Allison Brennan: Stalked

“What if someone thought I wanted this too much, and questioned why. I’ve thought the same thing. But if the last few months have taught me anything, I let my goals define me for too long. Had my application been denied, I’d have been disappointed, but I would have been okay. But people see what’s on the surface.”

“You suspect he doesn’t trust you.”

Lucy hadn’t said that, but immediately she realized Tony was right. “He’s been professional, but there’s a different subtext when he’s with others. Some of my friends have noticed it, too. I don’t have the same feeling about the other field counselors.”

“Trust your instincts, Lucy. Continue to perform well and there’s nothing he can do. Training is just as much a mind game as it is learning the rules and regs and working as a team. You’ll be dealing with agents like Laughlin across all agencies. Consider this a test.”

It was the answer she’d expected, though she didn’t like it. She was tired of being tested when she couldn’t prepare, when she didn’t even know what she was being tested on.

“And,” Tony continued, “if he goes too far, let me know.” She opened her mouth to object but he raised his hand. “Only if it becomes serious. I think you’ll be fine.”

Lucy made herself a quick salad from the salad bar and grabbed a couple rolls before sitting down with her friends at what had become their table. Everyone was there except Lance Orozco and Alexis Sanchez.

Lucy looked at their empty plates. “Sorry-I got sidetracked.”

“The Golden Girl,” Carter Nix teased.

“Studying again?” Reva said. “Trying to graduate top of the class, no doubt.”

Was her drive that obvious? “Not studying,” she said. “Talking.”

“Any good gossip?” Reva leaned forward. “Why were you pulled out of PT?”

Lucy didn’t want to talk about Rosemary Weber or the call from Suzanne. “I can’t talk about it. But it has nothing to do with training,” she added quickly. They were all a bit paranoid about being under the microscope while on campus; she didn’t want her friends to think she was doing anything behind their backs.

“Stop being so nosy, Penrose,” Eddie Acosta said. He and Carter were the only two in the class who had known each other before they joined the Academy. They’d been in Marine basic training together, served ten years in the military in separate divisions, and ended up at the same college through the GI Bill.

“Where’d Oz and Alexis go?” Lucy asked.

“Oz is playing video games in the lounge,” Jason Aragon said. Jason was a prosecutor from Los Angeles and the oldest of their group at thirty-five. He was also a reservist in the Coast Guard, which Lucy thought was fascinating, though he didn’t talk much about himself. There were some whispers that he’d been in a gang in his youth, and he had a faded tat he didn’t talk about, either.

“And Sanchez is talking to her daughter,” Carter said. He glanced at his watch. “Speaking of which, I need to call home in fifteen minutes, Shelley likes me to call before dinner to talk to the girls.” Carter was from Denver, married with two daughters. He talked to them every night.

As Carter bussed his tray, Eddie said, “Hey, I’ll meet you in the computer lab at twenty-one hundred.”

Carter gave him a thumbs-up and left.

“Ready for the gun range tomorrow?” Margo asked. They were having a qualification pre-test. It wasn’t counted toward their firearms score but was their first assessment since day two. Their instructor expected everyone to have improved their scores between the day two test and now.

“Firearms, no problem,” Lucy said between bites. “I’m not looking forward to the driving test Monday.”

“Driving?” Reva laughed. “One of the easiest tests, from what I heard.”

“I don’t like driving,” Lucy confessed. She felt sheepish and wished she hadn’t said anything.

“You’re not tested on the course,” Eddie said. “Even if you screw up, as long as you have a driver’s license and can steer a vehicle that’s all that’s required. Monday is simply defensive driving.”

Margo said, “Don’t psych yourself out, you’ll be fine.”

“I think it’s about time to hit the books,” Eddie said. He left with Jason. That left Lucy with Margo and Reva.

Lucy found herself relaxing with her group. There were seven of them who had loosely banded together, and while others in her class of thirty-four sometimes ate with them or hung out after hours, the core seven gave Lucy a much-needed sense of friendship and belonging. It had been something she’d missed out on in college because of the rape.

“You don’t have to wait for me to finish; I was late,” Lucy said.

“I don’t mind,” Margo said. She eyed Lucy carefully. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” Lucy said. And she was. After talking to Tony, she had put Laughlin in one compartment, Weber’s murder in another, and her past safely locked away, for now. She looked forward to reading Tony’s notes on the Rachel McMahon homicide, and maybe she could track down Rachel’s brother and give Tony peace of mind. Lucy had no doubt that going through Rosemary Weber’s files would be difficult, and she hoped to have good news for him when he returned in two days.

“What’s in the folder?” Reva asked, and started to open it.

Lucy put her hand on the cover. “Reva, I can’t share. It’s a case file-an old case-that Agent Presidio gave to me. I promised to keep it confidential.” She hadn’t, he hadn’t even asked, but she didn’t want to have to explain why she was looking at it.

“Anything to do with Kean pulling you out today?”

“Knock it off, Reva,” Margo said.

Lucy sighed and gave them a bit of information, mostly to keep Reva from getting even more nosy. “It involves a case I was involved with a few months ago in New York. An agent I worked with needed some information, said it couldn’t wait.”

Margo diverted the conversation back to the firearms test tomorrow, and Lucy quickly finished eating. The three of them cleared their trays, and both Lucy and Margo grabbed an apple and granola bar for the morning. They’d gotten in the habit of running together at dawn, and neither liked to run on an empty stomach. They’d tried to get Reva to join them, but she wasn’t a morning person.

Their rooms were on the second floor of the Madison Dormitory. When the Academy was at full capacity, there were two new agents to a room with a large bathroom connecting two rooms, so four agents had to share. But because of the budget freeze, instead of more than one thousand recruits passing through annually, it was less than half that now, and they had closed down Washington Dorm. Everyone had their own room and only had to share the adjoining bath with one fellow new agent. Lucy and Margo shared, while Reva was at the end of the hall with Alexis.

“Run at six?” Margo asked as she opened her door.

“Sounds good.” Lucy went to her own room. She opened the door and found Kate sitting at her desk. One look at Kate’s expression, and hope that she’d come to explain what happened with Laughlin earlier disappeared.

Lucy dropped Tony’s file on her nightstand. “Kate-tell me what happened.”

Kate stared, as if having an inner battle about what to say.

“What’s going on?” Lucy pushed.

“Stay under the radar and away from Laughlin.”

She sat down on her bed and leaned forward. “Why?”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

She was lying, and Lucy called her on it. “It has everything to do with me. And you. Tell me, Kate.”