She could not have been prepared for her reception.

“You have your nerve, coming in here this morning.” Brad stood in front of the reception desk with his arms folded across his chest.

“What?” Lorna looked behind her. Was he talking to her?

“Who the hell do you think you are, calling in the fucking FBI?”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t spoken to anyone from the FBI. Why would I have called the FBI?”

“You’re telling me that guy who came here yesterday, you didn’t call him in? He wasn’t here on your account?”

“I spoke with a private investigator, yes, I did that. I still haven’t decided whether to hire him, but I spoke with him. What makes you think he’s with the FBI?”

He reached onto the desk and grabbed a fax and waved it in front of her.

She snatched it out of his hand to take a look.

“You telling me that’s a fraud and it’s not from the FBI?”

“It sure looks official, but I don’t know why…” She skimmed the typed request for copies of all the reports relative to the disappearance of Melinda Eagan and that of her brother, Jason Eagan, all reports relative to the discovery of the body of Jason Eagan, and the subsequent arrest of Billie Kay Eagan. She frowned, confused, until she came to the signature at the bottom. Mitchell Peyton, SA, FBI.

Regan’s friend.

“I don’t understand.” She shook her head. “Mr. Dawson, the PI, did say yesterday he was going to stop in here to pick up copies of the reports, so why Agent Peyton-whom I do not know and did not call, by the way-why he’s requesting the same reports, I don’t know.”

She handed the fax back to Brad. “You gave Mr. Dawson the copies of the reports, didn’t you?”

“No, we did not.”

“Why? At the very least, the reports on Melinda’s disappearance should be public record. Anyone can get a copy of a police report. Reporters do it all the time. Why didn’t you give him what he asked for?”

“Because it was late in the day when he came in, and Mrs. Rusk was working by herself, and didn’t know if she should give them to him.”

“She doesn’t know that the police reports are public record? No one’s told her that in the… how many years she’s been working here? Don’t you train your employees?”

“Don’t get smart, Lorna. She just didn’t know if she should give them out, that’s all.” He paused, then said, “Or maybe she didn’t know where the files were.”

“She couldn’t have asked someone? Maybe called your father or you at home and asked where the files were?”

“She was just concerned, what with all the papers calling and everyone talking about how you were bailing Billie out and that sort of thing. She didn’t know what to do, okay? He’d have gotten his reports if he’d come back this morning. He didn’t have to call in the fucking FBI.”

“Look, I’m sorry if you feel this puts you in an awkward position, but…” She held her hands out in front of her but he jumped in.

“Awkward position?” He snorted. “I’d say it’s awkward. It’s not enough that you’re hiring someone to check to see if we dotted our i’s and crossed our t’s, but now we’re going to have the fucking FBI looking over our shoulder.”

They stood and glared at each other for a long moment. Dotting i’s and crossing t’s was the least of it, but Brad wasn’t going to want to hear that.

Finally, she said, “So, did you fax over the reports?”

“Yes, we faxed over the reports,” he singsonged back at her.

“Okay, then. Asked and answered.” She turned and left the office, closing the door quietly behind her.

She dialed T. J. Dawson’s number on her cell phone as soon as she got into her car and found his business card in her wallet.

He answered on the third ring.

“What were you thinking, getting the FBI involved in this? What was the point of that?” she said without identifying herself.

“Well, hello, Lorna. Nice to hear from you.”

“Why did you feel it necessary to call in the FBI?”

“First of all, I did not ‘call in the FBI.’ I called a friend to request some documents because the local police department was not cooperating, and I had every right to see those reports. The receptionist wouldn’t even show them to me, and when she called the chief of police on the phone, he told her to put me off, not to show me anything. It pissed me off.”

“Couldn’t you have waited one more day to get copies of those police reports? Did you have to call out the troops immediately?”

“I thought if I was going to be working this case, I’d be better off establishing right up front that the local cops were not going to push me around.”

“But we hadn’t decided if you’d be handling this case, remember?” She blew out a long breath, then said, “Officer Walker didn’t mention that Mrs. Rusk had called his father.”

“Gee, that comes as a big surprise.”

“I understand that you felt you were being stonewalled, but I wish you’d called me instead of your friend at the FBI. You’ve put me in a very awkward position here.”

He was silent for a moment, then said, “I apologize if I’ve made things awkward or uncomfortable for you. I thought I was expediting things. It never occurred to me that it would have repercussions. I wanted to get the facts as soon as possible, so that you could decide what you wanted to do sooner rather than later. Again, I am sorry.”

She was still trying to decide how to respond when he said, “Mitch faxed over the reports an hour ago. I found them quite interesting. How ’bout I drop them off to you, point out the things I think you might want to take a closer look at, and I’ll just be on my way.”

“That would be fine, thank you.”

“Mrs. Eagan still in prison?”

“She’s supposed to get out this afternoon. I took care of the bail this morning. At least, I think she’s supposed to get out this afternoon.” She sighed heavily. “That’s what I was stopping at the police department to find out. How do I know when she’s going to be released? I don’t suppose they’ll provide transportation for her, so I thought I’d pick her up. But I don’t know where or when.”

“Call the warden at the prison and ask.”

“They’ll tell me? And I can just pick her up?”

“Unless she’s made other arrangements.”

“I don’t know if she has any other friends or relatives around here. I think her family is still in West Virginia. I’m not sure I remember where Melinda said her grandparents lived, exactly.”

“What would be a good time for me to stop by?”

“Depends on what time I’ll be picking up Billie.”

“How ’bout I plan on coming up around seven tonight?”

“I should be able to pick her up and take her home by then. That would be fine. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And again, I’m really sorry to have caused problems for you there. I’ve never had a situation like that before. I guess I could have handled it better.”

“You’ve never had anyone refuse to give you the information you asked for?”

“No.”

“How have you managed that?”

“Must have been the old Dawson charm.”

“Too bad Mrs. Rusk didn’t fall for it.”

“Lorna?” The voice on the phone was thin and soft.

“Yes. Billie, is that you?” Lorna looked at the clock on her laptop. She’d called the prison twice to ask about Billie’s release, but hadn’t gotten a callback.

“Yes. I just got home, I wanted to call and thank you. For getting me out of there. I didn’t expect to be out for a long time. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t skip.”

“What?”

“Don’t leave town, or I forfeit the bond.”

“I got no place to go, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“I’m not worried, Billie. But how did you get home? I left messages at the prison earlier for someone to call me when you were getting out so I could come pick you up.”

“They’re all screwed up out there. They told me I was getting out, then made me sit and wait for a couple of hours while they played around with the paperwork. I was lucky, though, ’cause Eileen Sherman was at the prison visiting her sister when I finally got the word I could go, and she offered to drop me off. Stopped at the supermarket for me, too, on the way home. Nice of her.”