Page 6 of Shattered Truth (Off The Grid: FBI #15)

Chapter Four

Matt arrived at his new office shortly after his meeting with Haley Kenton.

After parking in the underground garage of a nondescript building in Santa Monica that no one would suspect housed one of the FBI's most successful special units, he headed upstairs, where Flynn MacKenzie introduced him to a mix of agents, analysts, cyber techs, and support staff, mentioning that there were eight other agents working in the field on various cases or not currently in the office.

Everyone was welcoming and friendly, but also all business, which was fine with him.

He had a murder case to solve. He'd spent time last night with Derek Blake, their chief tech.

They'd gotten Haley Kenton's name and address but very little else.

Now that he had Sabrina's phone, he hoped Derek could get it open and they could pick up a new lead.

It did appear that Sabrina's death could be connected to Landon Kenton, Haley's brother, but he also still wanted to know why Sabrina had called him.

He hadn't found any connections between them.

But they had to have someone in common, someone who would have given her his name, who would have told her to only trust him.

"Matt, you're here," Jason Colter said with a welcoming smile. "I heard you started last night. Homicide in the park. Way to hit the ground running."

"It's the only way I know how to hit the ground," he said dryly, happy to see one familiar face.

He'd worked with Jason on a case about a year ago, before Jason had left the LA field office to work with Flynn's team.

He'd always thought Jason was a smart, insightful, proactive agent who deserved all the accolades he'd been given.

He'd also appreciated the fact that Jason had never wanted to trade on his family name to get ahead.

He'd wanted to make his own path, away from the illustrious FBI careers of his father and grandfather.

"Have you met Agent Andi Hart?" Jason asked as a dark-eyed brunette sipping coffee joined them.

"We just did," Andi said. "I understand you two know each other from the LA office."

"Matt is one of the best," Jason said.

"I would assume so, since Flynn only hires the best," Andi said with a smile. "Speaking of Flynn, he wants us to meet in the conference room in ten minutes to get up to speed on your case, Matt."

"Great. I need to speak to Derek first. I'll see you in there."

After leaving them, he headed into the tech center, which was filled with the latest and greatest technology equipment that more than matched what was available in the LA Field Office.

There were multiple monitors and servers humming, and what appeared to be enough computer power to break into any system.

The man sitting in front of one of those monitors was Derek Blake. In his early thirties, Derek was thin, intense, and with the pale complexion of someone who spent a lot of time in this windowless room.

"I got Sabrina Lin's phone," he said shortly, already having learned that Derek wasn't into casual conversation. "It's locked."

"That won't stop me from opening it." Derek took the phone from his hand, his fingers moving across the touchscreen. A moment later, he said, "Got it."

"That was fast."

"Really? I thought I was a little slow," Derek said, hooking the phone up to the computer so they could look at Sabrina's texts on the monitor.

As he and Derek read through the thread from the unknown A , it became clear that this other person was aware Sabrina was looking into something dangerous and warned her to drop it more than once.

Sabrina said she couldn't stop without knowing the truth.

Neither one mentioned specifically what they were discussing.

But one thing was clear: the person who had texted Sabrina felt like a concerned friend, and he needed to talk to her.

He pulled out the chair next to Derek, reading through the other texts while Derek tracked A' s phone number.

None of the other threads seemed to have anything to do with Sabrina's work or her death.

They were about Pilates classes, someone's bachelorette party, and a few texts from family members, making him feel for the loved ones in her life, who had just gotten the worst notification they could ever imagine.

"The phone number traces to Alanna Morris, an attorney at Hartwell and Associates," Derek said. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he put Alanna's name in their system. "Looks like she graduated from Westbridge Law School, same as our victim."

His pulse jumped. Another Westbridge connection. "I need her contact information."

"Texting you her business and personal address now."

"Thanks," he said. "Are you coming to the conference room?"

"Nope," Derek said. "But I'm here for whatever you need."

"Got it."

When he entered the conference room, Flynn, Jason, and Andi were waiting for him. At Flynn's request, he went over his conversation with Haley and the possible connection between Sabrina Lin and Landon Kenton's death at Westbridge University. Then he got into Alanna Morris and her text message.

"How can we help?" Jason asked when he was done talking.

"I'd like to head over to Ms. Morris's office now and speak to her in person. I need someone to work with Derek to see what else might be on Sabrina's phone. We also need to dig into her employer, the cases she was working on, and if there's a tie between those cases and Westbridge University."

"I don't know about her cases," Jason said.

"But Graham Adler, the senior partner and founder of Adler and Briggs, is a Westbridge University alum, and his son Henry graduated from there a few years ago.

My father was friends with Graham, and I belong to the same country club as the Adlers.

I'd be happy to go with you when you're ready to meet with them. "

"Good. Let's do that after I speak to Alanna. I want to chase her down before she gets spooked and runs, unless that's already happened."

"Text me when you're done," Jason said with a nod. "In the meantime, I'll go through the boxes our team brought back from Sabrina's apartment this morning."

"Perfect."

"I'll look into Landon Kenton's death," Andi offered. "I have a friend at LAPD who might be able to offer more insight than what we can find in their files."

He was more than happy to have a team ready to jump in with little direction. "I'll touch base after I speak to Alanna Morris."

Alanna's employer, Hartwell and Associates, was located in a three-story office building in Culver City.

The commercial neighborhood was middle-class, with a mix of offices and retail space.

Matt parked on the street and was almost at the entrance to Alanna's building when he saw a woman approaching from the opposite direction.

They reached the door at the same time and the annoyance he felt was reflected in her blue gaze as their eyes met.

"What are you doing here, Agent Lawson?" she asked, a breathless note in her voice.

"I was going to ask you the same question, Haley." How the hell had she figured out who A was without Sabrina's phone?

"I'm following a lead," she said, squaring her shoulders as she gave him a defiant look.

"Is that lead Alanna Morris?"

"Yes. I think she's the woman who sent Sabrina that warning text. She went to Westbridge Law School at the same time as Sabrina, and they've seen each other socially over the past few years."

"How do you know that?"

"Internet research. Social media connections, law school class lists, timeline matching." She shrugged. "It's what I do."

He was impressed, but he was also troubled that she hadn't called him with the information. "I thought you were going to reach out to me if you found anything. That was the deal for not taking you in, remember?"

"I haven't found anything yet. I don't even know for sure if Alanna was the one texting with Sabrina."

"She was."

"You got her phone open," Haley said, a new gleam in her eyes. "What else did you learn? Did Sabrina know how my brother died? Did she say who was involved?"

"No. The text messages between Sabrina and Alanna were cryptic, no details, just concern about getting involved in something they never explicitly talked about."

She gave him a speculative look. "Is that true or just what you're telling me?"

"It's both."

"Then we need to talk to her."

" I need to talk to her," he corrected. "You need to let me handle this."

Haley immediately shook her head. "You need me."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm the link, Agent Lawson. I know Westbridge. Alanna and Sabrina went there, and the information Sabrina had for me was about my brother. Alanna will be more willing to talk to me than to you."

"You might be the last person she wants to talk to if your brother got Sabrina killed."

Her lips tightened. "I'm speaking to her. You can't stop me."

He could stop her, but she had made a fair point, and he was more interested in getting information than fighting with her. "Fine. You can come with me, but I'll take the lead."

"Got it, boss," she said with a sarcastic edge to her voice. "You lead; I follow. Do you want me to open the door for you so you can go in first?"

She was definitely more of a smart-ass now than she'd been this morning. He grabbed the handle and opened the door for her. "After you. My grandfather told me to never let a woman open a door for herself if I'm standing right there."

"He sounds like a charming man; nothing at all like you."

He couldn't help but smile. "He would agree with that assessment."

"Is he still alive?" she asked as they walked through an empty lobby to the elevator.

"Sadly, no."

"It's weird," she said as she pushed the button for the elevator.

"What's weird?"

"To hear a man talk about his grandfather teaching him something."

"That's strange?"

"To me it is, but I don't know much about families."

He wanted to ask her what she meant by that cryptic comment, but the elevator doors were opening, and it was time to focus on work.

Stepping into the lobby of Hartwell and Associates, he gave the older woman sitting at the desk a brief smile. "I'm Special Agent Matt Lawson," he said, showing her his badge. "I'm here to see Alanna Morris."

The woman stiffened. "Oh. Okay. I'll see if she's free. Can I tell her what this is about?"

"Just tell her it's important."

She got up from behind her desk and scurried down the hall. A moment later, she returned with a petite brunette in her early thirties, who gave him a wary look. "I'm Alanna Morris. Can I help you?"

"Is there somewhere we can speak in private?" he asked.

Alanna hesitated, her gaze moving from him to the very curious receptionist, to Haley, and then back to him. "I was just going to grab a coffee across the street," she said finally. "We can talk on the way."