Chapter 2
Jane arrived at the Seattle FBI Headquarters building and joined what remained of her ten-person squad in the main office. She sat across from her fellow agent and good friend, Jenn Sullivan.
“How was the home invasion?” Jenn asked, sipping her coffee.
Blond, petite, and smart, Jenn liked wearing nice clothes to the office and could always be counted on to get the job done. A consummate professional.
Jane loved Jenn’s sarcastic sense of humor and that she didn’t take herself too seriously. Like Jane, she worked to catch criminals, not for promotions and accolades.
“It wasn’t a home invasion. Just a teenage love affair gone wrong.”
“That sounds interesting. Better than my morning, at least.” Jenn sighed. “I thought I was getting somewhere with a lead in my human trafficking case, but the investigation stalled again, and I’m not sure why.”
“Have you figured out where they’ve based their operation?”
“You mean, instead of all over the city?” Jenn huffed. “The creeps are picking up young girls at strip malls. In Targets and Walmarts. And they’re successful. No one has seen anything odd before the girls disappeared.”
“Not good.” Jane shook her head. “Let me make a few calls. Maybe I can shake something loose for you.”
“Anything and everything is appreciated. Thanks.” Jenn slid a folder toward her, and Jane tucked it with her other open cases, making a note to look into it.
Like everyone else on the squad, Jane investigated violent crimes. She’d closed a few cases recently, but those had quickly been replaced by new ones.
Not only that, but she, like the rest of her squad, was still getting used to their new boss. Supervisory Special Agent Natalie Grimshaw had worked in another squad on their floor before being promoted to SSA.
Jane liked her so far, but not as much as she’d come to like her old boss, who’d been promoted within the Seattle branch. SSA Grimshaw reminded Jane of Jenn Sullivan—intelligent, petite, and no-nonsense. Unfortunately, the woman didn’t seem to have made up her mind about Jane.
“Cannon, with me,” Grimshaw barked before darting back into her office.
Jenn smirked. “Go get ‘em, Tiger.”
“Shut up.” She ignored the knowing grins of several other agents and stepped into Grimshaw’s office after a brief knock.
Her supervisor had stamped her own mark on the space. The office still had a stark feel with its cream-colored walls, mahogany desk, and matching bookshelves lined with volumes on everything from law texts to reference guides on religion, forensics, and the Bureau.
The pictures on the walls had been changed out. New photographs of the White House and the J. Edgar Hoover Building looked down over a centered, framed photo of SSA Grimshaw shaking hands with the current Director of the FBI, back when he’d been the assistant director.
From what Jane had learned, Natalie Grimshaw had been instrumental in tackling a national security threat to Washington, D.C.
as a junior agent, impressing her superiors.
The woman had been moving steadily through the ranks over the years and did her homework.
She didn’t have connections in the Bureau or riches to ease her way up the ladder.
Jane respected that.
She also respected the fact that her tech genius of an uncle hadn’t dug up any dirt on Grimshaw. If Hal couldn’t find it, there was nothing to find. Grimshaw was who she said she was.
“Ma’am?”
“Have a seat, Cannon.”
Jane even liked the way the woman called her by her last name, the way Jane was used to being addressed during her time serving in the Marine Corps.
After sitting, Jane waited in silence for her boss to speak.
Grimshaw stared back.
Jane didn’t blink.
Grimshaw’s lips curled into a rueful smile. “I hear you’re the squad’s problem child.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. ASAC Haversham thinks you walk on water. Your old boss, our new ASAC Matthew Scott, describes you as smart, handy, and prone to taking the initiative.”
Weren’t those all good things?
Jane waited.
“But the old ASAC mentioned you flout authority and like to make your own rules.”
ASAC Nicholas Wade hadn’t been a fan. He’d also been wrong on several accounts. Jane was glad he’d been promoted and moved out of the Seattle office.
“I wouldn’t say I make my own rules,” she said carefully. “I do believe in doing my job to the best of my ability.” How to say Wade had been a pain without saying that?
“I’ve also been told you speak the truth no matter how it sounds.” Grimshaw smirked. “How am I doing so far as your supervisor?”
Not one to stand on ceremony, Jane answered, “You seem competent and come with great recommendations. You could loosen up a little, but I suppose that will come with time, when you realize you can fully trust us to do our jobs.”
“A fair assessment. Do you want to know what I think of you?”
“Not really.” A tiny lie she covered with the truth. “I just want to do my job.”
Her supervisor laughed. “Right. Well then, fill me in on this morning.”
“Not the home invader I was looking for. Teenage love gone wrong, is my guess. But Greg can tell you more when he gets back. He stuck around. The targeted family had money, which might fit with his serial robberies.”
“I see.” Grimshaw steepled her fingers under her chin. “What made you realize it’s not connected to your home invasions?”
“It felt off. They had a cat.”
“A cat?”
Jane explained about the previous crimes. She’d only been called in to help, having worked with one of the detectives on the first case a while ago. It didn’t hurt that one of the murdered CEOs had previously done business with the government.
But now after two families had been murdered, both worth millions and who had connections with a lot of high-powered politicians, the FBI had officially been invited to step in.
Grimshaw nodded. “Right. Have we found those dogs yet?”
“No.” And that bothered Jane. The killer had murdered two entire families, including young children.
But the fish hadn’t been harmed, and the dogs had disappeared.
“Nothing has been reported missing from either house, though we’re learning about missing financial assets.
Unfortunately, the subpoenas for the bank records are taking some time. ”
“Typical.” Grimshaw rolled her fingers over her desk. “Was either CEO’s company contracted with the government?”
“We know the Duvall’s manufacturing business did some work with the military, but nothing relating to government secrets. At least, not according to the Army’s lawyers.”
Jane tended to believe them. Duvall Manufacturing had supplied the military with furnishings for several posts around the country. Nothing that should get people killed.
Grimshaw frowned. “Hmm. There was plenty in both homes worth serious money. Especially the jewelry, which wasn’t touched, right?”
“Exactly. The killer targeted rich families. He enjoyed the kills. But from what we know so far, he only stole from their money market accounts and CMAs. We just recently learned our killer also cleaned them out of millions more.”
“You said before you’re leaning toward a male killer. Just one?”
“As we know, most killers are male. The brutality of these murders feels like just one guy to me. We’re still looking into what connects the families other than that both were rich. I need to get with our forensic accountants on the most recent targets.”
“Well, get to it.”
“If we’re done?” Jane stood and waited.
“Yep. Keep me in the loop. That’s all I ask. Don’t blindside me, and we’ll get along just fine, Cannon.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Now that was how a supervisor should act.
Collected, confident, and direct.
Which put her in mind of her canceled meeting with her ex-boss. They’d been supposed to meet two weeks ago.
It shouldn’t bother her so much, but she’d been curious about what dinner with Matthew Scott would be like. Rather, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scott.
He wanted to talk to her about her old Resident Agency in Poulsbo, as his job now involved overseeing the many RAs in the Pacific Northwest. They’d scheduled their talk for a Saturday night, not during regular work hours.
Except he’d canceled with a text. They hadn’t spoken since. She kept telling herself she wasn’t disappointed. Heck, she’d put Matthew out of her mind, too busy with work to care.
Mostly.
She glared down at her shoes, irritated with her stupid feelings, and turned down the hallway. And ran into someone.
“Oh, I’m sorry…” She glanced into Matthew Scott’s bright blue eyes and scowled.
“Jane. I’m glad you ran into me.” He grinned. Seeing her irritation, he cleared his throat. “Do you think we could talk for a moment? I had a few questions about Poulsbo I never got to ask.”
Realizing she truly had nothing to be angry about, Jane nodded and cleared her expression. “Sure thing. What did you want to know?”
An hour later, sitting in a coffee shop downtown, Jane had to hand it to ASAC Matthew Scott. He’d managed to convince her to step away from the office in the middle of her home invasion investigation.
This had better be good.