Chapter Fourteen
The J. Edgar Hoover
Building
East Coast
Pulling up to the FBI hub, there was already a welcome party waiting for him, and it was clear they were rolling out the red carpet for the phone in his pocket. Elizabeth must have really wanted that phone desperately.
While he’d been told to find Johanna and Brody, two of Elizabeth’s agents, the big gun was at the door.
The Director of the FBI.
At that time of night, it said everything when the new head of the FBI was waiting on him.
When he entered the building, Quinn was with him, and the two women were approached by a pretty brunette who was all smiles.
Since they’d worked with the FBI before, specifically Elizabeth and Axelle, they knew to keep their guard up.
Yeah, they heard the news there was a new boss in town, but neither man knew what to expect.
“Captain and Detective,” Kate said, heading their way. Behind her were two big Archangels, watching their every move. “I’m the director, and welcome to the FBI.”
Oh, they knew who she was.
What was surprising was the woman was not dressed in a suit, but instead in a pair of slacks and pretty sweater. Her brown hair was down, and she was all smiles.
If they’d learned anything about pretty women in the FBI, it was that they were always a distraction to the sharp agent underneath the attractive wrappings.
Dex handled it.
“We were told to get this to Elizabeth’s agents,” he admitted, pulling the evidence bag out of his blazer pocket for the director to see.
Immediately, she waved them toward her.
“How about we do that then? Elizabeth texted me to let me know that it was incoming. Johanna and Brody are waiting for you in her division. They’ll be able to handle the tech for their boss.”
Together, they followed, and Kate cleared them through security, much to her Archangels’ disapproval.
Neither cop missed the looks they gave their boss in protest. Only, she brushed it off.
“Ignore them. As I’m learning, they tend to give everyone the hairy eyeball. It’s their job,” she said, laughing. “And they do it well.”
The one Archangel protested.
“Director,” Azreal said. “There are protocols.”
Yeah, well, she knew that, but these were literally two cops that knew Elizabeth and were friends of hers. Plus, the detective was married to their head shrink and profiler. What was he going to do? Jump the metal detectors and race off to go hug his wife?
Instead of going there, she ignored him.
Sometimes, you had to choose your battles, and having two beefy Marines up her ass was going to be a big one. She could already tell.
Kate liked her privacy, and all day today, she’d had very little of it.
Instead of going there, and arguing, they got into the elevator and headed up to the floor where The Violent Crimes Unit called home.
“Thank you for bringing this in. We’ve tagged it priority,” Kate admitted.
Oh, Dex bet. From what Elizabeth had told him about the case, he wasn’t the least bit shocked that it was priority one. Then again, if Elizabeth was handling a case, instead of running the FBI, there was a good reason.
Because the silence was awkward, he went there.
“So, how’s the job?” he asked the woman making idle chitchat. “Settling in?”
She laughed.
“Oh, it’s a shitshow, but I love dealing with bullshit. You have to be a little crazy to want to do this job. I’m just glad I’m teamed up with Elizabeth. She makes it better.”
The man said nothing.
And that told Kate all she needed to know. There was only one queen in DC, and it wasn’t going to be her. It was going to be the woman who put in the work and earned that loyalty from the cops who worked there.
She already knew that Jack Warner, the Commissioner, was someone close to the Blackhawks. So, for her to also have a homicide captain and a detective on her list of friends…
No shock there.
“We’re friends, Captain Corbin, and I’m loyal to her. You can stop worrying that I’m going to try to use some antiquated power play to usurp the queen. I know that while the title is mine, Elizabeth has the king’s ear. I can read a room.”
He just laughed.
Oh, he had been thinking that, and for Elizabeth’s sake, she was grateful that the woman understood that there was a hierarchy in DC, and Elizabeth was at the top, under the president.
Kate wasn’t done.
“Detective Gaines can also tell his wife I don’t bite. I’m sure she’s asked him to figure me out if he sees me. I know that everyone is curious about my new position.”
Quinn actually laughed. Callie, his wife, had called him earlier and told him to ‘feel out’ the new director for her. It was clear that Kate Natalie saw that coming a mile away.
“Guilty.”
Yeah, she wasn’t shocked.
Not.
At.
All.
How could Kate not see this one coming?
The bottom line was that everyone was curious about her. She wasn’t blind, and she could see the looks she got in the halls.
They were questioning ones as if everyone was holding their breath as they waited for the second shoe to drop.
Axelle had run a tight ship, and Kate had big shoes to fill, all the while playing alongside her idol.
“Hopefully, Detective, I’ll have a productive meeting with your wife. I’m scheduled to meet with Callista tomorrow.”
Oh, Quinn knew his wife was dying to get her shrinky-dink claws into this woman.
Trust and believe.
When they stepped out of the elevator, Johanna was there waiting for them to arrive—specifically for the phone to get there.
“Hey, I’m Johanna Seaton,” she said. “Special delivery?” she asked, smiling at them. “I do love when people bring me presents,” she admitted.
Dex nodded.
“Yeah, your boss wanted this handled ASAP,” he said, passing her the evidence bag with the phone in it.
Johanna checked out the phone, and she knew what they’d have to do to get into it.
“This shouldn’t take too long,” she admitted.
Looking at his watch, Quinn knew his wife was working late, so he wanted to go see her so he could tell her what he’d learned about the new director.
So, he went there.
“Director, do you mind if I go see what my wife is up to?” he asked.
Clearly, the man knew his way around the building.
So, she didn’t see any harm in that.
So, she smiled.
“Sure thing,” she said. “Just keep the visitor badge on. You know how twitchy the Feds can get or how Archangels get all riled up,” she teased, as her two bodyguards just rolled their eyes.
That he did.
When he headed one way, Johanna motioned for the captain to follow.
Dex did just that, since the detective was his ride back to the office. Oh, and he was absolutely curious too. He’d heard that there was a remodel in Elizabeth’s unit, and he wanted to check it out.
When they entered the area, it had definitely been revamped from the bullpen area with the cubicle desks to more of a space where they could move around more freely. In one corner was a coffee area, and a break room-like space, as the place looked out over the city.
Across from that, there was an office, and on the door was a placard that had Elizabeth’s name.
One wall was tricked out with giant screens, and on them, news was playing. It went from a small office space to a bigger one, proving that Elizabeth had built this place from the ground up.
In the area, Dex took a seat not far from Johanna and the man she was working with. Dex had seen him around, but he’d never met him.
So, he introduced himself to the man.
“I’m Captain Dex Corbin,” he stated, holding out his hand.
The agent stood and shook his hand in greeting, as Johanna parked her ass on the corner of his desk.
“I’m Brody Seaton,” he said.
He looked back and forth between the two agents, and they had the same last name. Since they didn’t look alike, he doubted they were siblings. So, he asked.
“Husband?” he inquired, jerking his head toward Johanna.
That amused her.
“Yeah, he’s the ball and chain, but he’s all mine,” she joked.
That made Brody laugh.
“Gee. I feel the love, Honey. Maybe tell him I leave my socks all over the place too and I pee in corners,” he joked.
She winked at her husband.
Brody shared with the captain.
“We’ve been with Elizabeth and this division since the beginning,” he stated. “I guess you could say we’re the old timers.”
That was amusing because the woman looked like she was barely twenty-five, and the man couldn’t have been older than thirty-five himself.
“They like them young in the FBI,” Dex admitted.
Johanna winked.
“You just scored bonus points,” she joked. “Actually, I’m forty,” she stated, “and so is the ball and chain. I tend to work the undercover aspect of our jobs. Got a serial killer? Need a decoy who is a young, clueless woman to lure them in? I’m your girl,” Johanna admitted.
Brody didn’t miss a beat.
“Yeah, and I’m aging because of it. We used to look the same age. See how that’s going for me,” he joked.
Oh, Dex knew about shit like that. When he’d been protecting Max, he felt himself aging each day.
Kate shared what she knew the cop was thinking.
“The FBI never allowed couples to work together, but then along the way, Elizabeth made that a possibility, especially in her division. Now, the FBI is a little more lax, as long as they stay safe, and get the job done.”
Yeah, Dex was aware. Elizabeth worked with her menagerie of husbands, and they were damn good as a team, too.
He pointed at the phone.
“How are you going to extract information from the phone?” Dex asked. “Don’t you need to get a warrant to the phone company for all of the records?”
They all laughed.
“What’s funny?”
That was an easy one.
“The only reason we get a warrant is to make the phone companies help. They don’t like to unless forced. Since the owner is deceased, we don’t need permission. We will just do it ourselves since this is evidence.”
That still didn’t answer his question. How would they get into the phone? It had a passcode on it, and that was why the phone company was needed, along with the warrant.
“But how can you extract information without opening it? Is that a thing?” he asked.
Brody picked up a cord and plugged it into a tablet that was sitting on his desk.