by Carsen Taite
“Of course you weren’t. No one would. So your boss recommended you, and what happened next?”
“I met with him and he told me about a case he felt hadn’t been fully investigated. He wanted someone to take a second look.”
“The bodies found in the truck owned by Gantry Oil.”
“Yes.”
“Where did your meeting with Mr. Gellar take place?”
“We met at a restaurant in Denton. The Mellow Mushroom.”
“And you didn’t think it was strange not to meet at the office?” Dale asked.
“I thought everything about this was strange, but I also figured a sitting US attorney wouldn’t have asked me to look into a case without a good reason. What was I supposed to say? Hey, this isn’t the way I heard it worked when I graduated from the academy about ten minutes ago?”
Tanner smiled. Considering most people were intimidated by Dale’s gruff demeanor, Kelly had a lot of spunk. “Okay, so you met at a restaurant. Tell us exactly what he told you about the assignment.”
“He gave me the local police report and photos of the scene. He also gave me a list of potential witnesses. There were only a few names, but he wanted me to talk to them all, write up 302s, and report back.”
Tanner flipped through the 302s and showed them to Kelly. “Are there any more besides these?”
“No, that’s it.”
Tanner considered her next question carefully, not wanting to spook Kelly into clamming up. “These aren’t part of the file here at the office. Any particular reason why?”
Agent Kelly’s face reddened again. “Mr. Gellar told me to give the reports directly to him. He had me sign a log sheet, but I didn’t keep copies for our office. He implied there were some issues with the task force working on the case. That maybe the investigation they’d been conducting hadn’t been as thorough as it could be.”
“Like hell!” Dale was on her feet before Tanner could stop her, but Mary caught her arm before she could reach Kelly.
Kelly’s head started swiveling like she was looking for the best escape route. Tanner put a hand on her shoulder to get her to stay put and motioned to Mary to try to calm Dale down. Dale grumbled but took her seat. “Do you have a copy of that log sheet?” Tanner asked.
Kelly pulled out her phone and started swiping through photos. “I took a picture of it before I gave it to Mr. Gellar.”
“Good. Text it to me.” Tanner gave her the number. “I don’t suppose you kept a copy of the list of witnesses Gellar wanted you to interview?”
Kelly swiped some more. “Here it is. I just sent it to you.”
Tanner’s phone pinged twice with the sounds of incoming texts and she handed her phone over to Mary, who glanced over the witness list. “I don’t recognize any of these names other than from the 302s Agent Kelly wrote up,” Mary said.
Tanner took a moment to review the list and pointed one of the names out to Kelly. “This one here. Lab tech Roy Washburn, where did you meet with him?”
“At a Starbucks near his office.” Kelly looked severely uncomfortable, like she realized how silly that sounded now. “Are you trying to say this person isn’t who he’s supposed to be?”
“Depends on how you look at it, I guess. Agent, have a seat outside. We’ll be with you in a minute.”
Mary followed Agent Kelly out of the room and stayed with her while Tanner picked up the desk phone, put it on speaker, and dialed the Southwest Lab that the FBI and other local law enforcement used for all their reports. When the call connected she introduced herself and asked to speak with Roy Washburn. The woman on the other end rustled some papers and then informed her no one by that name worked there.
“Now or ever?”
“I’m looking at a personnel directory that was updated at the beginning of the year, and I don’t see anyone by that name on it.”
“Do you have any contract employees who might not be included in the directory?”
“I’d still have their information. I just ran a search of our database and that name doesn’t come up at all. Sorry, Agent. Wish I could help you out.”
Tanner disconnected the call and looked at Dale. “We’ve got a problem.”
“You’re damn right we do,” Dale said. “We need to run down every name on that list and find out what’s going on. In the meantime, what are we going to do about her?” she asked, pointing at the door.
“Tell me what your gut says. Is that kid up to no good or was she just overly impressed by Gellar’s position, so much so that she didn’t feel like she could challenge him?”
“She does seem really wet behind the ears.”
Tanner braced for resistance, but she was ready to convince Dale her proposal was a good idea. “I think we should up the stakes and make Agent Kelly the newest member of our task force.”
Chapter Twelve
Syd reached for her ringing phone as it slipped from her grasp, wishing she’d upgraded her rental to one with Bluetooth features. At the next stoplight, she leaned way over and patted the far side of the passenger’s seat until she located the slippery device. The missed call was Tanner. Hoping she was calling to explain her odd, abrupt phone call earlier, Syd didn’t bother waiting to see if a voice message showed up and pressed the button to call Tanner back.
“Hey, where are you?”
“In the car. Somewhere in East Dallas.”
“That’s pretty vague.”
“In the driver’s seat—how’s that for more specific.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“So I’ve been told. I was with Bianca, but now I’m navigating on my own and I’m pretty sure I’ve taken more than one wrong turn.”
“Where were you?”
“Her house. Peyton thought I should meet with Jade, and since it’s likely her ranch is being watched, Bianca set up the meeting at her house.”
“How did it go?”
Conscious that this was probably the longest conversation they’d had about anything other than their past since she’d arrived in town, Syd chose her words carefully. She truly believed Jade was not involved in anything to do with her uncle’s business, but she wasn’t quite sure what to make of Jade’s proclamation that the Vargas brothers must not have had anything to do with Lindsey Ryan’s kidnapping. Her assessment was either spot-on or a blind spot that rendered her opinion too subjective to count on. “She wasn’t what I expected.”
“I felt the same way the first time I met her. Business degree from a fancy school…”
“Tall, gorgeous—doesn’t look like she spends much time mucking around in stables.”
“Like you’d know anything about what’s entailed in mucking around in stables.”
Syd laughed at Tanner’s teasing tone. “True.” They’d had an ongoing tug-of-war over things like camping versus wine tasting during their relationship. She’d won most of those skirmishes, giving in only once to Tanner’s request that they spend time in the great outdoors. Tanner had been a good sport and made sure she’d had a French press for coffee and other creature comforts for what could only be considered glamping.
What Tanner had no way of knowing was that a few years ago, she’d given in to a request from her friend Kate and joined a group of attorneys from the office to go camping in the Shenandoah National Park. The trip hadn’t been as basic as the ones Tanner would have preferred, but it hadn’t been glamping either. Syd had actually enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the great outdoors and wished she’d taken more time during their stressful law school term to enjoy the experience with Tanner. She started to tell her now, but stopped. What would be the point? It wasn’t like Tanner was suddenly going to whisk her away to go camping. She had changed, but Tanner didn’t know that. And there was really no point in telling her now when as soon as they had this case wrapped up, she’d be heading back to DC, leaving Tanner to the life she’d chosen over the future they’d planned.
“Are you still there or did we get disconnected?”
; “I’m here. Got distracted by some traffic,” Syd lied. “What’s the plan now?”
“We should talk.” Long pause. “So I can bring you up to speed. I have an idea and I want to make sure you’re on board with it.”
“I’m guessing you don’t want to have this conversation at the office.”
“You’d be right. I don’t want to have this conversation where anyone can hear it.”
“How about your place? If you can direct me to the nearest big street, I bet I can find my way back there.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. That works.”
Syd thought she heard hesitation on the other end of the line. “If you’d rather meet somewhere else, that’s fine.”
“No. My place is fine.”
“What’s the matter? Can’t remember if you left last night’s takeout lying around?”
Tanner laughed. “Maybe.”
Syd smiled to herself. Tanner might not have changed that much after all. “Give me the directions, and I promise I’ll try to catch some red lights on the way to give you time to pick up after yourself.”
Syd followed Tanner’s directions to the nearest big intersection and then counted out the left and right turns until she arrived back at Tanner’s condo. Despite her best efforts to delay, she arrived in less than thirty minutes. She’d heard Dallas traffic was bad, but it had nothing on DC. She spotted Tanner’s car and parked in the adjoining space. As she climbed the stairs, her mind flashed to the almost kiss from last Saturday night, and she vowed to keep her distance to prevent another close encounter. She lifted her hand to knock on the door, but it swung open before her knuckles could connect. “I tried to be slower,” she said, “but the traffic gods—” She stopped cold when she saw the frown on Tanner’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Tanner shook her head. Syd looked over her shoulder as if the reason for Tanner’s swift change in mood might be standing behind her, but she was all alone on the balcony. “Guess it’s me,” she muttered, and walked into the apartment.
“You mind telling me why you’re Miss Friendly on the phone, but now that I’m here, you don’t look happy to see me?” Syd asked Tanner, who was standing in front of the open refrigerator.
“You can’t keep giving everyone a hard time over things you don’t understand.”
“You’re going to have to explain that one to me because I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I talked to Bianca on the way over.”
“So?”
“She told me about your conversation with Jade.”
“Again, I have no idea what that has to do with us.”
“She and Bianca are in love. It might not be an ideal situation for Bianca’s job and it might seem unlikely to anyone on the outside looking in, but what they have is real and neither one of them should have to apologize for choosing each other when the rest of the world thinks it doesn’t make sense.”
“Did Bianca say she was upset, because she sure didn’t seem upset when I spoke with her.”
Tanner hung her head. “No, but I can only imagine how she must’ve felt.”
Syd heard the frustration in Tanner’s voice. “You’re right.”
“Really?”
“Don’t look so surprised. Yes, you’re right. They shouldn’t have to apologize, and only the two of them can know what’s best for them, both as a couple and individually.”
Tanner sank into a chair. “Okay, so we agree.”
“We didn’t used to, but we do now,” Syd said, praying Tanner would read the deeper meaning behind her words.
“I’m sorry for scolding you.”
“You don’t have to be. Apparently, neither one of us has truly healed from the hurt we inflicted on each other.” She glanced at the door. “Would you like me to leave?”
“Leave? No, that’s the last thing I want you to do.”
Tanner spoke the words with a sigh that sounded like relief and nothing more, and Syd tried her best not to read in any deeper meaning. “Good. I don’t want to either. But, Tanner?”
“Yes?”
“If we’re going to work together, really work together, we’ve got to be able to trust each other.”
“I know you’re right.” Tanner hung her head. “It’s hard.”
“Everything worth having is.” Before she could dwell on that, Syd rushed to ask, “Why don’t you start by telling me more about what happened at Gellar’s house. Where did you sneak off to, what did you find, and what did he want to talk to you about?”
“You’re not going to like it, and it’s probably best I don’t share.”
“There are a lot of things I don’t like, but I get through them. Share, Tanner, or I’m out of here.” She assumed her fiercest expression as she delivered the declaration, hoping Tanner didn’t see through her facade. She didn’t want to be anywhere else but here tonight, no matter what Tanner was about to say.
* * *
Tanner stood up and walked to the kitchen. She was going to need that beer she’d been looking for earlier if she was going to confess what she’d done at Gellar’s party, especially to Syd. “You want a drink?”
“Sure, I’ll take whatever you’re having.”
“I’m having a beer.”
“Then that’s what I’m having.”
Tanner arched an eyebrow but complied by opening two bottles and thrusting one at Syd’s outstretched hand.
“Sometimes a girl wants a beer.”
Tanner tipped her bottle at Syd. “Sometimes she does.” They clinked bottles, and then they both took simultaneous deep draughts like they were washing away the discomfort of a few minutes earlier. “Truce?”
“Truce,” Syd answered. “Now that that’s out of the way, tell me everything.”
“I broke into a locked room at Gellar’s house.” Tanner spat out the words and then took another drink from her beer while she waited for Syd’s reaction. It wasn’t what she expected.
“I figured you were up to something. I assume you didn’t find anything incriminating or you’d be asking me to get a warrant.”
“While I find it extremely weird that he has a locked room labeled Wine Cellar that he accesses from the outside of the house that has absolutely no evidence of anything to do with wine, I have to admit that’s not incriminating. All I found was a plain room with a concrete floor and a bunch of empty industrial-sized shelves.” She crossed her arms and prepared for the fallout. “Aren’t you going to lecture me about the perils of skirting the law?”
“Nope. I mean, if you had found something incriminating, it would definitely be problematic. We’d have to come up with some other way of corroborating the evidence to get a warrant, but I can be as creative as the next person.”
Tanner squinted and cocked her head. “Who are you and what have you done with Sydney Braswell aka Miss Law and Order?”
Syd playfully punched her arm. “Seriously, Tanner. I want to get to the bottom of this case as much as you do. I don’t condone what you did, but during the party I wandered into Gellar’s office, and I have to say that I was sorely tempted to dig through his files.” She took a drink from her beer. “I know I gave you a hard time about the way you handled Razor, but I’m not as uptight and controlled as you make me out to be.” She looked down at her lap. “Not anymore.”
Tanner reached over and slid her hand into Syd’s. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
The apology was pure instinct and she wasn’t prepared to distill one reason from the many. Sorry she’d skirted the rules. Sorry she hadn’t been honest about it. No, her regrets weren’t about the job, not where Syd was concerned. When it came to Syd, her regrets were rooted in the past. Sorry she’d kept her decision to join the FBI secret. Sorry she’d rebelled against Sydney’s careful and specific plans for their future.
But was she really sorry for those things? For the better part of their last year in school, she’d dropped hints to Syd that they didn’t share the same vision of what the fu
ture should hold, but Syd had brushed aside her comments because they didn’t fit with her view. Not telling Syd when she’d finally made her choice was necessary to keep her own dreams alive. Her only miscalculation had been that Syd would eventually come around once she knew it was a done deal. She spent the last ten years not wanting to assign blame out loud, but beneath the surface, she knew she’d always blamed Syd for their separation. If she had only been willing to compromise, then they could have had a life together, but even as she had the thought she had no idea what that compromise would have looked like.
“I’m sorry things between us ended the way they did,” she said. It was a poor summary, but the best she could manage right now.
“Me too.” Syd squeezed her hand and sighed. “I remember graduation. You looked so handsome in that light gray suit. All year I’d been looking forward to celebrating being first and second in our class and moving on to the next phase of our lives. I spent that night by myself because I couldn’t handle everyone talking about all their plans when ours had fallen apart.”
Tanner thought back to graduation night. Unable to stand being around her classmates for exactly the reason Syd said, she’d gone out with a few of her Army pals and they’d toasted her future as an FBI agent. She’d spent the rest of the summer studying for the bar and getting in shape for the grueling rigors of the academy while resisting the urge to call Syd to patch things up between them. The last time she’d seen Syd had been the day she’d gone back to the small house they’d shared to retrieve a few things Syd had found when she was in the process of moving out.
“I guess that’s everything,” Tanner said, pointing to the small box on the floor. She fished in her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here’s my new address. If you want to give this to the landlord, in case there’s anything…” She let her voice trail off. There really wasn’t anything else to say or do. The box on the floor represented the final connection she had to Syd, and the minute she picked it up and walked out the door of this house, all the memories, all the possibilities would evaporate.
