CHAPTER TWELVE
Alison didn't like her tone, and she got the distinct impression that Claire was annoyed at her for some reason. Still, she exited the room and followed Claire outside, not catching up with her until they were out of the clinic.
"What’s going on?" Alison asked, her back already up with the way Claire was acting.
"You tell me." Claire put her hands on her hips and stood restlessly, constantly shifting her weight from foot to foot.
"I can tell you that you obviously believe I’ve done something wrong and that you’re annoyed by that, but for the sake of the case, I advise you to get to the point so we’re not wasting each other’s time. Tell me what I’m supposed to have done so we can move past this."
"I called the precinct to talk with some of the officers there and assign them to the tasks we just discussed, and I found out that Captain Kent is there and he’s commandeering bodies to run his own investigation sanctioned by you."
"That’s not what I asked for at all," Alison said.
"Then what did you ask for?" Claire asked. "Because now, I’m having trouble assigning tasks because the officers there are listening to Captain Kent, and he seems to think that I’ve been running a bad investigation. Why go to him and not come to me?"
"I did come to you." Alison tried to remain calm as she explained it to the special agent.
"I tried to convince you that you had the wrong guy, but you wouldn’t listen to me.
So, I went to Dale and asked for his help to reopen the investigation, and I guess he believed me that the killer was still out there. "
"He’s the brother of the first victim," Claire stated. "We can’t have him run an investigation when he’s so close to the case."
"I know that, and I thought I had conveyed that to him. I only wanted him to talk to some people and see if he could push to have the investigation continued while we were looking at Webb, but that became a moot point when the third body was found."
"Well, not to him," Claire said. "Now, we have the FBI running an investigation and the police running an investigation. Sure, we’re on the same team, but that’s not how it’s going to work in reality, is it?
This only hampers us. And I know Kent. He’s a stubborn…
He won't take orders from the FBI, and the officers will listen to him before listening to us, so the best option seems to be to compromise and work with him. That’s what you have done. "
Alison took a breath. Claire was angry, and she wouldn’t calm down until the situation was resolved, which was unlikely to happen soon.
Captain Kent had inserted himself into the case, which had always been the opposite of what Alison wanted, but telling Claire that would make no difference.
Action spoke louder than words, but there were no actions she could immediately take that would remove Kent from the situation.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Claire," Alison said. "I tried to convince you that you had the wrong guy, and Dale was the only one who would listen to me. The only thing I want to do is to catch this guy, and I’ll use every means at my disposal."
"Like taking away any power I had in shaping this investigation?"
"We don't have time for this," Alison warned.
"I get why you’re angry, and I understand why you blame me, but none of this is my fault.
If the killer hadn't killed again, there would have been no investigation without Captain Kent.
If the killer had taken that opportunity to lie low, you would have charged the wrong guy, and it would have been a travesty.
I didn't make a mistake; it was only bad timing. "
"Call it what you want, but I’m getting pressure from up on high, and my authority is being threatened. I can't run an investigation when there are three different people pulling it in three different ways."
"What are you saying?" Alison asked.
"I don't want to do this, but I have to take control of the situation, and since I can't do anything about Captain Kent at the moment, I need you to take a step back."
"You’re throwing me off the case?" Alison’s breathing quickened.
"I’m not throwing you off the case, I just need you to let me do my thing for now, and I can consult with you when needed."
"I’m the one who told all of you that you had the wrong guy and that the killer was still out there." Alison’s voice rose in volume. "I can't imagine that your boss was happy about you arresting the wrong guy, and in response, you ask the only person who could have helped you to take a step back?"
"I still want you on the case, but maybe you don't need to be in the office or at the precinct until I can take charge of everything. I still want your help."
"Well, it doesn’t feel like it. I need to be a part of the investigation, and you know that, and you’re still asking me not to be because of your mistake.
I get exactly what you’re saying. How about I go back to my motel room and have a think about everything?
You do whatever you need to do, and I’ll do whatever I need to do. "
"You’re not thinking about leaving, are you?" Claire’s pupils expanded slightly.
"There’s a storm rolling in," Alison said. "I can't leave tonight. When the storm clears, we’ll see how things look. You want to catch this guy, and so do I, but we’re obviously not on the same page."
***
"I’m trying my best here," Alison said loudly into the phone. "I came here to help them out, and I feel like I’m frozen out."
"Do you want me to make a call to the field office?" Derek asked. "Try to talk some sense into them?"
"No, that might only make things worse," Alison admitted. "Special Agent Martinez already thinks I went over her head in some way to take control from her when it was her mistake. I get that she’s under pressure now, and I’m the most expendable in some ways, but they wouldn’t be where they are now if it weren’t for me.
I’m worried that he’s going to kill again and again because no one will listen to me. "
"So, what are you going to do?" Derek asked. "The storm won't last more than a day or two. Is it worth your while to stay there?"
"I don't know." Alison stared across the room at the edge of the faded wallpaper that was peeling. "I can't leave now. I have to see this thing out, whether they want my help or not. Special Agent Martinez assures me I’m still a part of the investigation, so I’m hopeful I get updates and information from her, and Captain Kent might keep me updated, too. I made it clear he wasn’t a part of the investigation and I would only give him the necessary information, so perhaps he does that with me. I only hope the police and FBI can work together. They should be able to, but Special Agent Martinez wants sole control of the investigation, and Captain Kent is volatile. He’s angry about his sister, and that’ll sway him. It’s just a whole mess over here."
"Then you need to be the voice of reason," Derek told her.
"Coming from the ultimate voice of reason," Alison said. "I don't feel very reasonable right now, but I have you to help guide me. I wish you were here with me or I was back there with you, but I need to be here right now, and I need to give this case my full attention."
"Is there anything I can do from here?" Derek asked.
"I don't think so."
She had the news muted on the TV, watching for any announcement of a third body being found.
So far, the death from that morning wasn’t public knowledge.
Alison remained in her room like a scolded child for the past six hours, waiting for someone to tell her something.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone was on the wrong track without her.
"If there’s anything I can do for the case, even if it’s grunt work, let me know. The quicker you catch this guy, the sooner you can come home. The place is not the same without you."
"Oakland?"
Derek laughed. "Yeah, the city is worse off without your presence in it."
"I do like the snow here, but it’ll be nice to get back to the warmth," she admitted. "Maybe there is something you can do for me."
"Shoot," he replied.
"It might fall on deaf ears right now with Claire and Dale wrestling for control of this thing, but I think the soil is the key."
"The soil?"
"The killer managed to get a sizable amount of soil, and he didn't dig it up himself. There’s a chance he bought it from somewhere, but he’s a planner, he’s careful.
He hasn’t left us a trail of any kind. Martinez hopefully has people calling around to find out where he might have gotten the soil from, but I don't think he makes it that easy for us.
See if you can find out where he might have gotten the soul from, or if there is a way for him to dig the soil up himself without it freezing solid.
He needed it loose to transport it to the clinic. "
"I’ll see what I can find," he said.
"Thank you."
"So, what now for you?" Derek asked.
"I guess I'll try not to cause any more trouble. I’ll stay in my room for the rest of the evening and maybe reach out in the morning and see if anything has calmed down."
"Good luck with that. If this case wasn't already hard enough, you have to fight with the people you flew out there to help."
"Yeah," Alison said wistfully.
She wrapped up the call with Derek and lay on her bed, looking up at the ceiling.
The only thing worse than not being able to find the killer was not being able to do anything about finding him.
It was a nightmare to lie on the bed and wait.
She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, and she would lie awake trying to think of something that could crack the case and end the bad dream.
She lay on the bed for an hour, unmoving, the cogs in her mind spinning as she tried to figure it out with no information or help.
Then came the knock at the door.
Alison got up from the bed and answered it. Special Agent Martinez stood there.
"I know you have no reason to work with me after what happened, but—"
"Let’s go," Alison said.
"You don't even know—"
"I don't care," Alison interrupted again. "You want my help, and I want to give it. We can be angry and petty and everything else later, but for now, let’s find this guy. I presume you have a lead?"
"Yeah, we think so."
"Then let’s not waste another second," Alison said as she grabbed her jacket