No Safe Place

by Mary Head

  Later, he thought as he closed his eyes. He would talk to Eddie and clear things up, and then he would go down to see her.

  Chapter 47

  Juliet frowned when she walked into the conference room that had been turned into the command station for Hannah’s case. Several agents were making phone calls, while Chris was in a heated discussion with Agent Warren over by the wall, and Juliet made her way over to them.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “Did we catch a break?”

  “Maybe,” Chris replied, turning his gaze from Tony to Juliet. Juliet couldn’t help noticing that Tony seemed peeved about something, but she didn’t ask, figuring she would find out sooner or later.

  “I have a girl in one of the interrogation rooms,” Chris continued. “Says she heard Hannah and her professor arguing in his office the afternoon of Hannah’s disappearance. Said it sounded like she was rejecting his advances, and he wasn’t very happy about it.”

  “Which professor?” Juliet asked with a frown.

  “Dr. John McKenzie,” Chris replied, consulting the sheet of paper in his hand.

  Juliet stared at him, at a momentary loss for words, and then turned to face the room.

  “Everybody trying to contact John McKenzie, stop right now!” she shouted. “Hang up your phones, and get back to following real leads.”

  The rest of the agents dutifully obeyed her command, exchanging glances, and Juliet turned back to see Chris staring down at her with his mouth open.

  “What are you doing?” he asked incredulously.

  “You, come with me,” she said, grabbing his arm and starting to pull him from the room. “Tony, we’ll be in my office if anybody needs us.”

  Agent Warren nodded, looking somewhat relieved, and Juliet had a feeling he had been just as annoyed as she was about Chris chasing down this lead.

  “What the hell, Juliet?” Chris exclaimed angrily once they were in her office and she had closed the door behind them.

  “You’re wasting time chasing down this bullshit lead,” Juliet snapped. “Accusing John of kidnapping Hannah is like accusing Harry of kidnapping Hannah. Dr. McKenzie is not a suspect by any means.”

  Chris scowled. “Why? Because you know him?”

  “Chris,” Juliet said firmly, “you have his alibi from his coworker for the night Hannah was taken, and you have the statement from his boss that he went out of town the morning after Hannah disappeared. You’ve met the man yourself, and you’re gonna take the word of some girl who’s probably pissed because she failed one of his tests?”

  Chris scowled, and Juliet shook her head. “Above all of that, do you really think that if he were making inappropriate sexual advances towards Hannah he would still be her advisor? You think David wouldn’t have handed him his own ass? You think Hannah wouldn’t have?” She shook her head again, her brow creasing. “You have to widen your gaze and look at all the variables. You know that.”

  Chris sighed, raising a hand to press his fingers to his forehead, and Juliet looked at him for a moment before crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the front edge of her desk.

  “Talk,” she said quietly.

  He looked up at her, contemplating her for a second, and then took a breath as he turned away.

  “I was just hoping this was it,” he said, pacing a short line between her and the door. “That this was going to be the break we needed. I can’t – this fucking case is just –” He paused, tilting his head to the side as he moved. “It’s killing me. I keep thinking about what if – what if I don’t find her? Every minute that passes, what if I don’t find her? Or what if I do, but it’s too late? And I keep seeing her. . .” He trailed off, staring down at the floor, and Juliet knew exactly what he was thinking.

  “I’ve wanted to lead a case for so long now,” he continued after a minute, “but I never thought it would be Hannah.” His voice cracked a little on her name, and Juliet felt a small pain in her heart. “I just don’t know if I can handle it if this goes wrong. I don’t know if that makes me a shitty agent or what –”

  “It makes you human, Chris,” Juliet said softly. “We’re all too close to this. Some of the agents in this office have known Hannah her entire life. This is hard on all of us, but I know on you especially, and I’m sorry this had to be your first lead.”

  Chris gave a faint shake of his head. “Tomorrow night, Juliet. I have something like 32 hours left to find her, and I don’t have the first fucking idea where she is. This bastard is taunting us. He gave us this fucking deadline, but not because he wants to be found. He’s just taunting us. He hasn’t asked for a ransom, he hasn’t made any demands; he’s just going to kill her.” He took a sudden, sharp breath and sagged against one of the chairs in front of Juliet’s desk. His shoulders slumped and when he raised his gaze to her, she could see the tears in his eyes. “Christ, Juliet, he’s going to kill her.”

  “No,” Juliet said emphatically, stepping over to him. “No, he’s not. Because we’re going to find her. We are. That’s the only outcome for this.”

  She took his hands in both of hers and squeezed them, running her thumbs lightly over his knuckles. He looked down at their hands a moment, and then back up at her, and suddenly pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. She hugged him back just as tightly, absently rubbing his back as he hid his face against her shoulder.

  After a minute, his grip loosened and he sat up, pulling his arms from around her and sniffling lightly as he swiped his hands over his eyes.

  “Thanks, Jules,” he murmured, his lips twitching in a small smile, and then he tensed. He had never used her nickname before, was never quite sure if their friendship was on that level yet, and was afraid she might be upset, but she just smiled and reached forward to rub his arm.

  “Any time.”

  He took a deep breath, and Juliet stepped back as he straightened. He placed his hands over his face and gave his head a sharp shake.

  “And now I need to go threaten to arrest this girl for wasting my time,” he muttered as he started for the door, Juliet trailing behind him.

  Between the two of them, they got out that the girl was in fact lying, and had made up the story because she was mad that John had given her an F on an essay.

  “You’re so very lucky I don’t have time to deal with the paperwork of arresting you for wasting my time with this,” Chris muttered as he escorted the girl through the office to the elevators. She looked resentful as he jabbed the down button, and he raised his eyebrows. “Go home and study, and maybe you’ll earn a better grade next time.”

  The elevator to their right dinged its arrival, and the girl got inside, punching the button and folding her arms over her chest as the doors closed.

  Chris sighed, feeling the first poundings of a headache, and thought about the ibuprofen in the top drawer of his desk. As he started to turn away, the elevator directly in front of him dinged, and the doors opened to reveal Tony standing there with none other than Dr. John McKenzie.

  Chris felt his face flush as the two of them stepped forward, and said in an undertone to Tony, “You guys didn’t actually call him, did you?”

  “No,” Tony replied. “He actually just turned up while you were in Agent Grayson’s office, said he had some information that might be helpful.”

  Chris nodded and extended his hand towards John.

  “I asked to see Agent Cole,” John murmured as he and Chris shook hands.

  “He’s not available right now, but I’m lead on the case, so whatever you wanted to tell him, you can tell me.”

  John nodded, and Chris led him back to a small interview room so they could have some privacy.

  “You want something to drink or anything?”

  “No, thank you,” John said as he sank into a chair.

  “So,” Chris began as he sank into the chair across from John. “Agent Warren said you had some information that could be useful?”

  John nodded. “It was a
couple of months ago; I was leaving my classroom to head back to my office, and I saw Hannah standing in the hallway with a strange man. I didn’t know him, and just from the way she was standing, she didn’t seem to know him either. She looked really relieved to see me, and I asked if she was okay before I walked with her from the building. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now, remembering the way he was looking at her, and in light of what’s happened, I think it could be important.”

  Chris stared at John once he’d finished his story, his hands clasped tightly on the table in front of him as a muscle worked in his jaw. He took a breath, trying to keep his temper in check.

  “And you didn’t think this was worth mentioning last Thursday?”

  “I didn’t think about it,” John said defensively, his face reddening. “It happened two months ago.”

  “I would’ve thought maybe the fact that she was kidnapped might have jogged your memory.” Chris couldn’t keep the sarcastic tone from his voice, wondering what they could have done with this information if they’d had it four days ago.

  “Look,” John snapped, staring hard at Chris. “I care about Hannah, and when the police came to talk to me Thursday morning, all I could think about was how worried I was about her, how scared I was that she might –” He broke off, taking in a deep breath through his nose. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of this sooner – believe me, I wish I had – but you have it now. Do something with it.”

  John started to stand, and Chris held up a hand to stop him.

  “Wait, wait,” he said with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I know you care about Hannah. I am just – losing my mind over all of this.”

  John’s expression softened as Chris looked up at him, and Chris raised his eyebrows.

  “Do you remember what the man looked like? Can you describe him?”

  John nodded. “I think so.”

  “Okay, I’m gonna set you up with a sketch artist, and we’ll see what we get.”

  Chapter 48

  Eli slid behind the wheel of his car, pulling the door shut and blowing out a slow breath.

  The interior was cold from sitting in the enclosed parking garage since that morning, but he didn’t start the engine just yet.

  It was only three in the afternoon, but he had clocked out early, saying he didn’t feel well. He knew nobody would really notice his absence, and he couldn’t stand just sitting around and doing basically nothing. He wanted to be at David’s, where he actually felt useful and productive, even if all they did was go through more files. It was more than anything he had been able to do officially.

  Not for the first time he wondered what helping David might do to his career. He could think of several rules he was breaking, and it made him anxious, but not as much as he thought it should.

  All he could think of was Hannah, and the brief time he had spent with her. It had only been a combined total of 10, maybe 15 minutes, but it had stayed with him for the rest of the day. The attraction had definitely been physical in those first few seconds, the sight of her bent over in front of David’s bookcase, but the moment she turned around and saw him there, it instantly became something else.

  It was her smile, and her laugh, and the sound of her voice, and the way she pushed her hair over her shoulder when she stepped closer to him, and the way she sought him out again to talk to him more. He remembered her eyes as she looked up at him in David’s office, a warm canvas of greens and browns, and that barest hint of blue, right on the edge of her irises. It had probably been just a trick of the light, but it made him think of the sky, the way the atmosphere curved over the Earth in those shots from space.

  He couldn’t explain what it was about her, even to himself, but he wanted to know her, wanted to be with her, exist in the same space together.

  He had never really thought one way or the other about fate, or destiny, or love at first sight, but he had felt so good after that brief meeting, so warm, and now he wondered if this was what it felt like to meet that one person you were meant to be with.

  It scared him to think that he might never see her again, might never have the chance to get to know her, to find out if the way he felt really did mean something, and he knew he had to find her.

  To do that, he had to help David.

  Eli finally started the car, fiddling with the air control until the climate was comfortable, and then pulled from the space. As he headed out of the parking garage, he thought about the way Juliet had stormed from the house the previous afternoon, and how David had told him to go home. He only hoped the rift between the two of them didn’t mean that David was going to shut him out as well, but there was really only one way to find out.

  Eli nosed his car from the garage, slipping into traffic and heading for home to change his clothes before he went over to David’s.

  ◊◊◊

  David sighed and closed the file in his hands, dropping it onto the coffee table with a loud smack and then raking his fingers through his hair. He sat a moment, staring at the files piled on the low table, and then reached for his soda before sitting back against the cushions.

  His frustration was mounting. They kept edging closer and closer to the deadline, and he still hadn’t come up with a viable suspect. He knew Chris had checked out the ones they flagged the other night, but none had panned out.

  In hindsight, he supposed he had expected they wouldn’t. This was all too personal to be any one of them, and the track they were now on felt more right, but it was also broader, and every glance at the clock reminded him of how little time they had left.

  His fight with Juliet the day before was also racing around in his head, making him space out from time to time in the middle of reading through the case reports as he thought about how angry she had been, and all the things she said. Maybe she was right, but there was no way he was going to stop looking for Hannah. Nothing would be okay again until he had her back.

  The only concession he had made to their argument was the can in his hand, the sweet, cold liquid fizzing on his tongue as he took a sip. He had realized after Juliet stormed out that he was the rest of his beer away from being properly buzzed, and it had hit him hard to think about how disappointed Hannah would be if she knew. He had never really had a problem with alcohol, but he tended to drink a lot when he was angry or upset or frustrated, usually because of work, and he knew he wasn’t all that fun to be around when he was drunk. Hannah had seen him like that a couple of times, and he knew how much it upset her, so he always tried to be mindful of how much he drank, especially around her.

  The doorbell sounded suddenly, and he looked up at the clock, confused. It was only mid-afternoon, too early for it to be Juliet or Eli, though he had a feeling Juliet would not be coming over today, and he stood to walk to the door, wondering who it could be. He peered through the peephole and frowned as he opened the door.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, staring at Eli standing on his porch. He wasn’t dressed in his work clothes, but in jeans and a long sleeved shirt, and David’s frown deepened.

  “I left early,” the younger agent replied, staring right back at him. “Can I come in?”

  David shrugged, a little bewildered, and stepped to the side, gesturing for Eli to enter and following him into the living room.

  Eli moved past the coffee table to stand by one of the bookshelves, and David watched as his gaze moved over the pictures of Hannah there before stopping at one. David knew it was the one from when she volunteered at a day camp the summer before her senior year of high school. He didn’t need to see it to know how she looked: long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, a bright yellow camp t-shirt and jean shorts that showed off her well-tanned skin, and a brilliant smile on her face.

  Eli seemed to be contemplating something, a small frown creasing his brow, and David waited to hear what he was going to say.

  “I was thinking about Hannah,” he began finally, still staring intently at the picture, “and about the case, and I r
ealized that I’m more help here than I am at the Bureau. I’m still too new, and I’m not really doing anything there, and I hate it.” He glanced over at David. “I feel like I can be a lot more helpful here, with you.”

  David looked at him for a moment, and then his mind flashed back to everything Juliet had said the day before.

  “Eli,” he said quietly, “you don’t have to do this. I don’t want to see you throw away your career for me.”

  Eli shook his head, turning away and taking a few steps. He stopped at the corner of the fireplace and stared at another picture of Hannah at one of the Bureau parties from just a couple of years ago, her hair hanging in loose curls over the shoulders of her simple black dress.

  “I’m not doing it for you,” he murmured, his eyes still on the picture, and then added softly, “Finding Hannah is all that matters.”

  David knew instantly what this was really about, from the slight smile on Eli’s face and the way he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the picture of Hannah.

  They had met just once, for maybe five minutes, but it had been enough for Eli to fall head over heels for her, and David felt a flash of anxiety, memories of old hurts rising and tugging at his heart.

  After a beat of silence Eli looked up, meeting David’s eyes, and they stared at each other for a moment. David could see a flicker of apprehension cross the younger man’s face, but Eli maintained eye contact, standing his ground, his emotions written all over his face: I care about her, and I’m not backing down.

  David’s opinion of Eli climbed a few notches, and he finally nodded.

  “You know what to do,” he said, gesturing at the files spread over the coffee table.

  Eli nodded and moved towards the couch, murmuring a quiet, “Yes, sir,” as he sat down and reached for a file.

  After a moment, David settled beside him.

  Chapter 49

  Jackie awoke with a start when the front door snapped shut, making the blinds rattle in the windows. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and running his hands down his face as Eddie clomped back to his bedroom, and a moment later heard the shower turn on.