Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
It was obvious that was the moment she decided she didn’t like me. She tilted her chin and her jaw slowly tightened until her angular face took on a hard edge. I told myself I didn’t care, and that she wasn’t beautiful. I wasn’t here to make friends.
This girl was a job, nothing more.
I grabbed a seat across the table and glanced at Miller. “I’d suggest you hurry up and finish your questions. Beth Garrity from the OEO will be here in less than twenty.”
The Office of Enforcement Operations would make the arrangements for protective custody—if it hadn’t been done already—and my warning seemed to do the trick, because Miller slipped into his seat and gestured for Ms. Hayward to do the same.
“He admitted to the shooting?” Miller pushed the oversized glasses he was wearing up onto the bridge of his nose. He’d probably had that same pair for the last decade.
The girl folded into her chair, looking exhausted but determined. “He said he wanted to take another shot when he saw the man was still alive, but I got in his way.”
“Did he give you a reason or motivation, or discuss any aspects of the first shooting?”
“No.” She made a face like the memory was upsetting. “He said in his job, he didn’t usually kill women.”
I hadn’t been briefed on any of this. The only information I’d gotten was a disgruntled call from my boss Bill, telling me to take my ass to the Federal building and secure a murder witness from the FBI office. He’d meet me there, along with Beth from the OEO.
Miller took notes, his pen weaving across the page. “He said it was his job?”
“That’s how I understood it. But he didn’t say much after that.” Her voice was detached and eerie. “Not anything that would be helpful to you.”
Miller’s pen stopped mid-scribble. “Don’t worry about that. You’ve already been helpful. There’s a laptop down in IT forensics right now because of you.”
Laptop?
“I hope it still works,” she said. “I did swing it into his face.”
There was a hint of satisfaction in her voice that I couldn’t help but like.
Miller had a half-smile on his face as well. “I’m sure it’s fine.”
Forensics had certainly seen worse, hard drives with fire damage, and laptops with bullets in them. Having any kind of data could help build a case, so this was a good sign. She pushed her hair back behind her, ear and I noticed the scraped skin on her palm. There was a bruise darkening her bicep that wasn’t quite as bad as the one on her neck.
There, I could make out the perfect outline of fingers. Someone had strangled the hell out of her.
“Who was the man he killed in the theater?” she asked.
Theater? Well, shit.
All the puzzle pieces fell into place, and I kicked myself for being so stupid. Not an exotic dancer, but a ballet dancer. That information shouldn’t have made a difference, but it did, reminding me I was such an asshole sometimes.
“A federal judge.” Miller said it flatly.
The second one to be murdered this year, and I wasn’t sure where this put me. It was a high-level assassination case, definitely the biggest of my career. But I wasn’t really working the case, now, was I?
I was only protection detail.
“Bill’s here,” Derrick said, cutting through my thoughts.
My freckle-faced new partner didn’t talk much, so his deep voice always caught me off-guard. Our boss pushed open the glass door to the conference room and strode in with his full attention on the witness.
“I’m not anywhere near finished,” Miller whined.
“You’re welcome to stay, but only to listen,” Bill said.
Miller’s eyes narrowed, but he chewed back whatever response he wanted to say. Instead, he gathered his notes, moved to the doorway, and turned to Ms. Hayward a final time.
“I hope we’ll get to speak again, but if not—thank you.” His gaze shifted toward me. “Good luck.”
It wasn’t clear if that was directed toward her general future, or her more immediate one with me.
“Ms. Hayward, I’m Deputy in Charge Bill Bradbury. My deputies here have been assigned to your case for the next forty-eight hours. They’re going to transfer you to a safe place while the OEO assesses the situation. They’ll determine what kind of ongoing protection you might need.”
“You think he’s going to come after me again?” Her concern grew with every word.
Bill’s people skills were far superior to mine, and he delivered a gentle look. “The fact that he did it once has us worried he may try again.”
On the surface, the girl looked calm and composed, but her eyes betrayed what was going on inside. I felt an odd sensation of sympathy that was unsettling. Maybe it was because underneath the pain and exhaustion, she was undeniably gorgeous.
Internally, I cursed a blue streak. It’d be so much easier if she weren’t. The last thing I needed was this . . . distraction.