Chapter 40
Austin
What would we find in the sixteen by twenty-four inch locker?
Would it be empty? Was someone else using it?
“G, clear the room.”
After he ushered out the two young guys, using twenty-dollar bills to make the task easier, he closed the door.
“G, can you record this for the record?” After thinking for a second, I said, “Jack, you too.”
Cursing myself for not thinking to record earlier, I relocked the locker and waited for them to give me the thumbs up.
I pulled out my badge and ID and showed them while verbally identifying myself. “With me is Officer Ryan Gibson, who is recording.” I gave the date, time, and location, and then listed the related case numbers.
Please let the answers we need be inside.
“This key was found in the teddy bear given to Nina Suzette Novak, born Nina Marie Singer, by her parents before they went missing. The engraving on the key led us here.”
I inserted the key into the lock, turned it right, knowing it wouldn’t work. God, I fucking hate lying. I turned the key to the left, wiggled it until I heard the click.
I pulled the door wide open and choked on the dust rushing out. G and Jack moved closer and filmed the contents before I touched anything.
“Your tails are impatient. They’re pacing the sidewalk now.”
We couldn’t respond to AJ, but we all knew his words meant it was only a matter of time before they came inside.
I pulled on blue latex gloves.
“The locker contains a small cedar jewelry box,” Picking it up, disturbing as little dust as possible, I opened it for the camera. There was a tangle of jewelry inside, but nothing looked valuable.
And nothing to ID’d the Singers.
We were short on time, so instead of examining the contents, I carefully tilted the box. The jewelry shifted, revealing a photo hidden beneath.
I blinked twice to make sure I wasn’t conjuring the image I wanted to see.
The Singers, at their wedding.
Schooling my features for the camera, I said in as dull a tone as I could muster, “The image inside appears to be a wedding photo of CIA Officers Travis and Melissa Singer.”
I closed the box and handed it to Gibson.
I pulled out the remaining items, describing them as I did. “A five by seven red journal, and three legal-sized, sealed manilla envelopes.” I turned them so the cameras could record the front and back of each before handing them to G. “We’ll open them at the office.”
I didn’t say which office.
G and Jack gave me the thumbs up when they’d stopped recording.
“Let’s get out of here.”
We shoved everything into Jack’s backpack, sent him downstairs and out the back door while G and I went back to the manager’s office and asked to buy some supplies.
“What kind?”
It literally didn’t matter.
“Whatever you have.”
His eyebrow raised and pointed. The room adjacent to the office reminded me of pantries in hotel lobbies.
“We have basic travel supplies, hygiene items, and snacks.”
G and I grabbed a random selection, making sure not to deplete any one item.
“What do we owe you?”
“They’re headed your way,” AJ warned.
G and I emptied our wallets, not caring that we overpaid by a ridiculous amount. “Keep the change,” G said as we crammed our bags and hoisted them over our shoulders.
We loosened the straps so they’d slip off easily if pulled. The last thing we wanted was to trip and fall when they yanked on our bags.
“Exiting now,” I updated AJ.
“We’re on the move,” Jack said, confirming he’d gotten away clean.
“They’re approaching the building, six meters out.”
Eighteen feet wasn’t a lot of space. “Let’s do this,” G said, smiling.
I held up my fist. “Let’s do this.”
I pushed open the door. “My favorite thing about Spain is the wine.”
“Really, mine’s the scantly clad women on the beaches,” G said.
We laughed like old friends as AJ gave us a play-by-play of the movements of the two guys closing in on us.
“You have no shame.”
“Never claimed I did.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end two seconds before AJ counted down.
Three.
Two.
One.
My backpack was ripped off my shoulder. So was Gibson’s.
“Hey!” we shouted in unison while pretending to give chase.
They disappeared into the crowd, while we pretended to look for them.
“Got it all on film,” AJ said. His voice on comms echoed his voice behind me.
“They ducked into the alley; want us to grab them?” Jack asked.
“What the fuck are you still doing here?” I yelled.
“Watching your six, Cuz. You didn’t really think we’d risk losing you, did you?” Jay asked. I could practically hear his stupid fucking smirk.
I had. I’d expected them to do what they’d agreed to for the sake of the mission.
AJ stepped between us and wrapped his arms around us, clapping us on our shoulders. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand before your friends come back.”
It was a sound plan.
“We’ll cover your six,” Jack said.
“Thank you,” I said grudgingly.
Ryan laughed. “You didn’t really believe they’d leave?”
“Didn’t you?”
“I did not.”
“Shut up and give me the keys.”
“Nope. I don’t want you getting distracted when you argue with your cousins.”
“Bastard.”
G laughed louder, causing people to turn and look at us.
“I called Dad; he’s ordering food so we can eat when we get back,” Jack said.
I knew I’d regret it, but I said it anyway, “Don’t open the bag until we’re back at the office.”
“You can’t help yourself, can you?” Jay asked.
“No.” I couldn’t. Decades of doing things by the book made me a stickler for protocol. Working with people who didn’t communicate well had made it worse.
“The package is safe and sound in the back seat,” Jack put my mind at ease. “We know what we’re doing.”
“I know you do.”
As we approached the sedan, AJ tried to claim the front seat. “Shotgun!”
My glare sent him to the back door.
“Nice try,” Jack laughed at the man who’d served as his best man when he married Meg.
“I had a fifty/fifty shot.”
“Twenty-five/seventy-five,” Jack corrected him.
“Ten at best,” G said while turning the key in the ignition. “Winchester doesn’t give up control easily.”
We used AJ’s access code to park in the secure lot behind the building.
When John asked if he should have Nina come to the office, I declined. We needed time to sort through what’d we’d found.
John locked the front door and pulled down the shades. Then he told Meg to forward all calls to voicemail and sent her to Jamie’s office to be with Emily, Ashley, and the twins.
When Jack and Jamie hesitated to leave them alone, John said, “If you’d like, we can leave Janerek down here.”
The brothers shared a look as AJ took up position at Meg’s desk.
“Don’t mess up my desk,” Meg ordered from Jamie’s door.
“I wouldn’t dream of it, ma’am.”
“Let’s go,” I said, wanting to look over the stuff we’d found. “John, do you have evidence bags we can borrow?”
“I’ll bring them up.”
Everyone except Nathan, AJ, and Matt gathered in the upstairs conference room.
I glanced at my watch. “When does Nina’s shift end?”
“Like you don’t know,” Jack teased.
I knew she normally opened the store with Beth and left between two and three, but her schedule was semi-flexible.
“Nathan drove her home an hour ago,” John said.
I explained how we’d proceed as Doug set up two cameras, one on each corner of the table, facing the bag.
We’d open it and go through the contents with the white wall behind me as my only backdrop, so the videos wouldn’t lead back to SSI.
“We’ll examine everything closer off camera,” I said.
When Gibson and I stepped in front of the cameras, he held up his fist. This is why we work so well together. I hated not doing things by the book. Gibson loved it. We balance each other out.
My fist bump was less enthusiastic than G’s before I nodded to Doug.
Doug’s thumbs up let us know the cameras were rolling.
We flashed out badges and IDs and introduced ourselves. I restated what’d we’d found in the hostel locker before taking the items out of the backpack, starting with the jewelry box.
I described every item in the jewelry box, giving each to G to add anything he noticed.
We held each picture up to the camera and turned it around if there was writing on the back. Most had names, dates, and locations.
The pictures created a photo journal of Mrs. Singer’s pregnancy and Nina’s infancy.
If we found nothing else, the pictures and family heirloom jewelry would mean the world to Nina.
After the CIA releases the evidence.
My hand paused midway to the small drawer at the bottom edge of the box. The CIA would bury everything we’d found if it ended up in the wrong hands. Just like they had with the Singers’ evidence.
G nudged me with his foot, reminding me of the task at hand.
The drawer contained one small envelope, addressed to Nina.
I held it for the camera and placed it on the table. If I opened it, I’d feel compelled to read it, and that felt too personal.
Like I’m not already violently invading their private lives. Telling myself it was for the right reasons, I shut down my guilt.
I could practically hear Gibson’s thoughts. What the fuck? Why aren’t you opening it?
But he couldn’t ask until the cameras stopped rolling, so I had time to come up with an excuse.
I’ve lost my edge.
I picked up the journal, untied the thin, aged ribbon, and opened the cover.
“To our most precious jewel, we didn’t plan for you, but we couldn’t love you more—”
I flipped through the pages; the entry dates more or less matched the dates on the photos. They’d kept a journal of their thoughts and feelings as Nina grew inside the womb, and then outside it.
I didn’t read the entries out loud, except for the last date. Seven weeks before they were officially listed as MIA.
The name Foster caught my eye as I closed the journal.
They knew all along that Nina was in danger.
Fuuuuck. They’d brought Nina to Dallas, secured her future, and returned to Germany. All the while knowing they might never see their daughter again.
I’d respected the Singers before, but my respect turned to awe at the sacrifice they’d made for their country.
I’d restate my vow out loud as soon as I could, but it rang out clear in my head. I will protect your daughter and find your killers.
Gibson forcibly handed me the first manilla envelope.
I’ll deal with his irritation later.
Inside was Nina’s birth certificate, copies of her parents’ insurance policy and bank statements, and an old USB. I summed up the contents for the camera while fanning out the paperwork.
“Officer Gibson and I will review the paperwork back at the office.”
A ton of pictures and small trinkets filled the next envelope. I spread the items out for the cameras while listing what I saw.
The last envelope contained the last wills and testaments of Travis and Melissa Singer. At a quick glance, it looked like they’d left everything to their daughter, Nina Marie Singer.