Alex Barclay - Harm's Reach

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FBI Agent Ren Bryce finds herself entangled in two seemingly unrelated mysteries. But the past has a way of echoing down the years and finding its way into the present. When Special Agent Ren Bryce discovers the body of a young woman in an abandoned car, solving the case becomes personal. But the more she uncovers about the victim's last movements, the more questions are raised. Why was Laura Flynn driving towards a ranch for troubled teens in the middle of Colorado when her employers thought she was hundreds of miles away? And what did she know about a case from fifty years ago, which her death dramatically reopens? As Ren and cold case investigator Janine Hooks slowly weave the threads together, a picture emerges of a privileged family determined to hide some very dark secrets — whatever the cost.

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‘For what that’s worth...’ said Janine.

‘What the heck is that supposed to mean?’ said Ren.

‘Nothing,’ said Janine.

‘Hmm,’ said Ren.

‘Hmm yourself.’

Ren looked at the clock. ‘OK, it’s one a.m., I’m going to bow out gracelessly.’

‘Everything is there for you on the bed,’ said Janine.

‘I know who I’m dealing with,’ said Ren.

Two hours later, Ren woke up. For a moment, she didn’t know where she was. She heard the creak of a chair. She heard it again. She got out of bed and walked the short hallway to the archway that led out of the living room.

Janine was sitting at the table with a one-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle in front of her. She was in the early stages, but her tiny fingers were swiftly locking pieces into place.

Ren felt this sudden pang.

Oh my God... what if anything ever happened to you, Janine Hooks?

‘Hey,’ said Ren.

Janine jumped. ‘My heart!’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Ren.

‘Please tell me I did not wake you,’ said Janine.

‘No, I just had that “It’s the middle of the night, do you know where you are?” wake up thing.’

‘You must think I’m crazy,’ said Janine.

‘I do not,’ said Ren.

‘I’m sorry I have to do this now,’ she said.

‘Why would you be sorry?’ said Ren. ‘Do you mind if I stay?’

‘Of course not,’ said Janine.

Ren sat into the corner of the yellow sofa opposite her, and pulled a giant cushion close.

‘All the pieces are blue,’ she said, gesturing toward the jigsaw. ‘I can’t even look at it.’

‘It’s a seascape,’ said Janine.

‘It’s stressful to look at.’

‘It’s calming.’

‘You are calm already,’ said Ren. ‘You are my... thing that calms me.’

‘You wouldn’t have said that if you saw me this morning.’

‘What? Tell me more.’

‘I’ve just been given extra shifts on call,’ said Janine. ‘Like, twenty percent more than usual.’

‘And... you don’t want to do the extra hours,’ said Ren.

‘I do... it’s not that. I’m nervous. I know the sergeant likes me, but first he moves me out of my office, now he’s increasing my hours on call. I’m just worried that he’s trying to integrate me more because they’re going to pull the cold case unit. Like is he doing me a favor setting me up as an integral part of the team, so I have a fallback or I feel needed... I don’t know.’

‘They are not going to cut you,’ said Ren, sitting up. ‘No way. You’re getting results for them. And they all love you.’

‘No they don’t.’

‘Of course they do. Are you nuts?’

‘There’s a lot of political stuff going on,’ said Janine. ‘And why would I be safe when so many other places aren’t? Look at Denver — there was a cold case unit for a while when they had the grant. They had twelve investigators, then they cut it. Aurora had two — they pulled at least one of them, maybe both. Lakewood assigned an investigator and a part-time retired guy. Last I know, they pulled both of them.’

‘Why don’t you talk to your sergeant?’ said Ren. ‘Do you think he knows something?’

‘No,’ said Janine. ‘I mean, I don’t know.’ She shrugged.

‘Well, it’s worth a shot. He might be able to reassure you. There’s no point in worrying about this unnecessarily.’

‘I know...’

‘So back to you not being calm earlier today...’ said Ren. ‘What did you do?’

‘A few drive-bys.’

She pushed up her pajama sleeves, then added another tiny blue piece to the big blue sea.

Ren arrived into Safe Streets at nine the following morning. Something was clawing at her. Something was amiss. Some-thing was wrong. She went over to her desk and sat down.

Gary arrived in to the bullpen immediately and came straight for her.

Her heart started to pound.

This is bad.

There was a Post-it in his hand.

Ominous.

‘Ren,’ said Gary, ‘the pressure of the important case is off.’

What the what? ‘What?’ said Ren.

Gary ignored the question. ‘Someone from the squad has to attend a two-day seminar on multi-agency critical response put on by the Colorado Department of public safety.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Starting at nine thirty.’

Ren was motionless.

‘You’ll represent Safe Streets,’ said Gary. ‘Take good notes.’

He slapped the Post-it down on her desk.

It said:

Dr Lone, Monday, 1 p.m. Important.

Oh. Fuck.

Fuckity fuck.

And fuck you, Gary.

18

Matt Bryce’s laughter was crystal clear through the phone’s speaker, filling Ren’s Jeep. Her brother, older by a year, was her first port in storms of all kind.

‘I forbid you to laugh!’ said Ren. ‘No merriment!’

‘You call me for merriment,’ said Matt.

‘That’s true,’ said Ren. ‘And, in my defense, I did wait. If I had called you at any point before now, your ears would have bled.’

Matt laughed again. ‘Gary is great.’

‘Gary is an asshole. I mean, he promised . Is this his idea of leaving my treatment in my hands?’

‘Eh, no,’ said Matt. ‘This is the fallout from him leaving your treatment in your hands.’

Silence. ‘He’s still an asshole.’

‘A clever one, though,’ said Matt. ‘So, how was the punishment seminar?’

‘Punishing,’ said Ren.

‘And you’re on your way to your appointment now?’ said Matt.

‘I am.’

‘Then, job done. Gary Dettling one, Ren Bryce zero.’

‘I don’t like that kind of score.’

‘It’s why we don’t play board games.’

‘But I always win.’

‘Get some help today with your competition issues,’ said Matt.

‘Everyone knows it’s the winning, not the taking part.’

‘Well, there’s the spirit that bit you in the ass,’ said Matt. ‘Seeing that you’ve had to “take part” in both a seminar and a therapy session... while believing yourself to be “winning”.’

‘I rang you why?’

Dr Leonard Lone was dressed in all black, as if he was joining Ren in the superhero fantasy; she had discovered early in their relationship that he was a billionaire philanthropist. He was slight, graying, bearded and wore sandals.

But he could be Batman.

For Ren’s first month with him, she rocked up to her appointments on a high... and just as she was beginning to plummet, Lone prescribed her mood stabilizers before the low took her under.

Leonard Lone had surprised her. She hadn’t known if he were fierce enough to help. He was leaning toward her now, waiting for her to finish the point she was regretting having started.

‘I guess, what it is... is that... sometimes, other people’s emotions toward me feel like weakness,’ she said. She looked toward the window. ‘Like, positive emotions. I cannot believe I’m going to say this out loud, but if a man loves me, I believe that the man is weak. All I want is his love, I love love, but I can’t help seeing it as a weakness. And I worry that I will never truly, truly love someone because I don’t want to feel that fear.’

‘What fear?’ said Dr Lone.

‘I don’t know,’ said Ren, ‘but I often see fear flitting around the corners of men’s eyes if they love you. And I never know if that’s always the way — how could I — or is it just me? Does loving me instill fear in people? Is loving me an uncomfortable thing to do? Or do they know, is the instinct there, that as soon as they love me, I will be gone? Not right away, but I will be gone.’

‘Because they love you?’ said Lone.

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