Rough Country: A gripping crime thriller
Page 28
“So they’re not too far apart. Geographically.”
Bufort set down the Snapple on the table beside him. “In New York? Half a mile separates entire worlds. And Diaz was a field reporter. Not a – you know – not a host.”
Tyler ignored Bufort and studied Shannon. “I’d like you to monitor this, Special Agent Ames. Head over to 90th and get up to speed with those guys.” He glanced at a note on his desk and said, “That’s a lieutenant named Whitaker and a lead detective, ah, Luis Caldoza. Be of assistance, but stay out of their way. You’re monitoring. Okay? This is a good chance for you to get your feet wet.”
Shannon nodded. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”
On her way to the elevator, she let herself process a bit more of what had just happened, the glimmer in Tyler’s eye: She was a test probe – get in there and see if this was going to shape up to be something. Tyler had ambitions to run the field office in Manhattan, to be promoted to assistant director when the current AD, Moray, retired next year.
But that wasn’t for her to worry about. She didn’t care about the politics of it – this was her shot, no question. The past year had been educational and exciting, but mostly had focused on white-collar crimes and healthcare fraud. When she’d applied to the FBI, it had been with the intention of working in violent crimes. But the FBI put you where they needed to, and taught you the ropes by exposing you to various sections before considering you fully formed, anywhere from eighteen months to a few years later. Shannon was in just over a year and technically still in her probationary period.
Tyler had given her a car, and she pulled out of the 80-02 parking garage still not a hundred percent confident in her New York City driving skills. It was chaos here. Her hometown featured one blinking yellow traffic light – this was like driving inside a giant pinball machine.
With the Williamsburg NYPD precinct plugged into the GPS, she got the dark blue Chevy Impala up to speed on the parkway. She was prompted to turn right onto Metropolitan Ave, which would take her most of the way.
Waves of heat rose off the asphalt. Sunlight spangled off the chrome and glass of the careening cars and trucks. Eva Diaz had been abducted, yes. And then she’d been found a day later with the life choked out of her. If the two were connected, that meant Monica Forbes might have less than twenty hours to live.
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Also by TJ Brearton
INKUBATOR TITLES
INTO DARKNESS
(Book 1 in the Special Agent Shannon Ames series)
ROAD TO MERCY
(Book 2 in the Special Agent Shannon Ames series)
T.J.’S OTHER TITLES
HABIT
SURVIVORS
DARK WEB
HIGH WATER
DARK KILLS
DAYBREAK
GONE
DEAD GONE
BURIED SECRETS
BLACK SOUL
GONE MISSING
NEXT TO DIE
TRUTH OR DEAD
THE HUSBANDS
WHEN HE VANISHED
DEAD OR ALIVE
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without my long-time friend Logan Brien, a veteran and a survivor and an all-around fascinating human being. A good man. Sharing the experience of his deployment with me breathed life into the character Reed Raleigh. It wasn’t comfortable for him, but he did it anyway. His story is there in Reed’s.
I need to thank Michelle Ann Green, who really saved this book for me when I was struggling to fit the final pieces together. Thank you, Michelle, for being an early reader and supporter. And for teaching me the softer, kinder, smarter words to use when describing suicide and diseases of despair, as well as what it’s like to have lost someone so close. How we talk (and write) about these things influences how we think — and how we think about them makes all the difference.
Thanks to Jodi Compton, my editor on this one — your advice absolutely strengthened the story. Thanks to Pauline Nolet for the immaculate proofread. Some of the things I missed or got wrong… oh boy; the whole house of cards could have collapsed. And, of course, massive thanks to Brian and Garret at Inkubator Books for making this whole thing happen. Cheers, lads.
Published by Inkubator Books
www.inkubatorbooks.com
Copyright © 2020 by T.J Brearton
ROUGH COUNTRY is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.