Page 21 of Alibi for Murder (Colby Agency: The Next Generation #2)

Roosevelt Road, 10:00 a.m.

Allie felt cold. Her nerves were fluttering. Palms sweating.

She wanted to scream that she had no idea what any of this was about, but that was no longer true.

She understood that it was about the past, and somehow her parents were involved.

Allie also got that there were things—secret things—that were being kept from her to cover up for other secret things… none of which were good.

Steve had said that powerful people sometimes went to great lengths to conceal their tracks.

Allie understood this. She might be a bit of a recluse, but she didn’t live under a rock.

Still, his telling her was valid. Most people—even those aware that things like this happened—didn’t really recognize just how deep, just how bad these cover-ups could be.

Most people were like her, she supposed.

She walked through life believing others were good until something happened to change her mind.

Evidently that wasn’t true in some cases.

Driving up to the FBI’s complex felt like arriving at a prison. A three-building complex of concrete, steel and glass stationed on twelve acres with mazes for parking lots and other things—little box-shaped metal things—she couldn’t identify.

Inside was a whole other story. The lobby was certainly not one found in any prison with its endless glass and marble panels for walls all showcased by granite flooring and meticulously placed plants and stylish seating areas.

The ceiling soared two stories with all that glass allowing sunlight to fill the space.

They might have been in a luxury resort hotel on a tropical island somewhere.

Special Agent Fraser met them in that grand lobby.

“Thank you for coming.” He looked to Allie as he spoke.

Like she had a choice.

“We’ll be going up a few floors, where we’ll catch up with Agent Potter in a private conference room.”

“Lead the way,” Steve said, cutting straight to the chase. No smile. No handshake. Not even a hello.

Allie reminded herself to breathe as they rode the elevator upward. Fraser said nothing. Steve said nothing. Allie was ready to erupt with tension. But then Steve glanced at her, smiled, and she felt better. Calmer.

Funny how that worked.

The elevator stopped, and they prepared to exit.

Fraser started forward then abruptly paused and indicated that Allie should precede him.

She did so and waited for the two to join her in the corridor.

Other staff members hurried along to meetings, speaking quietly to colleagues going in the same direction or to someone via a cell phone.

They all appeared focused on their own agenda, intent on some destination, and not a single one paid the slightest attention to her and the two men accompanying her.

The conference room was small but private. Agent Potter was already seated at the oval table. A large binder sat in front of her. Next to the binder was a medium-sized box, flaps closed, concealing whatever was inside.

The fluttering nerves were back.

Potter gestured to the remaining chairs around the table. “Find a seat and we’ll get started.”

Steve pulled out a chair for her, and Allie lowered into it. She focused on slowing her respiration. Reminded herself that she had a secret weapon—the Colby Agency. And Steve. She watched as he settled into his chair. She relaxed. He had her back.

“I’d like to start this meeting,” Potter said, “by passing along that we have confirmed the video provided by hospital security was edited.”

Allie barely resisted the urge to do a fist pump and squeal.

“That’s not to say,” Fraser added with a look directly at Allie, “that we’re convinced you had nothing to do with or have no knowledge of the events leading to Thomas Madison’s death. But we are aware of this aspect and wanted to let you know.”

Her glee vanished. “I’m sorry. I don’t see how you can still believe I’m involved. I didn’t even know the man.”

“I’m assuming,” Steve said, “you’re looking into who had access to surveillance systems at the hospital.”

“Of course,” Fraser confirmed.

Potter opened her binder and turned it toward Allie and Steve. “In your parents’ room—in the home where you live—we discovered these.”

The first plastic sheet protector held a blank page with two photos mounted on it. One photo was of Thomas Madison coming out of a local market. The next was of a vehicle—presumably his—turning into his driveway. Based on his age in the one at the market, the photos were recent.

“I’ve never seen these photos before.” Allie shook her head. What the heck was this? “You couldn’t have found these photos in the house. They don’t belong to me, and no one else lives there.”

“These photos are recent,” Fraser pointed out. “Just days before he was hospitalized and murdered. And they were found in your home.”

Potter turned the page. More photos of a similar nature. Allie shook her head again. “I can’t help you with this.” She turned her palms up and gestured to the binder. “I don’t know anything about these.”

Clearly they were photos taken by someone following Madison around, but that person wasn’t her. Until Friday night, she’d had no clue who he was or that he even existed, for that matter.

“But these photos were also in your home,” Potter repeated. “You surely saw them. They weren’t hidden in some out-of-the-way place. They were in the drawer next to the bed.”

Allie tried to think when she’d been in that room last, much less prowled around in the drawers. The door stayed closed, and she went in there once in a great while to dust and vacuum, but she never searched or even touched anything beyond moving a framed photo to dust or something like that.

“I’m telling you,” she insisted, “I have not seen these photos before.”

Her mind went immediately to the photo she’d found in her parents’ room today. She’d never seen that one before either. Maybe the person who’d been in her house yesterday had been in there before. She decided not to mention as much. If Steve wanted the agents to know, he would tell them the story.

Potter flipped over to another page. “What about these?”

The photos were of her parents and the Madisons. With the mystery couple captured on the edge of one of three snapshots. Allie wondered how much the FBI knew about the couple. The Colby Agency had located the couple, but they refused to talk. The two were a dead end so far.

“I recognize my parents and the Madisons—only because of what has happened since Friday night.”

“This is the Regers.” Potter tapped the image of the mystery couple. “They were assets of the Bureau working at Ledwell at the time your father was employed there.”

Allie and Steve shared a look. No wonder the couple refused to speak with anyone from the Colby Agency.

Steve turned up his hands. “Ms. Foster has already explained that she has no knowledge of these photos or how they came to be in her home. I suggest we move on.”

Potter turned to the next page. This one showed a series of photos of a vehicle Allie didn’t recognize parked in front of her house.

The photos appeared to have been taken at different times, maybe on different days.

She couldn’t be certain, but the vehicle was parked at slightly different locations.

The shade from a nearby tree hit the vehicle at barely perceptible variances in each photo.

She looked to Potter. “Someone has been watching my house?”

Potter nodded. “Thomas Madison.”

Allie shook her head. This made no sense. “He never came to the door. If that’s him, I had no idea he was there.” She looked Potter straight in the eyes. “Why would he be watching my house?”

“We have no idea,” Fraser admitted. “We hoped you might be able to tell us.”

Allie held up a hand. “This man was part of an investigation you were conducting prior to his death.” She looked from one to the other. “You mentioned this in our first meeting. Why didn’t you tell me he had been watching my house? And how did you get these photos?”

“We’re asking the questions here, Ms. Foster,” Potter pointed out.

“We can’t help you solve your case. We have no reason to believe any part of it is connected to Ms. Foster, and she had no prior knowledge of the details you’ve revealed.

” Steve gestured to the binder. “My guess is someone is playing you. Trying to derail your investigation. For all we know, Thomas Madison was losing his grip on reality before he died. Whatever the case, I believe it’s pretty clear that Ms. Foster is not involved.

You’re far too focused on a woman who has no idea who Thomas Madison was rather than the identity and motive of the person who wanted to take his life. ”

Potter and Fraser exchanged a look.

“There’s one more thing,” Fraser said.

Allie couldn’t wait to hear this one.

“Thomas Madison,” he went on, “was murdered with an injection of phenobarbital into his IV fluids.”

A large enough dosage was one way to put someone down, certainly. It didn’t take a medical professional to understand how that sort of thing worked.

“You’re a nurse,” Potter pointed out. “You would know the drug to use and how to inject it.”

“So would anyone else who bothered to google it,” Allie countered. Now she was just angry. This was enough.

“Funny that you mention googling,” Potter said. “We found several searches on your laptop about the best ways to cause sudden death.”

Allie’s jaw dropped. That was impossible. “I didn’t do any such searches,” she argued. Her skin flushed, and a combination of fear and outrage roared through her.

Steve turned to her. “We’re done here, I think.”

Allie was more than happy to hear that.

“You’re going to have to do better than this,” he warned the agents, “if you plan to keep dragging my client through these emotional minefields.”

He stood. Allie did the same.

Potter pushed the box toward them. “Your laptop and other devices.”

Steve took the box. “Good day, agents.”

As they moved toward the door, Fraser spoke up. “Be careful where you step in this minefield, Ms. Foster.”

Maybe she was a fool, but Allie turned back to hear what he had to say.

“We still haven’t figured out all the players, much less who the true bad guys are.”

She gave a dry laugh. “Maybe because you’re looking in the wrong place.”

Allie walked out. She had nothing else to say. But she couldn’t help wondering if the agents were the bad guys because they damned sure seemed intent on framing her.

The one thing she was certain of in all this was her innocence.

She just hoped Steve and the Colby Agency could help her prove it.