The Girl Who Saw Too Much (The Firth Twins' Series Book 1)

by Athena Floras

  “I told you, he is out on a case. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

  Eric huffed. “You told us he’d be back in half an hour.”

  Officer Reynolds shrugged, with a snide grin. “I was wrong.”

  Eric cocked his eyebrow. “All right, then who is second in command when Sheriff Snyder isn’t around?”

  “That would be Deputy Chief Carlson,” Officer Reynolds said with shifting eyes as if he had to contemplate his answer.

  “Fine, then get us Deputy Chief Carlson.”

  “Deputy Chief Carlson isn’t in his office either.”

  “Well then why don’t you page him and see when he’ll be back.”

  “Fine, I will, right after I finish with this document.” He glided his hand across what Eric surmised to be a police report about a car accident. “Fender Bender” caught his eye in the remarks.

  Eric waggled his brow. “I don’t think I made myself clear. Either you call Deputy Chief Carlson now, or I will.” He motioned to the phone resting beside the deputy. A sticky label with Deputy Chief Carlson typed on it was pasted onto one of the buttons, so was Sheriff Snyder.

  The deputy pulled the phone toward him. “Fine, I’ll call him.” He picked it up and was about to push the button when Eric shook his index finger at him. “No, call him through the speaker phone.”

  “What for?” Deputy Reynolds grumbled.

  “Because I want to hear what he tells you.”

  The deputy shook his head and crossed his arms. “Just because you are FBI agents that doesn’t mean you have a right to come in our station and boss us around. You have no jurisdiction here.”

  Eric offered him a wide daring grin. “True. We have no jurisdiction here. But we are also civilians and came here for a service, which you are not providing. I’m sure Sheriff Snyder or Deputy Chief Carlson wouldn’t be pleased to hear about this.”

  “I haven’t mistreated you. I told you Sheriff Snyder was out on a case and you wanted to wait until he got back. It’s not my fault it’s taking longer than expected.”

  Eric said through his clenched teeth. “Will you just call the deputy chief for Christ’s sake!”

  The deputy waved his hand in surrender. “Okay. Okay. You win.”

  He tapped the hands-free button right after he touched Deputy Chief Carlson’s line. It rang twice before a husky male voice responded. “Deputy Chief Carlson speaking.”

  Deputy Reynolds glared at Eric when he said, “Yeah, Deputy Chief, I got FBI Agent Firth standing beside me.”

  Eric spoke close to the phone speaker. “Yeah, Deputy Chief Carlson, I know we should have called before showing up here, but would it be possible if we could have just ten minutes of your time?”

  There was a moment of silence before the deputy chief replied, “Sure. It’s not a problem. Deputy Reynolds, send them into my office.”

  The look of panic crossed the deputy’s eyes as he hung up quickly. Eric shook his head and growled. “I thought you said he wasn’t in his office.”

  The deputy cleared his voice. “An honest mistake. I saw him go out an hour ago. He must have come back when I went on my break.”

  The deputy stood and waited until Jessica walked up to Eric before leading them to the door behind the counter. They followed him down a narrow, long carpeted corridor. It smelled stuffy and stale. Eric wondered how long had it been since they had cleaned the carpet or aerated the area.

  Once they got to the open door at the end of the hall, Deputy Reynolds gestured them in with the jerk of his chin.

  A slim middle-aged man with salt and pepper slicked back hair sat behind a desk. He laid his gold framed glasses on his desk and got to his feet when Jessica and Eric entered the sparsely furnished office. Apart from the narrow desk, a one-drawer filing cabinet and two foldable chairs similar to the once in the waiting area in the frost occupied the room.

  The man outstretched his hand and offered them a wide cordial smile. “Hello, I’m Deputy Chief Carlson. It’s nice to meet you, Agent Firth.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too.” Eric shook his hand and motioned toward Jessica. “This is my sister Jessica. She is also a special FBI agent.”

  Eric noted Deputy Chief Carlson’s’ arched brow and look of surprise. It was a common reaction people had when hearing the news that both he and his sister were federal agents.

  Carlson’s full, dry lips curved to the side as he glanced at Jessica and shook her hand. “Well, it isn’t often we get two FBI agents visiting our station, let alone two siblings.”

  “No, I bet you don’t.” Jessica half-laughed.

  Taking charge she sat down before the deputy chief instructed them to. She cleared her throat and meshed her fingers over her bent knee. “Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Deputy Chief Carlson, we really appreciate it.”

  The man gestured to Eric. “Please have a seat, Agent Firth.” His gaze returned to Jessica when he said, “It’s my pleasure, Agent Firth.” He bowed his head while staring into her eyes. “It is Agent Frith, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, sir, it is.”

  “Well, then Agent Firth and Agent Firth, what brings two FBI agents from…” He glanced at them both waiting for them to elaborate.

  “I’m from the FBI office in Newark.” Eric replied then peered at Jessica to continue.

  “And I’m from the Federal Plaza office in New York.”

  He nodded in apparent approval. “Oh, impressive.” Then waved his hand around him. “I guess our small station here in Whitewater pales in comparison.”

  Of course it did. The Newark FBI building Eric worked in was ten stories high. Hundreds of employees worked there. Jessica’s in New York was double that.

  Eric had seen only five employees since he and Jessica stepped foot in this precinct, but from his guess, maybe ten or fifteen other people worked here.

  “No, it doesn’t,” he lied as he shook his head.

  Deputy Chief Carlson obviously didn’t believe him. His snarky chuckle was a tribute to it. He cracked his knuckles and directed their conversation from the tangent back on topic, by saying, “So what can I do for you?”

  “Well, sir, we came here to ask you a few questions about Deputy Rosemary O’Malley.”

  “O’Malley, you say.” He paused to think, then added, “She doesn’t work here anymore. In fact, she passed away about ten years ago. Pancreatic cancer.” He cringed. “I hear that is one of the worst types of cancer there is. Quite painful.”

  “We know she passed away, sir. We just wanted to know more about her work here at the precinct.”

  His brows furrowed, his eyes narrowed as he wiggled to the edge of his leather chair. “Why?”

  “Well, we are working on a cold case, one in which she was involved.”

  “Cold case? Like in a murder case?”

  “Yes, the murder case of Elizabeth and Sam Firth,” Eric elaborated.

  It was as if a lightbulb went on behind Deputy Chief Carlson’s eyes. “Sam and Elizabeth Firth, you say. Is there any relation?”

  Eric observed Jessica who nodded, letting him know he should continue.

  “Yes, sir. Our brother and mother.”

  Deputy Chief Carlson slammed his hand on the desk as he cracked an “I knew it” expression across his face. Narrowing his eyes, he pointed at Jessica. “I remember that case. It was one of the biggest we investigated. I don’t know why I didn’t put two and two together when you told me your names.”

  Eric sat stiffly straight in the chair that was beginning to cause him discomfort. “You heard about it?”

  Deputy Chief Carlson nodded. “Heard about it? Yeah, it was all they were talking about for months in town.”

  A spark of hope ignited in Eric’s heart when he asked, “You say it was one of the biggest cases you investigated.”

  “By we, I mean the Whitewater Police Station. I was a very young rookie then, manning incoming calls and doing clerical work.”

  Eric’s hopes dashed. “
So then you didn’t actual investigate it?”

  “No. No, I did not. The elected sheriff at the time, Sheriff Atkins took charge of that case. The moment he’d heard Elizabeth Firth and her son had been murdered, he decided to lead the investigation himself. He did the interrogation and also overviewed the crime scene investigation.”

  “Yeah, I remember Sheriff Atkins. His interrogation methods were quite thorough.” Eric had a vague memory of a rugged bearded man wearing a sheriff’s badge who had interviewed him, drilling Eric until he cried begging the sheriff to stop asking him to retell over and over again what he’d witnessed.

  “I don’t remember him,” Jessica commented.

  “No, you wouldn’t.” Deputy Chief Carlson agreed. “He made Deputy O’Malley ask you questions.”

  “If he overviewed all aspects of the investigation, why didn’t he question me himself?” Jessica asked.

  “Well,” Carlson scratched the top of his head. “I remember him saying he’d been too rough with the boy. “He glanced at Eric. “That being you. And decided a kinder, more sympathetic officer should interview you. O’Malley being a female with a soft voice and her being a mother made her the perfect candidate.”

  Eric turned to Jessica to read her reaction to the deputy chief’s comments, but her eyes were blank.

  “Did Deputy O’Malley or Sheriff Atkins ever discuss the case with you?” Eric asked.

  “No, Agent Firth, they did not. I already told you I was a young rookie back then.” Deputy Chief Carlson frowned.

  “Then how did you know Sheriff Atkins had been rough with me and had Deputy O’Malley question my sister?”

  The deputy chief scanned his surroundings. “This place isn’t exactly soundproof. You’d be surprised how far voices carry.”

  “So you heard what we discussed during our interviews?” Jessica probed.

  Eric’s interests piqued further with her question, if that were possible.

  “No, Agent Firth, I did not. But I did hear Sheriff Atkins tell Deputy O’Malley she should ask the questions he had written down for her and make sure she didn’t forget a single word.”

  “He sounded like a big control freak.” Eric snorted.

  Deputy Chief Carlson sighed, then leaned back in his high back chair. “He certainly was about that case, yes.”

  “Because it was one of the biggest cases your police station had ever worked on?” Eric said.

  The deputy chief nodded. “That and the fact that your mother had been engaged to him many, many years before.”

  “What did you say?” Eric’s voice hitched. Pins and needles surged through his fingers as he gripped the edge of the deputy chief’s desk as if he were holding on to it for dear life. Utter shock had made him dizzy and he feared he’d pass out any second.

  Chapter 11

  “So now we know,” Eric said rearing his car into Jessica’s building’s guest parking spot.

  “We know what?” Jessica raised her hands in bafflement.

  “Why Deputy O’Malley directed your answers.”

  “Yeah. But it still doesn’t prove if our father is guilty or not.”

  “No, but it does tell us that your eye witness account wasn’t accurate. There is a hell of a good chance your memory is false, induced by O’Malley’s suggestions.” Eric stepped out of the car.

  Jessica followed, straightening her skirt that clung to her legs due to friction static. “Yeah, it does. But again it didn’t lead us anywhere. We are back at square one.”

  Eric waggled his finger. “No, not at all. This brought us to step two.”

  “Which is?” Jessica waved her hand anxiously wanting her brother to get to the point and quit letting her hang.

  “The next person we contact is retired Sheriff Atkins.”

  Jessica rolled her eyes. “And you think he’ll want to talk to us about that case?”

  “Why wouldn’t he?” Eric jerked his head as if taken aback by her argumentative question.

  “If he finds out we’ve been to the police station and spoken to Deputy Chief Carlson, he’ll clam up.”

  “Why?” he said pushing the button of the elevator door in the parking area, the only access into and out of the building, other than the emergency exit stairs in the back of the building.

  Jessica huffed. “You just don’t see it, do you?”

  Eric entered the elevator once the doors opened and leaned his back against the side panel. He crossed his arms. “No, not really. Enlighten me, please.”

  “Deputy Chief Carlson has loose lips. He spilled a whole can of worms today.”

  “Yeah, and so?”

  “So he being a blabber-mouth didn’t just happen today. He’s probably always been that way.”

  Eric exhaled nodding as if he now understood where this conversation was leading. “So having worked with Carlson for so long, retired Sheriff Atkins knows Carlson wouldn’t keep his big mouth shut about the case.”

  Jessica was the first to exit when the elevator’s doors opened on her floor. “Exactly.”

  Eric tapped her shoulder while they waltzed along the hallway. She turned to look at him. He had the biggest Cheshire cat grin she had ever seen. “What is that look?” She gave him a sidelong mock glare.

  “That is a look of a brother who is so happy his sister in the best behavioral analyst in the Bureau.”

  “I am? Okay if you say so. But I don’t get where you are leading with this.”

  “Well, even though Sheriff Akins will clam up when we go see him tomorrow, you will be able to read clues he won’t know he’ll be divulging.”

  Resentful at Eric’s humor, she retorted, turning the corner toward her apartment door, “I’m not a mind reader.”

  Someone sat cross legged on the carpet, leaning against her wall. Shocked she stopped in mid-step, making an unobservant Eric slam into her back.

  She lost her balance and was about to fall forward when Eric caught her arm.

  Quickly regaining her step she cursed under her breath. That someone waiting at her door was her ex-fiancé.

  “Jason, what the fuck are you doing here?!” Eric lashed out, storming around Jessica to get into Jason’s face when he got to his feet. They stood eye to eye.

  With a calm tone, Jason replied, “I’m here to pick up my tablet.”

  “You should have called first,” Jessica reprimanded while she rummaged in her bag for her keys. They always evaded her when she wanted to open her door fast.

  She had told Jason the evening before in a text message that he could come by anytime to pick up the tablet. He had finally decided he did want it back.

  She just hadn’t expected him to come by so soon, unannounced. But knowing how impulsive, obsessive, and inconsiderate Jason had become, she should have expected he wouldn’t wait long to take her up on her offer.

  Purposely trying to put himself between Jason and Jessica, Eric added, “Once you get your tablet, I want you gone for good.”

  Jessica appreciated her brother’s overprotective nature, but he was overstepping his boundaries. This was between Jason and herself. Only they alone could work through this. “Um, actually, Jason, if you have a few minutes, I’d like to talk to you.”

  Wide-eyed and appearing eager, Jason nodded, gulping. “Yeah, I want to talk to you, too.”

  Eric stared menacingly at Jason while he asked Jessica, “You sure you don’t want me to stay and make sure he behaves?”

  “No, Eric go. You start you shift in a couple of hours. I can handle myself.”

  Eric laughed, then sneered at Jason. “Yeah, that she can. Jason, I’d be careful what you say and do. Jessica has a painful death grip that will have your eyes tearing.”

  With that Eric did an about face and marched back toward the elevator. Both Jessica and Jason observed his exit before Jessica shut the door. She gently laid her keys and purse on the table.

  “Have a seat, Jason. I’m going to make myself a coffee. Do you want one?”

  “Ye
ah, sure thanks.” He sat on the leather brown couch, taping his hands on his jeans.

  Jessica hurried to the kitchen. She put a K-cup pod into the coffee machine and added the water. She rubbed her arms while the coffee brewed. She wondered how she would broach the subject with Jason.

  Several times this week she had tried to tell him that they shouldn’t see each other anymore. They were no longer engaged and shouldn’t even try to be friends as he suggested. But Jason refused to listen, changing the subject whenever she steered toward the subject.

  Now that they would be face to face he wouldn’t be able to dodge the conversation. She wouldn’t let him. Once he took back his tablet, there was nothing left between them to discuss.

  She carefully set the almost overflowing mugs on the tray and inched baby step by baby step into the living room making sure not to spill any hot liquid on herself or on the ceramic tiled floor.

  Jason checked his cell phone when she gently laid the tray on the coffee table. “Thanks,” he murmured distractedly as if whatever text he read had drawn his full attention.

  Jessica wondered if he were perusing a message from the knock-out woman with the body of a Baywatch babe she’d caught him in bed with. Or was it another fish in the sea he was pursuing. Pangs of jealousy instilled themselves in her stomach, then anger when she realized she was being foolish.

  Yes, he had cheated on her when they were together and it hurt her to her very core. But things had ended between them. Whomever he flirted, dated, or slept with were no longer her concern.

  Clearing her throat to regain his attention and her composure, she offered him his cup of black coffee.

  Breaking the message’s entrancing spell, he grabbed the proffered cup. “Thanks.” He took a sip, after which he licked his lips. “Mmm, that is good.”

  “It’s a new breakfast blend I bought at the supermarket,” she remarked before taking a seat in the armchair facing him.

  He leaned against the square leather back cushion. Jason peered at her over the gold rim of his cup. “So how’s work?”

  “All right. I have a big case I’m working on that’s keeping me busy.”

  “Oh, is that the one Eric is helping you with?” he asked.