“Yeah, I guess,” Ryan replied.
“You have some imagination; I must say. The first day of the first case and you’re already blaming the department,” Jake said in disbelief.
Ryan’s face turned pale hearing Jake’s words. “I… I’ll get coffee.” He said and left at once. Jake looked at the files. He knew he was going to have a long night. He was missing Kiara a lot.
Jake turned off his computer and was about to leave when he glanced at the main entrance. He left his bag on the table and rushed to the other side of the hall.
Kiara and Jason were walking towards Carlson’s office while discussing something. Jake got hold of her hand. Kiara was startled and looked at him from the corner of her eyes.
“Get off me,” she said while pushing him away. “What do you think you’re doing?” She asked while looking around the hall. Jason stifled a chuckle irritating her, but as Kiara’s eyes met Bob, the analyst’s stare, she gave a loud grunt.
Bob walked to them at once and pointed at the coffee mug, “I was about to leave, but stopped for this stupid cafeteria coffee. I am glad, I did. Otherwise, I would’ve missed this,” he said and winked at Jason. Kiara felt if she didn’t make Jake leave, Bob and Jason would start fist thumping. However, she didn’t have to say anything to Jake.
“Dude, not cool,” he said while raising his arms.
“But, you always support me in pulling her leg?” Bob complained.
“Not this time,” Jake said sternly.
“Whatever,” Bob said and left at once.
“What are you doing?” she asked, “I need to speak to Carlson before he leaves. So, be quick.”
“I was so glad seeing you after so long… couldn’t control myself,”
“I was out for two days….. two days damn it,” she said and turned to Jason. “Stop giggling. Let’s go.”
“What have I done?” Jason asked and looked angrily at Jake. Jake ignored him.
He walked closer to Kiara, who stepped aside. “Not again.”
“This new kid, Ryan is killing me. If I don’t talk to you, my head will explode,” he whispered in her ear while Jason tried to decipher it unsuccessfully.
“Same here,” Kiara replied, “Let’s discuss once I’m back after meeting Carlson.” She said and left.
Jake kept looking at her until she got inside Carlson’s office. He turned around and looked at Ryan, who was sitting at Kiara’s desk, deep buried in his computer. He shook his head and walked to his desk.
“How did this happen?” Carlson asked with disbelief. “You, of all people, made such a rookie mistake,” He said and got up at once. He walked to the window and stared at the evening sky. Jason looked at Kiara who looked away.
Carlson came back after a few moments of contemplation.
“You are absolutely sure it was his car?” he asked.
Kiara nodded, “We have been following his trail for the last two weeks. He doesn’t use any other vehicle.”
“This is bad,” Carlson said looking at them alternately and was about to say something out of anger before he realized that Jason was new to the set-up. “You have people stationed outside his house and restaurant. Right?”
“Yes, 24x7,” she replied.
Carlson made some calculations. “I don’t want to make any rash decision. You stay away from this case for two days. Let’s track his moves to make sure if he does something different thinking we are on his tail. Once I’m sure he knows about you, only then I’ll take any decision.”
Kiara knew Carlson wasn’t saying it in words, but he was disappointed big time. She cursed herself for not driving the car, but Jason was new, and there was no point in putting the blame on him.
“There is another thing, Sir,” she said.
“What thing?” Carlson inquired.
“Every evening, he carries a bag with him to his house, stuffed with a large amount of cash. We suspected that he would take someone’s help to deliver this money to his handlers, and we could follow that courier to the other end of this chain. But, today, instead of taking the money to his home, he carried it to the Park Plaza hotel. And, when he came out after two hours, the bag was empty. When we tracked down the car, even the bag was missing.”
“When were you planning to tell me this?” Carlson shouted before realizing the scare it brought to Jason’s face.
Carlson took a deep breath. “Anything else that you’ve hidden from me?” he asked with great restraint.
Kiara shook her head. “No, Sir.”
“Okay… So, as I said, stay away from this case for two days. If there is no change in this guy’s routine, you can follow him again. Otherwise, we’ll have to think of something else. Today is… Tuesday. Meet me Thursday evening same time.”
Kiara nodded and got up. Jason followed suit. He was in a hurry to step out. Carlson looked at him. As their eyes met, Jason’s heart started to beat faster.
“You can leave,” Carlson said calmly. “I need to talk to her for a minute.”
Jason almost ran to the door hearing Carlson’s words. Kiara looked at him and gave a faint smile, however as she turned around, Carlson's burning eyes greeted her.
“I’ve put up with your bad behavior for ten years. I ignored it because you were good at your job, even if you undermined my authority. But, this is a big disappointment - something that can’t be overlooked.”
Kiara knew Carlson was right. At times, she had disobeyed him, but she knew he had faith in her abilities, and it was shaken for the first time.
“Sir,” she said in a measured tone, “I... I think we made a mistake by putting these rookies directly in the field…. I mean, they could’ve read about the past cases; talked to other agents about their cases, but sending them to the field so early wasn’t a right decision. Jason wasn’t keen on driving fast and that made us lose the sight of the car we were chasing.”
“Passing on the blame will not help your cause,” Carlson said firmly.
Kiara looked at him. She wanted to say something but was wary of Carlson’s reaction.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Sir, can Jake, and I work together on this case?” she asked knowing beforehand that it was a mistake.
“What’s the problem with the two of you?” he asked angrily, “I think I made it clear when I assigned you the new partners- solve your cases, and I’ll let you work together again. The deal was simple, but it doesn’t look so easy now that you’ve screwed up your case. Does it?”
“But, Sir,” Kiara tried to say something but was cut short.
“I have nothing else to say to you,” Carlson said and pointed at the door. Kiara knew she had no option. She gave a muffled grunt and left at once.
Kiara cursed herself for what had happened. She failed to keep her cover hidden for the first time and knew there was a slip up from her end. She just didn’t know when it had happened, and that was killing her.
Carlson didn’t say much in words as much as he expressed with his tone – there was a very slim chance of her continuing the case. If he got confirmation that her cover was blown; he had to pull her out of the case. In fact, he had no other choice – first, she couldn’t go near her target as he would know who she was; second, there was a great chance if he knew about her existence, he would’ve sent his men to follow her by now. There was a possibility that Carlson would send her on a leave lest she is seen with anyone from the division raising suspicion and making it impossible to assign anyone to the case.
“What have I done?” she asked herself as she reached her desk. She looked at Ryan, who was sitting at her desk.
“Ryan. Right?” she asked calmly to which he nodded, “Get the hell out of my seat.” She shouted drawing attention from the nearby desks. Jake walked to her desk hearing the commotion.
“What’s happening?” he asked while looking at both of them.
“I’m paying for someone else’s stupidity. That’s what happening,” she retorted making Jake take a couple o
f steps back. Jason, who was sitting on the adjacent desk, knew she was talking about him. He got up at once and was about to say something when Jake gestured him to hold it back. He tried again, but Jake’s stony glare didn’t let him say anything.
“Come with me,” Jake said.
“I don’t want to go anywhere,” Kiara replied with disinterest.
“Come on,” Jake said and pointed at the cafeteria. Kiara nodded reluctantly.
“Can I use the desk or not?” Ryan asked in a low voice while collecting the documents he had laid on Kiara’s desk.
Jake and Kiara both looked angrily at him. He immediately sat down with his back facing them.
Purchase Link (Also available on Kindle Unlimited)
Amazon.com- http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Loose-Davenport-Crime-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0164CAX5O
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Afterword
Other Books
Davenport Mysteries 03-Perfect Crime Page 22
