Illegal Contact

by Becky Harmon

  “Are you going to tell me what all that was about?” Shea asked.

  “Just following every avenue someone could use to access your area. You didn’t hear any of the team talking about losing their badge did you?”

  Shea shook her head. “That’s a big deal. Usually the guys just piggyback with someone else until the season is over rather than report it to security.”

  “Well that’s stupid,” Jamison said without thinking. She saw Shea glance at her and then smiled. “Sorry. First thought slipped out.”

  “No, you’re right. It is stupid. They don’t think about who might be using their badge, only that they’re going to get in trouble if they report it.”

  Jamison scanned the open commons area as they exited the stadium. As usual the few students around were hurrying to or from class. No one seemed to be lingering this late in the evening. Probably other areas of campus had students hanging out but around the stadium it was mostly empty. She could hear shouts of an intramural game in progress on the practice field but they turned in the opposite direction.

  They walked in silence for a few minutes. “What’s on the menu tonight, Chef Krews?” Shea asked teasingly.

  She frowned. “I’m not sure. There’s more chicken left. We could try last night’s dinner again.”

  “Nothing exotic and disgustingly healthy?”

  “If exotic is what you are looking for? Let’s see…” She contemplated the ingredients she had purchased. “I think there might be some bean sprouts and rice noodles. We could do a Pad Thai mix. Do you have any fish sauce?”

  “Seriously. How can you even ask me if I have something so disgusting?”

  “You don’t even know what it is?”

  Shea laughed. “Okay. I don’t but I do know it sounds disgusting.”

  “Well, you wanted exotic.”

  Shea glanced at her. “Have you been all over the world?”

  “I’ve been to a few places.”

  “Where was the weirdest?”

  Jamison was silent for a few moments. “That would probably be my first mission with your sister.”

  “There’s my damn sister again,” Shea growled.

  Jamison bumped her hip. “Do you want to hear about this place or not?”

  “Tell your story just keep the mention of my sister to a minimum.”

  Jamison laughed. “I’d only been an agent for a couple months but Flagler needed a package picked up at a secluded retreat outside Beijing. They wanted Mel because she’d been there before and knew their customs. She grilled me on background for the two days it took to coordinate and then get there. We were supposed to fly in, pick up the package and fly out. Easy, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Everything went smooth until we arrived at the retreat.” Jamison scanned the street. It was deserted except for a few parked empty vehicles including her own. “We were greeted at the door, which I now know is not the usual custom, by a man dressed in this white scrubs-looking outfit. He opened the door and bowed to us. Mel responded in kind but the problem was she hadn’t removed her shoes yet because we weren’t even inside. Apparently if you don’t follow all rituals you are refused access and the first ritual is you must remove your shoes before greeting anyone already inside the retreat.”

  “So she was supposed to snub him until her shoes were removed?”

  “I guess. We had to call in and explain why we now had to stay the night. Mel was furious.” Jamison recalled the late night surveillance trip back to the retreat and their subsequent pursuit of the man. “We returned the next day to pick up the package.”

  Shea frowned as she stepped onto her porch, triggering the motion detector lights. She crossed to the door and inserted her key. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Jamison smiled. “The man was trying to steal whatever was in the package so he had set us up to give himself an extra day to scan the retreat.”

  “Really? That’s so cloak-and-dagger. What was in the package?”

  Jamison shrugged reaching around her to open the door.

  “You don’t know?” Shea asked indignantly as she stepped into the house.

  “It’s not my job to know what’s in the package but only to pick up and deliver.” Jamison flipped on the kitchen lights and her gaze caught on a bouquet of red roses sitting on the kitchen table. She immediately pulled her pistol and stepped in front of Shea.

  “I can’t believe you don’t look—”

  Jamison began slowly moving backward pushing Shea out the door as she kept her pistol pointed in front of her. With her free hand, she pulled her truck keys from her pocket and passed them to Shea. “Wait in my truck.”

  “But I want—”

  “Please, Shea. Now,” she said with urgency.

  Shea didn’t hesitate.

  Jamison waited until Shea was inside the truck and then she slowly entered the house again. She pulled a flashlight from her bag and held it away from her body to avoid silhouetting herself. She moved through each room checking every possible hiding place and then climbed the stairs. Shea’s room seemed untouched and once she confirmed there was no one hiding in the closet or bathroom she returned to the kitchen. Securing the door behind her, she pulled out her phone.

  “It’s Jamison Krews. I need to talk with Todd or whoever is in charge tonight.”

  “I can get Todd for you, Agent Krews,” a male voice responded immediately. “Hang on.”

  “Jamison?” Bowden’s tense voice came on the line. “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone’s broken into Ms. Carter’s house.” Jamison tried to keep the waver out of her voice. “I’m taking her to my residence and I need an agent to meet me there.”

  “I’m dispatching Liam now. Are you secure?”

  “Yes, I’ve cleared the house and we’re in my truck.” Jamison climbed in beside Shea. “Can you have someone pull the tape for today?”

  “Yes, and I’ll monitor the live feed until you return.”

  “Thank you.” Jamison hit redial on Heather’s last call.

  Heather picked up immediately.

  “Heather. We had a break-in. Can you meet me at Shea’s in about twenty minutes? I’m taking her somewhere secure.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Jamison tossed the phone into the middle console. She glanced at Shea. Her face was tense, her body pulled up tight under a coat of Jamison’s she had found behind the seat. She gently placed her hand on Shea’s thigh. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine.” She shrugged. “Just feeling a little vulnerable at the moment.”

  “I’m taking you somewhere safe.”

  Shea gave her a little smile. “Thank you.”

  Jamison pulled to a stop in front of the glass and metal futuristic-looking building that housed her apartment, parking directly in front of the entrance.

  At the elevator, she scanned her badge and they rose to the fourth floor. She scanned her badge again to exit the elevator foyer and then unlocked her door. Shea watched her closely and Jamison could see her curiosity.

  “Where are we?” Shea asked softly. “Is this one of your company’s safe houses?”

  The elevator door dinged open behind them and Jamison’s hand immediately went to her pistol. Liam Russo swiped his badge to exit the foyer and approached her open front door. She gave him a relieved smile. “Thanks for coming.”

  “You saved me from a boring debrief.” He stepped inside, closed the door and he held out his hand to Shea. “Liam.”

  “Shea.” She glanced at Jamison. “Are you leaving me here?”

  She didn’t say “with him” but Jamison knew what she was asking.

  “Excuse us for a second,” Jamison said to Liam. Taking Shea’s hand, she led her into the bedroom. “I have to go back to your place and do a more thorough search.”

  “Can’t Heather do that?”

  Jamison sighed. She was anxious to check out the house and see what the cameras caught. “She could but I want to be ther
e too.”

  Shea looked around the room and Jamison could see her taking in the small single bed and the dresser with one picture. Shea crossed and picked up the picture. Looking closely, she quickly glanced up at Jamison. “That’s you,” she said in surprise, looking around the room again. “This is your place?”

  “It is.” She shrugged. “I’m not here much.”

  Shea sat down on the bed and ran her hand over the comforter. “How long will you be gone?”

  Jamison crossed and knelt in front of her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  She pressed her lips gently to Shea’s and then stood.

  “Liam’s a really good guy but you can stay in here if you want.” She opened the cabinet to display a television. “Make yourself at home. There’s sweats and more comfortable clothes in the dresser.” She stopped at the door and gave Shea a reassuring smile. “You’ll be safe here.”

  She found Liam in the kitchen combing through her cabinets. She pulled open a drawer and removed a stack of carryout menus. “Get her a pizza with everything from Pizza Zone.” She motioned toward the closed bedroom door. “Food will draw her out. She’s a little shook up right now.”

  “We’ll be fine, Krews. Take off.”

  “Thanks again. Call if you need anything.”

  * * *

  Shea slowly opened the bedroom door as soon as she heard the front door slam. She was starving and ordering pizza was her first priority. As she approached the kitchen she heard Liam ordering two large pizzas with everything. She rested one hip against the small kitchen table and waited until he disconnected the call.

  “Thanks for ordering pizza.”

  He gave her a wink. “Jamison suggested it.”

  She should have known Jamison would take care of everything. Turning, she scanned the room. A small kitchen opened into a larger living room. A dark brown leather couch took up one wall and a large bookcase filled with DVDs took up another. Shea ran her hand across the back of the couch as she walked toward the bookcase.

  “Want to watch a movie?” She wished she had her film footage but instead she would relax tonight and worry about getting caught up tomorrow.

  “Sounds like a good plan.” He set two bottles of water on the coffee table.

  Shea chose an action adventure movie and slid it into the player. She took the opposite end of the couch from Liam and pulled a jumbo-sized leather footstool between them. “Shall we get comfortable?”

  Liam placed his knee across the footstool and rested his other leg on top of it. Shea pulled a blanket from the back of the couch, curling under it. She wished she had told Jamison to be careful.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jamison’s truck slid to a stop in front of Shea’s duplex. Heather crossed the street to join her on the porch. Jamison’s phone vibrated and she smiled at the text message from Shea. Be careful. She dialed Flagler and was passed to Bowden immediately.

  “Techs are scanning today’s footage. Nothing yet. No one has been near the house since you left. How is Ms. Carter?”

  “She’s fine. Thanks for sending Liam and watching the house. TPD is with me and we’re going in now.” She paused. “Could you send the bomb dog? After last night, I don’t want to trust us to see everything.”

  “They’re already on their way. Keep in touch.”

  Jamison gave Heather a smile. “Let’s clear the place again. My first check was pretty quick. A bomb dog is on its way.”

  “I’ll let you lead the way,” Heather said.

  Jamison unlocked the door and they both stepped inside with weapons drawn. Slowly they walked through each room until they were confident the house was empty. Jamison returned to the kitchen first to take a closer look at the flowers. Propped against the vase was another Polaroid picture. Shea sitting on Jamison’s lap with their lips frozen inches apart. It was taken through Shea’s living room window. Jamison cursed as she stuffed it into a plastic bag and then into her pocket. She looked up to find Heather watching her.

  Jamison sighed and handed her the picture. “It’s not what it looks like?”

  Heather raised her eyebrows.

  “Oh hell. It is what it looks like but that’s the extent of what happened. It was taken yesterday before I noticed the package of explosives.”

  “That explains why he was still lurking when you guys stepped outside,” Heather volunteered.

  Jamison picked up her laptop. “Let’s wait outside until the bomb team finishes.”

  She dropped the tailgate on her truck and rested her open laptop on it. She logged into the cameras and began scanning the previous night. She could guess pretty close to the exact time this picture was taken and it didn’t take her long to find him on camera. Since he was out of the view of the motion detector porch lights, the camera was working in night vision. A hood covered his head but they could see he wasn’t very tall. They watched him gently place a square object on the ground in front of the window and step onto it.

  “What does he have?” Heather asked, leaning in for a better view.

  “Recycling bin, I think.”

  “He looks about five foot seven or eight,” Heather guessed.

  “Yeah.” Jamison looked up as a dark SUV approached. She placed a reassuring hand on her pistol.

  A short dark-haired woman emerged followed by a large dog. “I’m with Flagler,” she called as she approached them. She carried a bag in one hand and held the leash in her other.

  “Jamison Krews.” She nodded at Heather. “TPD Officer Heather Cannon.”

  “I’m Kinsey.” She lifted the slack in the leash and nodded at the dog sitting at her feet. “This is Jack and he’ll be sniffing your house this evening.” She smiled at both of them. “Jack prefers to work alone. Can you both wait out here, please?”

  Holding her laptop against her chest, Jamison watched the quiet street.

  “So, you want to talk about that picture?” Heather asked with a smile.

  Jamison grimaced but before she could answer her cell phone buzzed. “Saved by the bell.”

  “Jamison, we have something. I’ll let Todd give you the details,” Bowden explained.

  Jamison motioned for Heather to follow and they climbed into her truck.

  “Krews?” Todd spoke quickly. “Are you there? This is really good.”

  “Go ahead, Todd. You’re on speaker. Officer Cannon with TPD is with me.”

  “Okay. Greetings, Officer Cannon. On to the good stuff. We caught him delivering the roses about four this afternoon. He either didn’t know the camera was there or he didn’t care. We have a full facial shot, which I sent to your email. He’s not a student at TU so I’m running him through the DMV. Also, my facial recognition software running the area around the stadium found multiple matches to him.”

  Jamison already had her laptop open and was logging into her email. “I got the picture, Todd.” She angled the screen so Heather could see too.

  “Holy shit. I know that guy,” Heather exclaimed. “I interviewed him yesterday. His mother owns a white Honda Accord and we went to her house. He answered the door.” She pulled her notebook from her pocket and flipped through a couple pages. “George Henry McGomery, the second. He said he didn’t drive and DMV confirmed no license. There was a bicycle on the porch. He claimed he didn’t live there but got evasive when we asked for his address. When we interviewed his mother she said he did live there but was shy and didn’t like to tell people he lived with his mother.”

  “Are you getting this, Todd?”

  “Yep. I’m already searching other databases. Currently he works for Watson-Hughes. It’s a small data entry company on Thomasville Road.”

  “Send me everything, Todd. As soon as the dog sniffer is finished we’ll start with his mother and see if we can locate him.” Jamison glanced at Heather. She didn’t ask if it was okay and Heather didn’t seem eager to call in TPD backup.

  Heather nodded. “Let’s get this guy.”

  Kinsey and Jack step
ped onto the porch. “All clear,” she said as Jamison approached. “He stuttered in the living room but then couldn’t locate anything specifically. My boss says you had a device in there last night.”

  Jamison nodded. “Sam turned it over to the FBI.”

  “Yeah, he said not to worry about the stutter. It was probably leftover scents. The rest of the house was clear.”

  “Thanks for coming so quickly.”

  “Anytime.” She gave Heather a nod and crossed the street to her SUV.

  Jamison climbed the steps and secured the front door. “Let’s go get him.”

  Heather nodded. “We’ll take my car.” Seeing Jamison’s hesitation she continued. “I have lights and a siren, a radio for backup and a backseat to put him in.”

  Jamison shrugged her surrender.

  “And a badge to arrest him,” Heather continued.

  “Okay. Okay.” Jamison moved to the passenger side of the blue sedan and climbed in. She sat silently and listened as TPD units radioed dispatch from all over the city. She recognized a few codes that were universal. The voices were monotone and she assumed it was only normal activity.

  Heather picked up the radio as soon as she turned onto Krest Street. “Dispatch. Seven zero four.”

  “Go ahead seven zero four,” a female voice responded immediately.

  “Myself and Flagler Agent Krews will be ten seventeen at two twenty-three Krest Street.”

  “Ten four, seven zero four. Twenty fifteen hours.”

  Heather dropped the volume several clicks. “Just letting dispatch know we’ll be conducting an investigation. I think we should give a knock on the door and see if Mom will help us bring her boy in easy.” She shrugged. “But if you want to go in hard I can call for backup.”

  “No, easy is good with me.”

  Within minutes, they arrived at the McGomery residence and parked in front of the house. They casually approached the front door. The house was a peach color with a large picture window. There were lights on upstairs and downstairs. Heather tapped lightly on the glass in the door, bypassing the doorbell. A woman’s face appeared in the window. Heather held up her badge and identification. “TPD, ma’am. We need to speak with you.”