Allison Brennan - Silenced

“There was no obvious sexual assault at the scene,” Lucy said.

“No evidence of recent intercourse, vaginal, anal, or oral. But I found something else you might find interesting.”

Lucy looked at the table. Nicole’s chest and abdomen were exposed. Lucy stared at a perfectly formed fetus.

“She was pregnant.”

“I’m guessing fourteen weeks. I’m going to run standard tests and DNA. You get a suspect, I can tell you if he’s the father.”

“That’s a solid motive,” Miles said, making note.

Motive maybe-but why leave the rat in the sink? Nicole being pregnant didn’t play into the message on the mirror.

Lucy stepped out of the room to text Noah about Nicole’s pregnancy, then remembered she was working with DC police on this case. She sent Genie the text message instead, then made a note to herself to write up a report for Noah at the end of the day.

When she returned to the autopsy station, Sheila had just finished closing the body.

“We’re done here,” she said. “You know what I know, but I’ll write up the official report, pending labs.”

Sheila stripped off her gloves and tossed them in a bio-bag. Her assistant started the process of cleaning the body so it could be placed in cold storage pending release.

Who wanted you dead? Who were you running from? The baby’s father?

Maybe Noah had been right and this case was a common homicide. But while she had the case, she would unearth the truth. The dead may not be able to speak, but their life and death told a story.

Ben motioned for Sheila to come over. “Do you know what this is?” He lifted Nicole’s left hand. Her skin was dark brown, but her palm was several shades lighter. In the center were three numbers, very faint.

“She wrote something on her hand,” Sheila said. “A locker combination? Date?”

Lucy tilted her head. 565.

She looked more closely. “I think there’s more here. Can you bring out the ink so we can tell?” There was just a hint of the other numbers, so faint and incomplete she couldn’t make out anything but the 565.

“Maybe-but it’ll take some time.”

“I have an idea,” Lucy said. She opened a supply drawer and retrieved a flashlight. “Cut the lights, please,” she said.

She put the flashlight on the backside of the victim’s hand. The high-wattage bulb illuminated the area.

“It’s a phone number.” She tried to contain her excitement. The phone number was faint, but Lucy read it out loud.

555-6598

She left to call Genie. They might have their first break and the case wasn’t even a day old.

Lucy finished typing her report for Noah on the Nicole Bellows homicide. She could have done it from home, but she liked being at FBI headquarters in the evening when the office ran on minimal staff.

She’d heard there was a debriefing in the conference room about the Wendy James investigation, and she wanted to be there, but Noah hadn’t invited her to attend. She didn’t know what had happened when the cyber crimes unit came in to inspect the wiring and hidden room. She wanted to know what they’d found, if they had uncovered evidence of blackmail.

Her relationship with Noah was strained, and she still didn’t understand why Josh Stein was so opposed to her involvement. She’d even e-mailed an apology, but he hadn’t responded.

If she hadn’t questioned Crowley, they may never have known about the executive apartment or the hidden room. At least not this early in the investigation.

She had to put it aside. Hard as it was, it wasn’t her case. She had an equally compelling assignment with Detective Genie Reid. She liked the detective, and was learning a lot watching how she observed a scene and questioned witnesses.

With that in mind, Lucy proofread her report to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, then she e-mailed it to Noah. She gathered her things and walked to the front of the building, where the guard buzzed her out.

“Hold up,” Matt Slater called from behind her.

She waited, a bit nervous, and glanced around looking for Noah. He wasn’t with Slater.

“I wanted to talk to you if you have a minute.”

“Of course. Your office?”

“I’ll walk you out.”

Lucy caught herself biting her lip. She stopped, but her stomach tightened. What did Slater want? To reprimand her?

“I’ll cut to the chase,” Slater said as soon as they stepped outside, out of earshot from the guard and any lingering staff. “I didn’t like the idea of letting you work in the field. You should have been cooling your heels at home or working another job when there was the delay getting you into the Academy. Don’t think I don’t know you have friends in high places.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. She almost couldn’t hear herself speak, her voice sounding like she was at the far side of a long tunnel. “I didn’t ask for any special privileges.”

“I don’t know whether you did or didn’t. You’re smart, and you’ll make a good agent once you get more training under your belt, but I wanted to make sure you understood something that I doubt Noah has made clear.”

Though terrified by what he might say, Lucy didn’t break eye contact.

Slater said, “If you screw up, it’s on Noah. He’s given you a lot more leeway than I would have. I wouldn’t have let you out of the office.”

“You’re the SSA. If you wanted me at a desk, I would have stayed at a desk.” She was nervous, but at the same time, she wanted him to know that she was happy just to have a position.

“I don’t know that you would have.” He sounded serious.

“I’m good at following orders. I’m sorry about what happened with Agent Stein after the Crowley interview, but-”

“Forget that. Josh has his own way of investigating, he gets the job done. He doesn’t make a lot of friends, but again, he gets results. The problem is that you aren’t even an agent, but you act like one. It’s making some people in the office uncomfortable.

“You’re very good at getting your way,” Slater continued. He stepped forward. “Lucy, I’m not upset with you or your performance. You’ve been an asset. Noah explained it was your diligence that landed us the biggest break in this case, the hidden room at the Park Way building. But the situation with Josh illustrates the primary problem with having you in the field, which I explained to Noah months ago.”

“I don’t see wh-”

“Stein is your superior,” Slater interrupted. “I’m your superior. Noah is your superior. Why were you even raising a question during the interview? Noah tried to smooth it over, then when that failed, he gave you a case with DC Metro. Do you understand the limbs Noah is bouncing off for you? You’re not going to get another chance. You screw up again, you’re not only out of the field, you’re out of the office.

“Remember, you’re an analyst, and that analyst title is thin, at best. Which means Noah will take the heat if the case goes south and you’re involved. So think twice before you do anything . There is a chain of command for a reason. Use it.”

“I understand,” she said quietly. She didn’t want Noah to get into any professional trouble because of her, either.

He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Like I said, you have a good head and good sense. You’ll make a fine agent someday.”

Lucy forced a smile while she waited for Slater to go back inside. Her chest felt like it was going to split in half.

Do not cry. Do not cry .

Matt Slater was right. It didn’t matter how much experience she had, she wasn’t an agent.

She practically ran to the Metro station, wishing for the first time she had a car so she could sit behind the wheel and cry in private.