“It is odd. And no, to answer your question, I’ve never heard of a case like this one.” She pondered the facts he’d given her. “Maybe I should take a look at the files while I’m up there this weekend. Can you get me copies of all of them? It will give me something to do while you look over Dylan’s file.”
“You show me yours, I’ll show you mine?”
“Something like that.” Annie smiled.
He laughed.
“We’re going to be all right, aren’t we.” It wasn’t a question.
“We are all right,” he told her.
He appeared to be about to say something else, but his thoughts were interrupted by a click on the line.
“Hold up, Annie, I have a call coming in.” He put her on hold.
Moments later, he was back.
“I have to go,” he said, and she knew by the tone of his voice he was wanted at a crime scene.
“I’ll see you Friday night, then,” Annie told him. “I’ll be flying up, then I’ll rent a car at the airport.”
“You sure you don’t want me to pick you up?”
“You might be tied up. I’ll just go to your place, and you’ll get there when you get there.”
“I’ll see you then,” he said as he hung up. “I love you, Annie.”
“I love you too, Evan.”
Later that night, Annie opened her laptop and checked her e-mail. Amid several from the office, there was one from Connor.
To: AMMccall00913
From: CShields00721
Re: Missing Reports
Forgot to ask-what were the other missing reports?
Annie went in to the living room and opened the file, searching for the note she’d made, then returned to her laptop to respond.
To: CShields00721
From: AMMccall00913
Re: Missing Reports
One was written by SA Melissa Lowery. The other is a diagram of the crime scene drawn by SA Lou Raymond.
Connor’s reply was almost instantaneous.
To: AMMccall00913
From: CShields00721
Re: Missing Reports
Special Agent Raymond killed in car ax almost two years ago. Heard Missy Lowery quit the Bureau but don’t remember when.
Annie stared at the e-mail as it appeared on the screen, and a little chill sneaked up her spine.
Don’t look for something that isn’t there, she reminded herself. People die in car accidents every day. Agents quit the Bureau every day.
She began to type.
To: CShields00721
From: AMMccall00913
Re: Missing Reports
Thanks for the info. BTW, I noticed there’s no reflection in the file that you had been set for this assignment originally-other apparently than the report you wrote, which is missing. Seems odd to me. Just out of curiosity, was this widely known? That you were on this op? And called off at last minute?
– -
To: AMMccall00913
From: CShields00721
Re: Missing Reports
It was no secret that Aidan and I were running this-don’t know who knew that Dylan stepped in for me when I got called out. What are you thinking? That I was intended target?
– -
To: CShields00721
From: AMMccall00913
Re: Missing Reports
Well, it did cross my mind. Can you think of anything you might have been working on back then that could have made you unpopular in the wrong places?
– -
To: AMMccall00913
From: CShields00721
Re: Missing Reports
You’re kidding, right?
– -
To: CShields00721
From: AMMccall00913
Re: Missing Reports
That’s what I thought you’d say. Would you let me know if anything comes to mind, maybe something… odd or strange that happened that made you think twice? Sorry if I sound off-the-wall. I just don’t recall having heard that you were slated for that night. Strange no one else mentioned it.
She hit send, then waited. And waited. But there was no further reply from Connor that night. Nor was there e-mail from him waiting for her in the morning.
She’d touched a nerve, no doubt, and felt a stab of regret. If Connor started to question if the bullets that killed his brother had been intended for him, he’d have one hell of a time forgiving himself.
Then again, knowing Connor, there’d be no question that he’d put his own personal feelings aside to search for the truth.
Annie turned off her computer, content with that knowledge, for now. If the truth had been buried with Dylan, there was no one more likely to help her ferret it out than Connor.
7
Annie stepped out of her office and began the long walk to the elevator, made longer this afternoon by the heavy files she juggled in both arms. One had come just that morning from a police department in Michigan that had requested a profile on a killer who was targeting homeless men. The other was Dylan’s.
She turned the corner and stopped in her tracks. Thirty feet down the hall, near the conference room, a group of men in dark suits were gathered. All tall, dark haired, well built.
All Shieldses.
Andrew, Brendan, Grady, and Aidan.
From the back, they were nearly identical. Oh, some were a bit taller-Aidan and Grady were a few inches shorter than the other two-but even someone who knew them all as well as she did could have a tough time telling them apart from the back.
From this angle, any one of them could have been Dylan.
She had no idea how long she’d stood there, staring, before Aidan turned and saw her.
“Hey!” he called to her, his mouth curving into a wide smile. “My favorite sister-in-law! I was just on my way to see if you were in your office when I ran into this motley crew.”
The group walked toward her, and her stomach knotted. They were all so damned alike. Brendan and Aidan even walked the same way.
“Good to see you, Aidan.” She turned her cheek for him to plant a kiss. “I just left voice mail for Mara. I wanted her to know I’d be out of town for a few days.”
“Business or pleasure?” Grady peered around his brothers to see her better.
“A little of both. I’m going to Lyndon, Pennsylvania, to see Evan, but he’s in the middle of a case he wants me to look over.”
She stole a quick peek at her watch.
“I have to get going or I’ll miss my plane. See you all later. Aidan, tell Mara to call me when she’s free.”
The men stepped aside and allowed Annie to pass. She waited for the elevator, anxiously tapping her foot. She should have left at least a half hour ago.
Maybe the plane will be late, she found herself hoping.
“Annie, hold the elevator.”
She caught the door with her foot and held it open for Andrew.
“Thanks, Annie.” He entered the car and hit the button for the lobby. “You are going to the lobby, right?”
She nodded and shifted the files.
“Here, give me one of those.” Andrew took the nearest file from her arms.
“Thanks. I was just starting to think I might lose that one.”
He glanced at the label.
“I heard about this case. Catherine Cook was just sent out on it. What’s the count up to now, seven homeless guys?”
“Eight, as of this morning.” She watched the light follow the floor numbers, then stepped back when the elevator stopped at the third floor and the doors opened.
Two women in summer business suits smiled absently as they entered the elevator. No one spoke until they arrived at the lobby.
“Which level is your car on?” Andrew asked Annie.
“I’m right outside the door.”
“You must be a real early riser, to have gotten a spot at the door.”
“Early enough.” She smiled and reached for the file.
“I’ll walk you out.”
He followed her across the lobby, then held the door to the parking lot open for her.
“Give me the other file,” he said when they got to her car and she began to search her bag for her keys. “I’ll hold them while you open the car.”
“This is Dylan’s file,” Andrew said softly after glancing at the label.