Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Viv swallowed, glancing back at Laurel, then Huck. Her voice was small. “Thank you.”
“I’d like you to come in early tomorrow,” Bertra continued. “Very early. There’s a special project I want you on. I’d like to brief you myself before the others arrive, and we’ll get you to school on time.”
Laurel stiffened. Huck’s expression visibly darkened.
Viv glowed. “What time? I have class at eight.”
“How about six?” Bertra cut in, still sounding chipper. “This is a rare opportunity, and I think you’re uniquely suited for it. I could really use your help.”
Viv blinked, excitement flushing her face.
Laurel sharply shook her head. What was Bertra up to? Did she know Viv had snooped around?
Viv frowned.
Huck placed a hand on the back of Walter’s seat, leaning in to stare at the girl.
Viv sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can make it.”
“I must insist,” Bertra said. “We need you.”
Laurel stared at the screen and then gave a short nod.
A smile burst across Viv’s face. “All right. I’ll be there at six.”
“Excellent.” Bertra ended the call.
The line went dead.
Silence filled the SUV.
Huck looked at Laurel. “Well?”
Laurel wasn’t going to allow Viv to be in danger again. “I don’t like this. Viv? You are absolutely not going back to that lab.” She looked at Huck. “I can send them out of town on vacation.”
Viv winced. “I have practice after school, Vida has a piano recital tomorrow night, Val has a test on Friday, and then I have a big game this weekend. We can’t miss those.”
Laurel sighed. “Huck? Can you spare someone to be on her through the weekend?”
Huck nodded. “Tso and Jordan could rotate as cover for Viv.”
Viv slapped her hand to her head. “My mom is going to kill me.”
Huck handed the bag of food to the girl. “Give her a burger. Maybe she won’t be so pissed.”
Viv took the bag. “Ha. I wish.”
Chapter 31
After an uneventful night where Huck kept his girlfriend from being shot in the head, he clicked off his cell in his office. Finally. Damn bear. Grabbing his coat, he whistled for Aeneas and strode through the office, reaching Ena at the front desk. “A resident reported in at the subdivision and we have the bear. I’m headed out to get her now.”
Ena glowed. “That’s wonderful.”
Huck couldn’t take it any longer. She was practically swinging her hips. “What’s going on with you?”
“Walter proposed.”
“Ah.” Yeah, that was the rumor. They hadn’t dated long. At all. “Congrats. When’s the date?”
She shrugged. “Haven’t set one. We’ve only been dating for a couple of months. There’s no hurry, Huck.”
That was good to hear. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” He considered taking one of the other officers but figured he’d take Laurel instead. He’d found that changing locations often, especially to places not normally frequented, was a good idea. He pushed open his door and moved to the FBI office door, scanning in his ID. Oh, he probably wasn’t supposed to have one to the FBI office, but Kate had tired of buzzing him in so often that she’d just given it to him.
He climbed the stairs, walking through the open doorway and finding Laurel in the conference room, her butt on the fifties-style table. She faced the three glass boards: one with her face, an unknown sniper, and several pictures of subjects. The next with the lab and all of the victims with lines connecting them, and the final one of Abigail and her multiple crimes. “See anything?”
“Not yet,” Laurel murmured. “They’re getting blurred together. It’s annoying.”
No doubt. “I see you have a few suspects for the sniper finally.”
She shrugged one slim shoulder beneath a white sweater she’d paired with dark slacks. “Agent Norrs sent them over. I don’t see it, but he’s working this constantly while guarding Abigail at all times, so I’m not going to argue.”
Man, he bet Abigail hated that. No doubt she’d tried to get rid of Norrs a few times, but the guy was like a bulldog. “You don’t think she’d kill him, do you?”
“Only if it served her purposes, whatever those might be.” Laurel sighed. “I’m not seeing the pattern.”
“How would you like to get out of here and scare a bear this fine morning?”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “A bear?”
“Yep. I’ll show you what Aeneas was bred to do.” He leaned down and scratched the dog behind his ears. “I’ve also mapped out several locations around the illegally harvested yew trees for us to search. I was thinking—if you had a hidden and secret lab that used the trees, wouldn’t you want it close?”
Her eyes widened. “I truly would. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“You can’t think of everything. You just found out there was a second lab, maybe, last night.” Sometimes she was too hard on herself. “Let’s go. I’ll cover you to the truck.” He’d already checked and there was nobody out there, even behind the building where he now had lights and cameras at the ready. “The sniper, if he’s still around, won’t think to look for you in bear territory.” And Huck knew when he was being followed.