Page 20 of Shattered Truth (Off The Grid: FBI #15)

"We can't get into details," he interrupted, not wanting Haley to give away too much. "Did you know Landon as well, Mr. Vance?"

"No. I didn’t go to Westbridge. But I've heard a lot about him from Brooke. He was important to her. Sometimes, that makes me a little jealous. Not easy to compete with a saint."

"Landon wasn't a saint, just a good guy," Brooke said quickly.

"He impressed a lot of people who knew him, that's for sure," Kyle said. "I work with Drew Sanderson. He was also a big fan of your brother."

"What do you do?" Matt asked.

"Financial analysis," Kyle said. "Are you nearly done? I need to steal Brooke away for a few minutes."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more help," Brooke said. "It was good to see you again, Haley. I hope...you find whatever it is you're looking for."

"I don't know what to think about her," Haley said as soon as they were alone. "She was very convincing about loving Landon and feeling guilty, but I think she was lying when she told me they were going to take a trip to Costa Rica."

"Why?"

"Because Landon was a germophobe. He was freaked out about tropical diseases, especially mosquito-borne diseases, because he always got bitten.

When he learned in high school that mosquito bites can kill you, he was constantly spraying himself down whenever he went outside.

Trekking through the jungle of Costa Rica?

There's no possible way that was his dream vacation. "

"Maybe he was willing to risk a mosquito bite for his very attractive girlfriend."

"I don't buy it. I think she was lying. In my experience, when I stumble upon a truth, it's usually because of a small lie someone didn't think would matter."

"Like the simple question of what were you planning to do after graduation."

"Exactly. But when Brooke started talking about how she could have prevented his death, it felt like she was being real, so I'm confused. What do you think?"

"Brooke knows more than she's saying. I'm also interested in her new boyfriend, Kyle Vance, who works with Drew Sanderson, Landon's fraternity big brother.

The Westbridge gang has stayed close. Let's see who else is here.

With Jill and Brooke running this thing, I could see some of those other guys showing up. "

As they reentered the building, Jill immediately came toward them. "Haley Kenton?" she asked. "I'm Jill Adler. I don't know if you remember me."

"I remember you," Haley said.

"Brooke just told me you were here. I couldn't believe it. How are you?"

"I'm doing all right. This is a lovely event. I understand Brooke works for you."

"She does. We started working together last year." Jill turned to him with an inquisitive smile. "And I understand you're an FBI agent."

"Matt Lawson," he said, shaking her hand.

"And you came here to talk to Brooke about Landon? Something about his death not being an accident?"

It was clear that Brooke had made a beeline for Jill as soon as she and her boyfriend had left them. That was interesting. Why the pressing need to fill her in so quickly? Had Brooke wanted to warn Jill about something?

"How well did you know Landon?" he asked.

"Not particularly well. He was in my brother Trent's fraternity, and we partied together a few times. Trent and my cousin, Henry, were devastated by Landon's death. It was so sad and shocking."

"Are Trent and Henry here today?"

"Trent is supposed to be. I haven't seen him yet. Can I ask why you're here now, wanting to talk about Landon's death? Has something happened?"

"We have some new evidence. But I can't get into it."

"All right. I understand this is important, but this is also a charity event, one crucial to raising money for the Children's Hospital. I would request that you be as respectful as possible. You're not planning to arrest anyone, are you?"

"Is there someone I should arrest?" he countered.

"Of course not. I just don't want the event to be disrupted in any way. I hope that doesn't sound callous, because, of course, I want you to find out what happened to Landon. I just don't think anyone here can help you."

"We're just asking a few questions. I doubt anyone will be concerned or bothered, unless they have something to feel guilty about," he said.

Anger sparked in her eyes, but she had a tight grip on her composure, and her expression returned to neutral very quickly. "Then I won't worry. Thank you for the reassurance. Excuse me."

"She's strung tight," he commented.

"And Brooke filled her in very quickly. If we were hoping to take anyone by surprise, that opportunity has vanished. Should we try the patio and see who's out there?"

"Sure," he said as they moved toward the main patio where the silent auction was being held next to a crowded bar area. "Do you want something to drink?" He suddenly paused, his gaze catching on a familiar face. "What is she doing here?"

"Who?" Haley asked.

"The woman with the dark-red hair in the tan dress," he replied. "That's someone I used to work with—Shari Drummond." He moved forward to cut Shari off, and her expression stiffened when she saw him.

"Matt," she said in surprise. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Likewise. Are you working, or is this pleasure?"

"Pleasure. I love art."

"I didn't know that about you," he commented.

She shrugged. "I guess it didn't come up. Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"This is Haley Kenton. Agent Shari Drummond. We worked together until a few days ago."

"Nice to meet you," Haley said.

"You, too."

"I'm going to get us some drinks," Haley interrupted. "I'll be back."

He wasn't sure why Haley had left, but he was happy to have a moment alone with Shari.

"Are you dating her?" Shari asked curiously. "She's pretty."

"No. She's a…friend," he said, stumbling a little over the word.

Shari caught that immediately, giving him a questioning smile. "Really? Why don't I believe you?"

"You should believe me, because it's true. Do you remember when I asked you about a woman named Sabrina Lin?"

"Yes. The woman who called the office looking for you and ended up dead in the park. I remember. Why?"

"Well, she apparently did speak to someone in the office, someone who told her that the information she had regarding an old murder at Westbridge University wasn't of interest to the Bureau.

You said she refused to talk to anyone but me and hung up.

I'm confused as to who she had a conversation with. "

"How do you know she talked to anyone else?"

"I have credible information that she did," he said carefully. "Any thoughts?"

She considered his question, not looking particularly concerned. "There were a couple of other agents in the office when I took the call. Bill and James were there. I think Bill asked me who I was talking to, and I said it was a woman wanting to speak to you. I didn't give him her name or number."

"But her number would have been logged into our system," he said.

"Sure, but I don’t know why he would have bothered to look it up. He didn't act that interested, and she didn't say why she wanted to talk to you." Shari paused. "Although Bill was always jealous of you getting the big cases. Maybe he thought this was an opportunity. What's going on?"

"I'm not sure, but something isn't adding up."

"All I know is that she asked for you, and I said you weren't there. She didn't want to speak to anyone else and hung up. Can you tell me more about what's going on? You mentioned a murder at Westbridge?"

"Yeah, it happened about six years ago."

"And that case is connected to the woman who called, the woman in the park."

"It looks that way."

"If I can help, I will. We may not be officially working together anymore, but you always had my back, and I had yours. I would like to hope that hasn't changed, Matt."

"It hasn't."

Relief entered her eyes. "Good. I'm going to miss working with you. I know you were frustrated with the lack of support on our last case. I hope you get more of that with Flynn's group."

"I hope so, too." He paused, giving her a speculative look. "Why are you really here?"

She gave him sly smile. "You know me too well. I'm working on something I can't talk about now that we're no longer partners. I guess neither one of us can be completely open anymore. That will take some getting used to. Before I go, tell me about Haley. Who is she?"

"She's a reporter at the Sentinel ."

"You're dating a reporter?" she asked with surprise.

"I said we were friends. I didn't say we were dating."

"Maybe that's just as well. It's difficult to believe an FBI agent and a reporter can have a relationship when one will surely want to ask questions the other can't answer."

"Like I said, she's a friend."

"Too bad. It's about time you had a woman in your life." Shari gave him a smile and a playful pat on the shoulder. "I'll see you around."

As Shari moved away, Haley returned with two glasses of sparkling water.

"I didn't know if you wanted something alcoholic, but I thought you might be thirsty," she said.

"This is perfect. Thanks," he said as he took the glass from her hand.

"I also thought you might want a moment alone with your ex-partner. That she might tell you something if I wasn't standing right next to you."

"Unfortunately, she did not. She still claims she told Sabrina I wasn't there and that was the end of the call, but she did mention there were other agents in the room, so I don't know. It doesn't add up, but I've never had a reason to doubt Shari. We worked together for a year."

"Does it seem odd to you that she's here, though?"

"She told me she's working on something."

"Do you believe her?"

"Well, she's part of the white-collar crime division, and there are a lot of CEOs wandering around, so it's possible." He paused as his gaze caught on the man stepping onto the patio with Jill. "Isn't that Trent Adler?"

"It is. And it looks like Jill is pointing him in our direction, which means she's not trying to hide him from us, which probably means he doesn't have anything to hide."

"Or the best defense is a good offense," he murmured.