Rachel turned to Carson and opened her mouth to ask a question. But Carson beat her to it, his patient and slightly concerned eyes already on her.

  “How are you doing, Agent Gift?”

  “I’m fine. Maybe a little tired.”

  Carson nodded, his eyes still boring into her. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not a young girl that needs to be placated, like Paige. I know the job, and I can’t even begin to imagine what it must feel like to know that you had Lynch right there. So let me ask you again…how are you?”

  There was a flicker of anger toward him, but it died instantly Still, when she answered she could feel some of that rage that had overcome her while standing in her father’s house, moments after Lynch had made his escape.

  “I’m pissed off and feeling slightly dangerous.”

  “Dangerous as in…?”

  “As in if I’d had the chance that night—just five more seconds—I don’t know that apprehending Lynch would have been high on my priorities list. If given the chance, I would have killed him instead.”

  “Well, it’s occurred to us that it may very well come down to that. There was a conference call this morning where we all went over what protection for your family looks like in the coming week…divvying out resources and whatnot. And your very own Director Anderson pointed out that it seems Lynch is becoming more brazen, more in-your-face.”

  “I agree. And it makes me think that we’re almost there…almost at the end of this. And because of that, I need to ask a lot of you, Agent Carson. I need you to be vigilant. I need you to be a superhero for Paige and my grandmother. Because the truth of that matter is that the last two times I’ve gone out on a case, Lynch has come out of hiding…not after me, necessarily, but people I care about. And it leads me to believe that—”

  “That you need to carry on as you have been,” Carson interrupted.

  She nodded. Of course, Carson had no idea that part of carrying on as she had been also involved living with a tumor in her head that she had no way of predicting. There had been no symptoms or debilitating pain over the course of the last two weeks, and she had started taking medication for it. And while she felt mostly normal, just knowing it was there, like a time bomb in her head, was a whole different, added weight.

  Carson looked toward the back of the apartment, where Paige and Grandma Tate had disappeared. “You know…I may be overstepping here, but I’ve spoken to your grandmother about the whole situation. And she completely agrees that the smart play is for you to try to stay at work…to play this thing out. It’s either pissing Lynch off and causing him to act or he simply doesn’t care. Either way, you’re not just sitting at home and waiting for him.”

  This relieved Rachel immensely. She’d felt like a terrible mother over the last several weeks, feeling as if she was putting her need to nail Lynch over the safety of her daughter and grandmother. To know at least one of them understood why she was doing it made a world of difference.

  “Does she seem to be doing okay?” Rachel asked.

  “Your grandmother? Yeah. She was really worried when I got the call about Lynch attacking your father. It took a while to get her calm. We had another agent come by for a few hours, a woman that specializes in trauma. It seemed to do the trick. She’s…well, she’s just like the rest of us. She wants this bastard caught.”

  “Thanks for all you’ve done,” she said, just as her cellphone began to ring. “Paige absolutely thinks the world of you.”

  “And she’s an incredible kid. She’s fine with it, too, you know. She thinks of you like a superhero.”

  Rachel smiled and felt a sting of tears as she reached into her pocket and took out her phone It started to ring for a third time as she read the caller display and saw that the call was from Jack.

  “Hold that thought,” she told Carson, wiping a tear away. She answered the call without bothering to get up and leave the room. At this point, Agent Carson was so deeply entrenched in her every move that she had no reason to hide anything from him. “Hello, Agent Rivers.”

  “Agent Riv…oh. Is there someone else there? Another agent?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ah, I see. Professionalism. Nice.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “Well, I told Anderson I’d call you on this one. He seemed to agree because of everything that’s going on…sort of a personal connection, I suppose. But there’s a case he wants us to check in on. Up in Alexandria, a body was discovered around a construction site. A woman’s body, in a makeshift coffin.”

  “Is it a recent murder?”

  “Fairly. The coroner’s report says the victim was killed less than a month ago…could be about a week. But based on a missing person’s report the governor’s family filed six weeks ago, it might be a little trickier.”

  “The governor’s family? What do they have to do with it?”

  “Because the most recent victim is Madeline Young.”

  “Madeline Young, as in the governor’s daughter?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Anderson wants us on it because of the proximity, right?” she asked. “He thinks it’ll be a prime opportunity to draw Lynch back out.”

  Jack sighed on the other line and eventually said, “You said it, not me.”

  “When does he want us out there?”

  “As soon as possible. But…are you even home yet? I know you said you were leaving Kentucky this morning.”

  “Yeah, I’m home. Just now getting settled back in.”

  “Well, this is your call. Anderson is fully prepared to send someone else with me if you don’t feel up to it.”

  It took less than five seconds for her to decide. She thought of her father being attacked, of his time spent in the hospital and the local PD keeping tabs on his home. She thought of both Grandma Tate and Paige, supporting her and understanding the need and reasons for her to keep working. She thought of the time bomb in her head, the unpredictable X-factor that could bring it all crumbing down at any moment.

  And she thought of Lynch…how he was getting more and more intentional. She thought of the feeling that everyone seemed to have—that whatever he was orchestrating was coming to an end, that he was ready for whatever final stage he’d already planned out. And if her continuing to work might help get them to that end faster, what choice did she have, really?

  “Do we have copies of the reports? The coroner and the police?”

  “We do. I’ll make sure they’re sent to you if you take this on.”

  “Can you pick me up in two hours?”

  “I can do that.”

  She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard a bit of joy in his voice. It was quite a chance; just six weeks ago, he was bemoaning the idea that she was still working because of her tumor. Now, though…well, a lot had changed in those five or six weeks.

  “I’ll see you then.”

  They ended the call and when she turned back to Carson, she saw the look of understanding on his face. They nodded almost politely to one another, both understanding what her taking on another case meant. For Carson, it meant more time to protect her family, more time to consider whether or not Alex Lynch would make another appearance.

  “Keep them safe,” she said, doing what she could to swallow down the sorrow in her voice.

  “Oh, it’s my pleasure. And you…well, you stay safe. This will all be over soon.”

  She nodded again because she did believe this. She just had no idea how it would end…and who might end up paying the price when all was said and done.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Jack was slightly amazed at just how together and attentive Rachel seemed to be when he picked her up. He did find it interesting that she came out the front door of the safehouse to meet him before he could even get out of the car. He supposed she saw it as one of many preventive measures to keep as few people from knowing where her family was staying as possible. When she got into the car, she even seemed to be in a good mood…and that was saying something, given the state of mind she’d been in over the past few weeks. Actually, he was pretty sure he’d only seen her in a positive mood a single time ever since learning about her cancer.

  “Last chance,” he said as she got into the car. “You’re sure you’re up for this?”

  “I am.”

  He nodded and then asked, “Would you be if the whole Alex Lynch thing wasn’t going on? If it was just you and your tumor, would you be as gung-ho about it?”

  “You know, I think I would.” And then, with a smile so bright it was almost disarming, she added: “My daughter thinks I’m some sort of a superhero. And I’m not about to let her see me quit.”

  Maybe it was just because he didn’t have kids and, quite frankly, wasn’t sure if he ever wanted them, but Jack didn’t quite understand this. Still, Rachel was in good spirits and that was enough for him. Well, that and the fact that he’d thought about their strange, random kiss about a million times in the week or so since it had happened. Maybe it was a little selfish, but he was excited to spend this time with her. More than that, he rather hoped it would orient things in a way that would include him in whatever the end of this entire Alex Lynch debacle might look like.

  “So,” Rachel said, not yet taking her phone out to pull up the records he’d sent over. “Madeline Young. I take it the governor’s family is doing what they can to keep it quiet? I don’t recall hearing anything at all about this on the news.”

  “That’s exactly what they’re doing,” Jack said. “At least, that’s how Anderson described it to me. The idea is that by keeping it quiet, the killer will be none the wiser. But given the state of the body and how it was found, I’m not sure how that’s going to work. Although, it’s been nearly forty-eight hours since there was a positive ID on the body, so apparently they know what they’re doing.”

  “So, I take it Anderson properly briefed you?”

  “He did. And immediately afterward, he asked if I thought you’d be up for it. I think he’s getting to the point where he legitimately feels bad for even thinking of sending you out—which is odd, given that he’s also a big supporter of the idea that you regularly working is what’s going to eventually help us to catch Lynch.”

  When she gave a curt nod to this, he could tell that any mention of catching Lynch was going to bother her now. She’d been so close—she’d had him right there and he’d still gotten away. He couldn’t imagine what sort of torture that must be causing her.

  “Well, he doesn’t need to feel bad,” she said after a brief silence. “It’s sort of a no-win situation for me. If I go out to work, I beat myself up about whether or not I’m a good mother. But if I just stayed at home while waiting for Lynch to strike again, or for the bureau or U.S. Marshals to bring him in, I’d go absolutely insane—especially while living in a house that isn’t even mine. Now…Alexandria is what? A little under two hours, right?”

  “Right.”

  “So let’s role-play. You be Anderson. Brief me.”

  Ignoring his childish and embarrassing little spark of excitement at hearing her mention role play, Jack ran through all he knew about the case. He’d essentially told her all the important details over the phone. On its face, it really was a cut and dry case. Still, he spent the first twenty minutes of the drive filling her in as they made their way out of Richmond.

  He told her about how a team of construction workers had come across a wooden crate of some kind that had served as a makeshift coffin. It had been discovered on a worksite where a string of condominiums were going up, in an area where the ground had already been dug up and disturbed. Because of the leveling work on the site, it was impossible to know just how deep (or shallow) the box had been buried underground. Other than that, and the coroner’s belief that the body had been in the coffin for at least a week or longer, that was the only information they had to go on.

  “Any way to know if the coffin was buried before or during construction?” she asked.

  “I asked the same thing. No one knows for sure. It’s something we should probably look into when we get there.”

  “Any clear cause of death?”

  “None that the coroner could find. No evidence of stabbing or blunt force trauma. That’s all we know for sure.”

  She thought about all of this for a while and then finally took her phone out. She was quiet as she read over the case files, staying in that state of silence for at least another twenty minutes or so. She made a few notes on an app on her phone and then looked out of the windows for a moment. Jack was pleased that things didn’t necessarily feel any different between them, but he couldn’t help but wonder how she felt about the unexpected kiss she’d given him a week ago. He wondered if she’d been thinking about it, too…and if not, what would Rachel think of him if she knew just how much he’d enjoyed it?

  She derailed this particular line of thought when she finally spoke up after nearly half an hour of silence. “I can’t believe he got away from me.”

  He’d been expecting this to come up and honestly wasn’t sure how to respond. He decided to at least do his best, though. “The way you explained it to me, your maternal instincts kicked in and you froze. I don’t think that’s anything to beat yourself up about.”

  “I know. And I think I’ve come to terms with that. Right now, I’m wrestling more with the idea that this man has so much control over my life…over my family. I’ve got this stupid tumor in my head that seems to be on vacation right now, but Alex Lynch is just as cancerous. I just…I just need a break.”

  Jack had to fight the impulse to reach out and take her hand. God, he hated feeling like this about her. He wasn’t stupid enough to mistake it for love, but he also knew the respect he had for her and the way he knew how strong she was made it much more than just a harmless crush.

  “Well, at the risk of sounding cheesy, you know I’m here for you, right?”

  “I know. There’s no way in hell I could go out on a case right now if I wasn’t with you. Now…why a makeshift coffin? Why not just bury the body in a hole?”

  He couldn’t help but smile. There was no transition at all. She swerved the conversation to the mildly touching to business-as-usual. He thought he understood it perfectly, though. In order for her to get that break she’d mentioned, business-as-usual might be the only thing to get them there.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Rachel made a quick series of phone calls on the way to Alexandria and, as a result, set them up with their first interview as soon as they arrived at the site where the body of Madeline Young had been found. The man’s name was Frank Eaves, a man in his early thirties. When they arrived, Frank was sitting on a concrete culvert pipe that had not yet been placed into the ground, He was sipping on a can of soda and smoking a cigarette. A yellow, scuffed-up hard hat sat in the crook of his legs. Rachel was well aware of the several other construction workers that were eyeing them as they made their way over to Frank.

  “You two the agents?” Frank asked before either of them could say anything.

  “Yes, we’re the FBI agents,” Rachel said. “Agents Gift and Rivers. And you’re Frank Eaves?”

  “That’s me. My supervisor said you guys were coming. Pulled me to the side about twenty minutes ago. And I’m really sorry, but I don’t know anything about that body.”

  “But you’re the one that found it, right?” Rachel asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Show us where please.”

  Frank took a long drag from his cigarette before tossing it to the ground and stamping it out with his foot. “Yeah, it was right over here.”

  He walked about fifteen feet away from the pipe to the edge of what Rachel assumed was a pile of material to be thrown away or otherwise discarded. The hole was plain to see, an almost rectangular shape right in the ground.

  “And you dug it up, right?” Jack asked.

  “Well, another worker of mine used the bulldozer to get it started. When we realized what it was we were seeing, we stopped and called the cops.”

  “How did you even find out it was there in the first place?”

  “I tossed a busted piece of rebar over there. It landed in a way that sort of dug up some of the earth.”

  “So it was shallow, then?”

  “Yeah. No more than six inches. But then again, this ground has been knocked down and dug up and leveled…so there’s no telling how deep that thing was buried originally.”

  “And have you spoken to any police other than the ones that arrived on the scene when you called it in?”

  “No. The same two cops have sort of been hovering around.” He pointed over to two large work trucks parked on the opposite side of the site. There was a single police cruiser also parked over there hidden by the trucks and a loader. “One of them is over there talking with my supervisor.”

  “Any idea what they’re talking about?” Jack asked.

  “No. But after we found the body, we had to shut the site down for two days. This is the first day back on the job, and it’s with a smaller crew—as you can see.”

  “Mr. Eaves, do you know the identity of the body?” Rachel asked. She wanted to see just how tight of a lid remained on the news, given that the governor was trying to keep it all very quiet.

  “No clue. And when I asked the cops, you would have thought I’d called the guy a name and kicked him right in the balls. He was adamant that I not even ask.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Eaves.”

  They left Frank Eaves and headed over to the two work trucks. As they drew closer, Rachel could see a cop speaking with a short, stout man in a button-down shirt and jeans. The cop was wearing his uniform blues. As they got even closer, Rachel spotted the shield emblem on his left breast, indicating that he was either a Sergeant or Captain.

 

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