed the door open.