Reckless Whisper

by Barbara Freethy

  "I mentioned the first one when I got in this morning. I haven't been back to the office since the second call came in."

  "They definitely need the information, Bree."

  "And I intend to share it, but I have to say, Dan, that while I know ASAIC Hobbs asked for my help, the rest of the team has been polite, but they don't seem excited to have me around. And there's one woman on the team that I went to Quantico with, who is definitely not a fan of mine."

  "Who's that?"

  "Agent Tracy Cox."

  "I don't know her. Why doesn't she like you?"

  "She was an outsider at the academy. She didn't like that I got closer to people than she could. I don't think working with her now is going to be a picnic. She barely said hello to me when I arrived, and I could feel her sharp, irritated glance on me throughout my report."

  "Well, do your best. The team may be territorial, but they still want to find that kid."

  "I know. I just don't have patience for politics and territories in situations like this. Anyway, I'm going to keep doing what I do, and hopefully we'll get a break."

  "Keep me posted, and I'll have Oscar check your phone again, see if we get lucky tracing the second call."

  "It's going to take more than luck."

  * * *

  On her way downtown, Bree looked up information on Kyle Roberts. His employer, Skye Developments, took up the entire thirty-ninth floor of a downtown skyscraper that the company had built ten years earlier and was one of Chicago's most impressive buildings.

  Kyle was vice president of sales, only a few rungs down on the corporate ladder from Donovan Skye, who had founded the company forty years earlier and his sons, Lawrence and James Skye. The Skyes were one of Chicago's most prominent and wealthiest families.

  At age thirty-eight, Kyle Roberts had a bright future ahead of him, and kidnapping his nine-year-old daughter's friend seemed about as farfetched an idea as any she could possibly have. But she still needed to talk to him. She'd been at her job long enough to know not to discount anyone as a suspect.

  She wondered where Josie had met Kyle, how the street junkie kid had ended up with a graduate of Yale and a now very successful businessman. Kyle was also ten years older than Josie, and Grace was nine. She frowned, doing the math in her head. Josie was a year younger than her, making her twenty-eight now, so she must have been nineteen when she had Grace. Kyle would have been twenty-nine at the time. She couldn't imagine that he and Josie had run in the same circles then, unless Kyle had a past, too.

  Did that change anything? Probably not. She needed to rein in her speculation and focus on the facts. With that thought in mind, she got out of her cab, and headed upstairs.

  Kyle had an administrative assistant guarding his door, a red-haired woman dressed in a black sheath dress. She promptly told Bree that Mr. Roberts was on a call and couldn't be disturbed.

  At the flash of Bree's badge, and the mention that a missing child's life was at stake, the admin reluctantly interrupted her boss and then waved her inside.

  When she entered the room, she was impressed with the opulent furnishings, the luxuriously thick carpet under her feet, and the jaw-dropping view from Kyle's floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over Lake Michigan.

  Kyle Roberts was just as impressive as his office. He was a handsome man, with dark-blond hair and blue eyes dressed in an expensive gray suit and navy-blue patterned silk tie. He didn't look like a man who ever got his hands dirty, which also made him less likely to be the man who had kidnapped Hayley Jansen the night before. The only ring he wore was a narrow gold wedding band.

  Kyle gave her a wary, polite smile. "My assistant said you're here about Hayley Jansen's disappearance. I'm not sure what I can tell you." He motioned for her to take the chair in front of his massive desk. "But, of course, I'm happy to help."

  "I just spoke with Grace and your wife. Josie mentioned that you weren't able to attend the concert last night."

  "No, I had a lot of work to do. I couldn't get away."

  "You were working here in your office?"

  "Yes."

  "Was anyone else here?"

  "There were other people in the company working late. Is this about my ring? Josie said that Grace remembered the kidnapper wearing a ring like the replica World Series Cubs ring that I received."

  "I did want to talk to you about that. Do you have the ring?"

  "It's at home, in my dresser. I can assure you that I did not kidnap Hayley Jansen."

  Kyle had barely finished speaking when the door to his office flew open, and Nathan strode in, followed by the admin, who gave Kyle an apologetic look.

  "I told him you were tied up," the admin said.

  "It's fine. Shut the door on your way out," Kyle replied, frowning at his brother-in-law. "What are you doing here, Nathan?"

  "Don't tell her anything, Kyle." Nathan shot her a dark look.

  She was surprised that Nathan was treating her with such hostility, but she wasn't going to back down from doing her job just because he was worried she might shake up his sister's perfect life.

  "I have nothing to hide," Kyle said.

  "I still don't think you should be talking to the FBI unless you have a lawyer present," Nathan said.

  "Does he need a lawyer?" Bree cut in.

  "I don't." Kyle sent Nathan an irritated look before he turned his gaze back to her. "There are thousands of people who have the same ring I do, or a variation of it. I'm glad that Grace remembered such an important detail. I hope it will provide you with a good lead, but you're not going to get anywhere focusing on me."

  Despite Kyle's attempt to be polite and firm, there was something in his tone that gave her pause. "Is there anyone who can corroborate your whereabouts between eight and eight thirty last night?"

  "I don't know. My assistant left around seven. I wasn't aware of what was going on outside my office." He pressed his fingers together, giving her a speculative look. "When Josie called me, she also warned me that you might have a personal grudge against her. She said she took some jewelry of yours when you were kids."

  "This is not about that, and I don't have a personal grudge against your wife."

  "But you did have a problem with her."

  "We were teenagers. It was a long time ago. I'm happy that Josie is doing so well now."

  "Are you?" Kyle murmured, looking from Nathan to her, obviously sensing the discord between them as well. "What do you think, Nathan?"

  "I think you should stop talking," he said.

  "Well, perhaps I'll follow my brother-in-law's advice," Kyle said, getting to his feet. "I have a meeting, so if you'll excuse me…"

  She stood up, knowing this interview was over. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Roberts."

  "I hope you bring Hayley home very soon."

  When she left the office, she couldn't help noticing that Kyle's admin was now nowhere to be seen. Was that deliberate? Had she not wanted to be questioned? Maybe she hadn't left the office at seven. Maybe she knew something about what her boss had been doing the night before.

  Of course, she had absolutely nothing to base that thought on, but there had just been something very evasive in Kyle's tone.

  Nathan caught up to her at the elevator. "You shouldn't have come here."

  "No. You shouldn't have come here. This is FBI business. And if your brother-in-law has nothing to hide, he shouldn't be bothered by a few questions. The fact that you felt it necessary to run down here and warn him also doesn't put you or him in a good light. Why do you think he needs protection?"

  "Because law enforcement sometimes spins the facts. It's not like you and I didn't see that happen when we were teens, Bree."

  His pointed comment was impossible to deny. "Well, I wouldn't do that."

  "You did it before—you spun a story for Johnny to save his ass."

  "That's not even close to being true. You don't know what happened back then."

  "I know a lot."

  "I'm
not talking about that with you." She punched the elevator button several more times, wishing it would arrive, so she could get away from Nathan.

  "Leave my family alone, Bree. They don't have anything to do with Hayley's disappearance."

  "I'm just following the facts. And you know I forgave Josie for stealing from me all those years ago. She was a drug-addicted mess at the time."

  "She had a lot of good reasons for needing to escape from reality."

  "I know that, Nathan," she said, softening when she saw the pain in his eyes. "That's why I let it go. For you and Josie to suggest I would come after her husband because of that is ridiculous. You're both overreacting."

  "Maybe we just know how fast good can turn to bad."

  She knew a little about that, too. "Okay. Fine. I get it. And it's done." She was relieved when the elevator finally arrived.

  "Is it done?" he asked, getting into the elevator with her. "You're going to leave Kyle alone?"

  "I'm going to follow up on all the rings that were distributed by the organization. That's the best I can give you."

  "Why did they call you in from New York? Aren't there enough agents in Chicago to work this case?"

  "Hayley's abduction might be linked to other cases I've been investigating. You need to stay out of this, Nathan. You're dangerously close to impeding a federal investigation."

  "Is that a fact?"

  "Yes, it is. I know that protecting Josie is deeply ingrained in you. But you have to back off. Bringing home Hayley is all that matters."

  "I want that, too."

  "Then focus on that."

  She stepped out of the elevator, hoping they were finished, but he remained right behind her until they reached the sidewalk. Then he put a heavy hand on her shoulder.

  She turned around, feeling an odd jolt at the personal touch, the familiar gesture. She'd tried to walk away from Nathan a lot of times before, but he'd always made the same move.

  His gaze darkened as she looked back at him, and she couldn't help wondering if he was thinking the same thing.

  He pulled his hand away. "Sorry," he muttered. "Look. I won't get in your way again, but I'd like to help if I can."

  "So you can help me focus on someone besides your brother-in-law?"

  "Do you really believe Kyle went into the auditorium and kidnapped his daughter's best friend without anyone recognizing him?"

  "I don't know," she said honestly. "Kyle could have easily explained his presence backstage if anyone questioned him."

  Nathan did not look happy with her answer. "Seriously, Bree?"

  "He was hiding something, Nathan."

  "If he was, it wasn't that."

  "Well, if you really want to protect Josie, and Kyle has a secret, maybe you should try to find out what it is."

  "I don't think Kyle is going to tell me. We're related by marriage, but we are not the best of friends."

  "I can see why. He is not the kind of man you would respect."

  He raised an eyebrow at her comment. "Really? A lot of people respect Kyle. He's very well-connected in this city."

  "He's slick and cocky and very impressed with himself."

  "You got all that in your short conversation?"

  "I got all that in the first minute, and I didn't need FBI training to figure it out."

  "You're better at reading people than you used to be."

  "And you're a lot worse at the not-so-subtle digs."

  "Then I'll stop being subtle. You were a sucker once upon a time."

  "I was a desperate, lonely girl once upon a time. And one of my friends stopped being my friend, and that hurt."

  His lips tightened. "You didn't want to be my friend. You had Johnny."

  "I don't want to talk about Johnny." She groaned. "Why are we even having this conversation?"

  "Because you came back to Chicago."

  "It wasn't by choice."

  "When you got on that bus, and you told me you'd let me know where you settled, I thought I'd see you again before more than ten years had passed. But you vanished."

  "You knew why I had to disappear."

  "I knew why you had to leave Johnny, not why you couldn't have any contact with me."

  "Talking to you…talking to anyone from the old neighborhood was too risky. I couldn't chance it." She paused, her heart beating hard against her chest. "Did you ever tell anyone?"

  "Not a soul. Just like I promised. You called in my debt to you, and I paid up." The anger returned to his voice. "Although my silence put me in the hospital for a few days."

  "What?" she asked in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

  "Johnny came after me. He wanted to know where you were. He tried his hardest to get me to talk, but I didn't tell him a thing."

  "He beat you up?"

  "Him and two of his friends."

  She shook her head. "I had no idea. I'm so sorry, Nathan." She felt an enormous wave of guilt. "I didn't think Johnny would find out you'd helped me."

  "He was desperate to get you back. I'd never seen him like that." Nathan drew in a breath. "You made the right decision when you left. But you made the wrong decision to come back now. Johnny still lives here. If he hears you're in town, he'll come looking for you."

  "I can't imagine how he would hear I'm in town, unless you're going to tell him?"

  "I haven't seen him since that day he beat me up. I left the neighborhood as soon as I got out of the hospital. I took Josie as far across the city as I could get. And I have never been back there."

  "Well, I'm going to be in and out of this city, a couple of days, maybe a week at most. And even if he did find out, I can protect myself now. I'm not that scared girl anymore. I'm a trained federal agent. I don't run from bad guys; I take them down."

  A reluctant smile crossed his lips. "Well, I must say this is a new side of you."

  "I grew up, Nathan. So did you. Can we move forward?"

  "I'd like to say yes, but I just have this sick feeling in my gut."

  "I've had the same sick feeling since I found out I was needed in Chicago. But I am here to do a job. That's it. So, what's it going to be, Nathan? Are we going to be friends? Enemies? People who once knew each other but really don't want to have anything to do with each other now?" She paused, waiting for him to immediately choose the last choice, but he dug his hands into his pockets, his gaze running across her face, down her body, and the air between them seemed ridiculously tense. "Well?" she prodded.

  "When I figure it out, I'll let you know." He turned and walked away.

  As she watched him leave, she was filled with mixed emotions. But one thing was very clear. Nathan was a complication she didn't need. A very sexy, attractive complication, her brain couldn't help pointing out.

  She frowned. Maybe she'd had a teeny, tiny little crush on Nathan a hundred years ago, when they were young teens, when they were friends. But then they didn't see each other for a few years and when they reconnected in the last two years of high school, Nathan had become harder, moodier, angrier. He'd been so critical of all her choices that they'd ended up closer to enemies.

  What they were now was anyone's guess. But hopefully, she wouldn't be staying in Chicago long enough to find out.

  Four

  Bree returned to the FBI office a little past three, determined to put Nathan out of her mind.

  After briefing her fellow agents on her interviews with Grace and Kyle Roberts, as well as the disturbing phone calls she'd received, she grabbed a salad from the on-site cafeteria and sat down at an empty desk. As she ate, she got onto her computer, reading through the reports being posted by the numerous teams working on the case.

  They had agents and analysts tracking down locally known child predators, surfing the dark web for chatter about a kidnapping for ransom or any other motivation, running computer patterns to compare Hayley's case with the three other known child abductions involving a white rose, coordinating with volunteer and police-led neighborhood searches, and contin
uing to interview and re-interview everyone who had been at the concert the night before. There were also numerous personnel dedicated to tracking down every lead that came in from the public, no matter how incredible it might appear.

  Despite the massive manpower at work, they were unfortunately no closer to finding Hayley now than they had been the night before, and everyone was acutely aware that in cases like these, every minute counted.

  After finishing her salad, she typed up her own notes, thinking again about her conversations with the Jansens, Grace Roberts, and Kyle Roberts. Aside from the ring, she hadn't gained a lot of new information, but the ring could still be significant. One of the Chicago team members had already volunteered to contact the Cubs and get a list of those lucky people who had received rings. It was a long list and a long-shot lead, but it was something and right now all they had to go on.

  Thinking about the Cubs reminded her of the baseball chat forum she and her tight-knit group of friends from Quantico had set up during their training in order to coordinate assignments. Later, it had become a place to ask for help outside the usual professional channels, a place that was all theirs.

  They'd adopted monikers from the 1986 World Series Mets, which had been Jamie Rowland's favorite team. Jamie had been their leader until he had died in a tragic accident during a training mission. She still missed his smiling face. They'd dated for a few weeks during their time at Quantico. He was the first man in a long time she'd been able to trust. She didn't know if she would have loved him forever, but his death had torn away another piece of her heart.

  It would be five years tomorrow that he'd died. Jamie's father Vincent and sister Cassie had invited her to attend a small gathering at their house to celebrate Jamie's life, and she'd planned to attend, but now she doubted she'd make it back to New York by then. She'd been looking forward to it and hoping to catch up with at least one or two of her friends. It had been too long.

  On impulse, she pulled out her phone and opened up the forum. It had gone unused since June when Damon and Wyatt had been running for their lives and had needed her help.

  It was a good thing that no one had needed a lifeline since then, but she missed her buddies. They were spread out all over the world and most of the time she had no idea where anyone was, but she still felt connected to them. They had saved each other's lives. They had gone through tragedy together. And when there was no one else to trust, they knew they could trust each other. In her world, trust was a rare commodity, proven even more rare this past summer when they'd found a traitor among them.