by K. T. Lee
“Parker. Why do I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before?” Dani asked.
Cam chuckled. “This guy is my brother and apparently, he’s also an FBI agent. Don’t worry, Dani, you’re not far behind. It was news to me this morning too. You’ve crossed paths with Dr. Ryland before, although I’m not sure if you remember her.”
Dani furrowed her eyebrows.
Ree smiled. “The Women in Science Symposium–two summers ago. It took me a few minutes to figure it out, too.”
Dani snapped her fingers. “That’s it! I remember now. You’re FBI?”
“Not exactly. I was caught in the middle of a bad situation that worked out for the best. I came here today to talk with Cam and Tyler. Tyler thought it’d be a good idea for me to stick around since we know each other.”
Dani’s hands relaxed a fraction. “Well, I’m glad to see a familiar face in the room, in any case.”
“And if you need me to teach you to shoot, I can,” Ree offered.
“I’m sorry?” Dani asked. She swallowed hard.
“A gun. I’m actually a pretty good shot. My parents were paranoid about my safety and my dad was in the military. I have a concealed carry permit and go to the gun range pretty regularly to practice. I’d be happy to take you with me if it’d be helpful for you.”
“Oh, wow. Um, thank you but I’m not really very comfortable with guns. Have you ever shot anyone with your gun?”
“Fortunately, I’ve never had to shoot anyone with my gun,” Ree said, but her eyes shifted to look at Parker. Odd. There was a story there, but it wasn’t the time to ask.
Cam punched Tyler lightly in the shoulder. Tyler responded with a smile and a wink at Dani. He’d looked out for her. Again. Despite her unfortunate circumstances, she’d made a couple of friends who weren’t to be underestimated.
Cam said, “I hate to put you through this, but before Ree offers to shoot anyone for you, we wanted to ask you a few questions about your experiences and about VacTech. I mean, if you’re up to it?”
Dani nodded. “I’m okay. Or I’ll be okay. Eventually. Questions. Let’s start with the questions,” Dani said, a flush of heat moving up her neck. She grasped for her poise, but it remained elusive. Ree excused herself while Cam fiddled with a projector to display pictures of the camp. Ree returned with two mugs and slid one over to Dani, who smiled gratefully and tipped the vessel Ree’s direction.
Alexis said to Ree in a stage whisper, “You, my friend, have a problem.”
“I’m afraid we have to agree to disagree. The FBI’s terrible choice in coffee beans is a problem. Drinking coffee, not so much,” Ree bantered back with a wave of her hand and then turned to face the image Cam had projected on the wall. Dani and Ree scrunched their noses in tandem when they took the first sip of the standard-issue bitter coffee.
Cam turned off the light and gave everyone some time to study the images. While Dani had been inside of the camp, her memories of it were limited to her own point of view. The images gave her precious context to process her experiences. Cam advanced to an image that pointed out a few key landmarks–Stanislav’s tent, Package Location, Package Extraction, and Access Road. That she was the package required no explanation. The CIA probably didn’t want to broadcast that they had picked up a person during a surveillance operation, even if that was hardly news to the people sitting in the room.
Mike was the first to speak. “What’s in the white building, Cam?”
Cam shook his head. “Don’t know. Dani, did you see or hear anything when you were on the ground?”
“I couldn’t see much,” Dani said, “but I heard the sound of a generator coming from that direction. I can’t be sure it came from that building, though.” Cam projected the next picture, a zoomed-in version of the last. The white shelter and the few surrounding tents now took up most of the wall in the conference room. There was more space than would be expected between the tents and the building, considering the occupancy of the camp.
Tyler made a note in his notebook and said, “It’s a start. We’ll check the audio. Did any of the men who brought you to the camp go in the building?”
“No, but I saw the men who captured me gesturing to it a few times.”
“Good work. That’s really helpful, Dani.” Tyler scribbled into a notebook. Dani responded with a small smile to Tyler’s gentle encouragement. She didn’t know what was in the building, but knowing it was important gave her something to focus on. Maybe a memory would make sense later and at least make her nightmares useful.
“Anything else you see that we might have missed? Or can you think of any other reason they might have taken you?” Cam asked. Dani shook her head. Tyler slid Dani a sandwich from the untouched pile in the center of the table. She unwrapped it, studying each pair of eyes staring at her. She shifted under the pressure of the uncomfortable silence. She looked at Cam, expectantly. There was something they weren’t telling her.
“What am I missing?” Dani asked, before taking a bite of her sandwich.
Tyler’s eyes were sympathetic as he said, “Dani, this isn’t going to be easy news to hear, but we’re investigating several leads that point back to VacTech.”
Dani chewed quickly and reached for the ceramic mug in front of her. She swallowed a large, hot gulp of coffee and squeaked out, “VacTech?”
“We don’t think your father has anything to do with this,” Tyler said. “We’ve conducted a background check and our preliminary investigation indicates he’s not involved.”
“Background check? Investigation? I was the one who was kidnapped! Why were you investigating my father?”
* * *
Ree managed not to roll her eyes at the clumsy explanation. After a solid month of working closely with Mike, she doubted Tyler was trying to irritate their witness on purpose. She explained, “Sometimes they have to do some due diligence on the people they don’t think are guilty to cross them off the list. It’s not personal, they just have procedures they have to follow. Also, then they don’t have to keep explaining to their counterparts why they don’t think someone is guilty.”
“Exactly. That’s what I said,” Tyler replied, and Ree bit her lip to hide her amusement.
“So, VacTech,” Ree said, steering Tyler back to the point he was trying to make.
“Yes. It isn’t the company in general, but rather an employee. We’ve traced some payments to a scientist in your group. They appear to be for automotive parts, but they were routed through some unusual channels. He’s a biologist and we didn’t see a shop at his house. So, that sent up a flag. One of our analysts made the connection when we picked you up.”
“Oh, Bruce?” Dani asked. “He works on the parts at his cousin’s house. He applies chrome to parts. It can get pretty expensive, so it’s a nice side job for him to make some extra money. But what does that have to do with VacTech?”
Tyler scribbled on a piece of paper and Cam nodded.
“Maybe nothing, Dani.” Tyler looked up from his notes. “We’re just chasing down loose ends, unusual phone calls, things like that. We just want to make sure that all of this won’t follow you back to VacTech.”
“That seems like a good idea. But, are there any steps we can take right now? Surely, there is something we can cross off of our list,” Dani said, her tone reverting to formal professionalism. It was a tactic Ree recognized and employed. When exhausted and stressed, stick to the facts. Dani spoke like a woman used to being in charge. It was evident by her even tone that Dani put a high value on poise and planning, no easy thing to maintain in the midst of her present circumstances.
“We do some digging, spend some time at VacTech, and let you back in once we’re sure it’s safe,” Tyler answered easily. This process would be uncomfortable for Dani, but the rest of the team was used to working with less information than was ideal.
“You mean I have to wait in the safe house for you guys to figure out the who, the what and the where? In my labs? With my team? When there�
��s a kidnapper on the loose? What if one of my people gets hurt because I’m not there?”
“Dani, we can’t promise you’ll be safe if you’re anywhere else,” Tyler replied.
Ree leaned back and waited for the inevitable. She was no FBI agent but she was a good judge of character. If she wasn’t mistaken, Dani was on the verge of cracking, but the fierce protectiveness Dani felt for her people was going to nudge her into action. When Ree was faced with working with the FBI or waiting somewhere safe for it to blow over, the decision had been an easy one.
Dani rubbed her temples. Her tone was polite but determined. “Look, when it was just me, I was fine playing along and waiting it out. But I can’t sit around in safety after finding out my people might be in danger. It’s not right. I’m responsible for them.”
“We need your father’s cooperation. I can’t imagine he’ll be okay with this,” Cam said.
Dani raised an eyebrow. “My father taught me to care about other people. I’m sure you don’t clear it with every CEO when you work undercover. My guess is that you do your work as quietly as possible and my situation is no different.” Cam and Tyler exchanged a look. “Look, guys. I know you’ve been tiptoeing around the facts. However, even without knowing what you know, it’s obvious that whoever is behind this was willing to kidnap and follow me or worse. If we don’t find them, they might find someone else in my place. And if they come after me again, we have a chance to play offense.”
“Are you—,” Cam began.
Dani cut Cam off with a wave. “I don’t have the luxury of figuring out if I’m okay with this. The real question is–how are we going to figure this out?” Cam looked to Tyler, who shrugged. Ree nodded approvingly but then stilled. Neither of them looked especially happy, despite their lack of argument. She didn’t want to add to their annoyance.
Tyler closed his notebook. “We’ll look into it.”
The agents split up to follow up on the myriad of loose ends from Cam’s surveillance and Dani’s kidnapping. Cam and Parker went into the hallway, and Ree tried to focus on the map on the conference room table instead of eavesdropping on their conversation. Dani tapped her foot impatiently and Tyler leaned over his laptop, filling out an electronic form with a quiet efficiency. Cam and Parker were just far enough away that Ree couldn’t hear their words, even though she could see them through the open door. Parker had his arms crossed and was nodding in response to Cam’s explanation but inexplicably began to frown. His hands moved to his sides and his fists clenched as he continued to listen. The two brothers mirrored each other in every other way, which told her…nothing.
“Ree, did you hear my question?” Dani asked and Ree shook her head. Dani raised her eyebrows and Ree shrugged. Couldn’t blame a girl for trying to figure out what was happening. While neither brother seemed eager to get the daughter of a prominent businessman involved in a high stakes investigation, her demand to stay involved would actually help them. Alexis joined the men and slugged Parker in the shoulder. She grinned at Cam, who looked back at the conference room. When the men reentered the room, Ree raised an eyebrow at Parker, who made a noise that could only be described as a cross between a grumble and a growl.
“You’re in,” Cam said, and Dani nodded.
Dani gave a small smile. “Thank you.”
“You can thank me when this is over and no one gets hurt. Until then, we’ve got some work to do.”
With that quick change of course, Tyler shut his laptop with an air of finality. It sounded simple to just send Dani back to work, but the sheer volume of paperwork to make it happen was going to take most of the afternoon and evening. Ree stayed to help sift through evidence with Mike until the sun went down. It was all they could do until the following Monday, when Dani would tell a white lie about having her father’s blessing and return to work a few days earlier than planned. The FBI team would cover Dani to allow Cam and Tyler to chase down loose ends in Europe.
Checking her watch, Ree confirmed it was time for her to leave. She had a mechanics of materials course to teach the following morning. She allowed herself one last look at the conference table covered in loose paper and paused for a moment to be grateful she wasn’t the one who had to make sense of this mess.
In the hallway, Parker pulled her hand into his. “Hey, thanks for sticking around to help with this case.”
“Sweetie, all I did is what you guys do every single day. Consider this another eight hours of pro bono FBI work a thank you.” Ree leaned in to give Parker a kiss on the cheek and then checked for her keys in her purse. “But, I do need to be getting back.”
Parker winced. Alexis poked her head out of the conference room and said, “She’s in?”
Parker gave her a silent look of exasperation and she mouthed “whoops” before ducking back inside the conference room.
“Parker…” Ree said, shooting him a warning look.
Parker rubbed the back of his neck. “They want your help. Specifically, Dani would be more comfortable with your help.”
“But I know nothing about her research, Parker. Scientists and engineers aren’t interchangeable, honey. You know that.” Forgetting where she was for a moment, she ran her hand through his short, dark blond hair.
“Yeah, but she trusts you. And technically, this is an FBI operation while we’re on American soil. We have jurisdiction because we’ve technically been asked to lead the VacTech investigation.”
“That’s a lot of ‘technically.’ So, what’s the CIA going to do over in Europe while you’re watching Dani?”
“Don’t know, babe. They don’t usually tell us much. But we’re talking to each other and that’s a start. Cases like this don’t come along every day, which means we’ll have to figure it out as we go. How do you feel about a week or two off from work for a family emergency?”
“Parker, that’s a lot of time.” Ree thought of her students, her research, and the impact of missing that much work. Then she considered the implications of not helping. She rolled her neck and winced.
“You can come up this weekend and we’ll get someone to cover your classes while you’re out,” Parker said. “If you’d rather not, that’s okay too. In fact, I’d be happy to keep you out of the line of fire. But, Ree, I should do the right thing and remind you what she went through. She’s a lot more willing to have around-the-clock company if her guard has a few women she knows in it. Which leaves you and Alexis.”
“If I say no?”
“If you say no, it’ll be an adjustment for Dani, but we’ll find someone else. We have other female agents that can chip in. No problem.”
Ree squeezed Parker’s hand and peeked into the conference room where Dani was watching for her answer. Unlike Ree, Dani’s eyes were framed by deep purple circles and held the kind of pain that any decent human being couldn’t ignore. She’d put on a good show just a few hours earlier, but her façade was beginning to crack. Ree couldn’t just walk away. If she’d been the one kidnapped, waiting in limbo for her kidnappers to do God knows what, she’d want someone she could trust on her side.
“Okay, I’ll do it. Give me a few days to get things sorted out and I’ll go up with you. I can give you a week.”
15
“Holy crap, it’s so cold here!” Ree shouted to Dani over the noise of the wind whipping snow into her face. Of course, when the FBI dragged her back into a case, it had to be in Minnesota. Spring had come in Indiana, but Minneapolis had apparently not gotten the memo. The next time she got roped into an FBI assignment, it had better be in St. Lucia. Or Hawaii. She was flexible like that. Ree sunk into her coat as much as was possible, given the wind’s determination to rip her coat’s hood off her head. She slammed the car door and jogged into the lobby of the sleek downtown apartments behind Dani, followed closely by Alexis, Mike, and Parker.
Dani unlocked the door to let them inside her apartment. As they all shed their coats, Dani discreetly eyed the small space, then the large crew that had just filed in be
hind her. It was hard to miss her perusal. Mike answered her unasked question. “Don’t worry. I’m staying next door and Parker and Ree are in the apartment under yours.”
“Just like that?” Dani asked. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
“More or less. It turns out the downstairs apartment was empty and your next-door neighbor was selling her place. We were able to rush some paperwork through. You aren’t completely surrounded by FBI agents, but we did what we could.” He gave her an awkward pat on the back, the Mike equivalent of a hug.
“Wow–that was quick. So, who is coming with me to work and under what pretext?” Dani asked. Ree nodded approvingly. Dani had already figured out she couldn’t drag all four of them into her office without raising suspicions, so her head was in the right place.
Mike said, “Cam is working on our covers right now. We’re going to send in Ree first. We’re going to have to do this thing in shifts, and we’re holding Parker in the wings until we have a better idea of who the suspect is.”
“Yeah, they’re sending in the second string first,” Ree said to Dani, with a conspiratorial wink. Mike snorted, but there was a ring of truth to her humor. They needed to be able to pull her if things got too dangerous, and sending her in first would save the actual FBI agents for the really hairy situations.
“And Alexis?” Dani asked.
Parker looked up from texting on his phone. “She’s in charge of your off-hours and will be staying with you. We can’t have her popping up too many places without suspicion. Cam just sent me Ree’s cover information. She will accompany you into your lab by posing as an auditor hired by the foundation. If your dad catches wind of what we’re doing, we’ll need to read him in, but we’re trying to keep as many people out of this as possible. How involved is he in your day-to-day?”
Dani paused to consider the question. “With work? Not very. I present to him as often as the other research leads, which is about every quarter. But with…everything…he might hover a little more. The last time I was home, I’d just been kidnapped and my family circled the wagons. My family is very close and they could get suspicious.”
