Page 97

CHAPTER NINE

W hen Russ found out she’d taken his hammer, he’d be mad. Though, it wasn’t like Addie would use it to commit a murder. If she did, he’d have something to be mad about.

The sound of the hammer echoed in the empty room. Empty bookcases. Desks also empty. She had a laptop and her cell phone. The city of Benson wasn’t going to provide the federal government with anything, so she was surprised even the furniture was here. She’d tried the chair someone wheeled in and immediately gone online and ordered a new one she paid for out of her own pocket. Forget requisitioning.

How much time would she spend here? Maybe she’d be out in the field. On undercover operations. Who knew what this position would bring up? She was the only one out here, miles from the closest field office. An outpost.

Exiled.

Given where they’d sent her, she couldn’t help assuming this was a demotion. There weren’t many dangerous deviants to profile out here. Maybe that was a good thing. After what happened with William Benning, she needed a break from that field of study. Get back to her roots. Catch some bad guys.

Maybe she would buy a leather jacket.

Except that she was here to solve a case—to solve multiple from the sound of it.

Her phone vibrated across the top of the desk. Unknown number.

She dismissed the call on her watch and didn’t even cross to it. That stuff wasn’t going to creep into her life here. Whoever it was, they could go away as far as she was concerned.

The next call came almost immediately.

She nearly dismissed it before looking, assuming it was the same guy. Instead, the name Zimmerman flashed on her watch face. She went to the phone but didn’t pick it up. On the screen flashed a picture of the two of them she’d never taken off.

Worst move you can make, baby girl, taking up with a superior.

As if Russ knew anything about it. He’d hated every guy she’d ever dated. Except Jake.

Addie went back to her task with a sigh. She hung the photo from her bedroom on the office wall. Her, getting her badge. Russ beside her. Both of them smiling.

She would have to get her own place if this assignment stretched into months. The longer she stayed at his house, the more entrenched she’d get into life there. Forty years from now, she’d realize she’d become Russ and never left.

Addie loved the scratchy old guy, but that wasn’t the future she envisioned for herself. The dream didn’t include being alone at a satellite office. Local LEOs her only backup, right where she had faced her worst fears.

Still, she was a big girl. She could make the most of it.

“Looks good.”

Addie spun around and nearly dropped the hammer. “Hank?” She spied the badge on his belt. “You’re a detective ?”

He laughed. “Don’t sound so surprised.” He opened his arms, and she went in for a shorter hug that was a lot more perfunctory than Jake’s.

Hank had been a good friend, mostly during their shallow high school days when they thought the world revolved around how they looked. Now? He was a handsome man but with an edge of something else. Not that classic bad boy. Something dangerous, though. Undefined. The kind of guy who might intrigue the profiler in her if she hadn’t sworn off relationships for a while. She didn’t need a repeat of the Zimmerman thing.

She needed to change the image that came up when he called.

“It’s good to see you, Ads.”

She stepped back from the hug. “You, too.”

“Now you’re a hotshot FBI agent.” He grinned. “So it’s not just me with a shield.”

“Mine is a badge.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He shoved her shoulder playfully.

“Any idea what cases the PD is handing over?” She waved at her empty desk. “I don’t think I’ve worked a day in my life as an agent without having a stack of case files. The first day on my first assignment, they handed me cases before I even sat down.”

“I’ve got fourteen opens on my desk.”

She winced. “I’ll swing by if you want a second set of eyes.”

Something flickered in his expression, and she realized she’d stepped out of bounds. He didn’t want help.

“Then again,” she said, “I’m probably about to get handed a box of files any second now and realize this free time is just an illusion.”

He smiled, the effect much dimmer than before. “I don’t know much about what you’re doing here, but I do know there are several open cases that seem to be connected.”

“I don’t get the feeling you guys are just stumped and can’t figure it out.”

His expression lost a fraction of its tightness. Hank hadn’t been this expressive before. He needed to figure out how not to give away his thoughts so much if it was real. She’d crafted a blank expression a long time ago. For when people insisted on asking her questions, she never in a million years wanted to answer.

It had served her well when she worked cases that involved individuals who performed reprehensible acts until she was burned out and unable to filter her reactions.

That thought made her think this was for sure a punishment. Had someone read the report so quickly they’d seen what happened to her—and why—and sent her here to deal with putting the past to rest finally?

“That doesn’t look good.” Hank settled on the edge of the desk. “But enough about work. You wanna tell me about that over dinner with me?”

Was he asking her out?

Before Addie could think if that was a good idea or not, he continued, “Have you seen Jake yet?”

Word hadn’t gotten around about Jake and the hit-and-run yesterday.

Addie pushed the hair back from her face. She needed to find her hair tie and make a ponytail, or she’d look like she’d been dragged backward through a hedge before lunch.

“You have.”

She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

Just the best hug she’d had in years. Addie let out a long sigh.

“Girl, you been back in town like five minutes. There’s already a Jake thing?”

Addie rolled her eyes. There would always be a Jake thing, no matter if it had been five minutes or five thousand years. “If I’ve got cases coming, then I should do a daily Bible reading on the app now, or I’m not going to survive being back here.”

She might not have gone to church much the last fifteen years, but she knew where the help came from.

He tipped his head back and laughed.

Addie shoved his shoulder. “It’s not funny. You don’t know faith is serious business?” She made a face and shoved him off his seat. “That desk is my space. Don’t get your jeans all over it.”

Hank didn’t quit laughing.

She shoved him to the door and opened it for him. Tried to figure out how to hit him in the butt with it and not break the glass.

A man stood on the other side. Hank jumped back and to the side. “Mr. Mayor.”

Hank nodded and as soon as the suited man entered, he slipped out. One glance back and he mouthed, Good luck.

Addie frowned and closed the door. The mayor wasn’t someone she recognized, but she hadn’t cared who sat in what chair in town as a teen. Just that she wore that homecoming crown. These days she’d rather garner zero notice.

The mayor crossed the room. His leather shoes clipped against the tile floor. Hands in his pockets. Silk tie that probably cost as much as her rent.

He pulled out one hand, and they shook. “Simeon Olivette.”

“Addie Franklin, Sir.” Ugh. She was going to have to break her lease. Live with a Benson address again. Her life sucked. And why that was finally hitting her now, she had no idea.

“Russ has a lot of good things to say about you.” He wore a mustache over thin lips. Gray temples made her think of the men’s hair dye that left some gray, so it didn’t look like you were overcompensating.

“I’ll have to thank him.”

“We have a problem, Special Agent Franklin.”

Somehow, she didn’t think it was exactly her problem. Just that she was here so he could make it her problem.

“Lately we’ve had a rash of unexplained deaths. Some with the odd distressing characteristics.” He sighed. “The police have done what they can, but you come highly recommended. I’m hoping you can shed some light on what’s happening here before it goes public and people start to panic. I’m sure you of all people can sympathize with the epidemic of fear. It affects all of us.”

“Of course.” For once someone wasn’t digging for information on her experience. Instead, he lumped her in with everyone so that she was no different than the residents who hadn’t come face-to-face with a killer. They’d been safe at home watching news reports and praying they weren’t next.

She had been next. And she had the scars to prove it.

Zimmerman had told her she was uniquely qualified for this. She understood things about dangerous crime that the average cop only reported on. They, hopefully, would never live it.

Addie squared her shoulders. “None of us wants the public to panic unnecessarily. I’m here to do everything I can to figure this out.”

He nodded. “With your expertise and background, I’ve been assured you’re the right person for this job.” He clipped to her and held out his hand again. “If you need anything, go ahead and let my assistant know.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll let the chief know he can have those files sent over.”

“Thank you, sir.”

She watched him leave and tried not to jump up and down with glee. Once again, she couldn’t help thinking that nineteen-hour nap must have loosened something in her. Whatever it was had been wound tight for years. It was that or being back in town that brought out a little of who she’d been before life beat her down. The idea of diving into work was a familiar salve on that wound.

Addie couldn’t be the teen she’d been, not if she was an FBI agent here. She’d be the professional she was.

Being in Benson wasn’t going to turn back time. She’d been an adult for years, but no one here saw that. They only knew the teen was then. Which meant she needed to prove who she was now—so they’d all see.

Minutes later a train of uniformed agents headed for her door. Addie held it open and watched them file across the hall with cardboard boxes. Coming from the police department across the hall into her tiny office. They had nearly seventy-five staff. Those with shields and those who worked for the department as civilians. She was supposed to hire an assistant, but only if she needed one.

If she needed backup immediately, she had to call PD. If she required personnel, the Seattle office would send agents to her. But the assistant director there had made it plain they had no one to spare unless it was an emergency, or she was compromised somehow.

“Special Agent Franklin.” One of the offers strode past.

“Hey, Officer Hummet. How are you today?”

A couple of the others looked over, like the two of them were a curiosity. Addie shook his hand. “Dumping all your work off on me. Is it cause I’m a girl?”

Hummet barked a laugh and lifted both hands. “I’m not touching that one”—he saluted—“ma’am.” He hurried to the door. “There are plenty more boxes to bring.”

Addie grinned. “Coward.”

Someone snorted. Addie figured the road to getting them on her side would be rocky but might be best served by bringing donuts. No, they’d think she was making fun because they were cops. Scones? Cupcakes? Something good. She’d have to find out if the bakery in town delivered.

Maybe a giant “Welcome to the FBI” cake, so it looked like she thought they worked for her now. Addie nearly laughed out loud at that thought. She’d have to find out if they could take a joke first.

A tall African American man rapped his knuckles on the doorframe. “Make it fast, people. We just got a call from the high school on Pinter. There was a scuffle in the lunchroom, and we’ve got multiple students injured and even more involved.”

“Yes, Captain.” A stocky man in slacks and a shirt dumped a box on top of another and spun around. “Let’s move out, people.”

He gave her a nod and headed for the door.

Addie grinned to herself alone in the office, now full of boxes. She’d done something detrimental coming home and taking that nap.

She was looking forward to this.