Allison Brennan - Cutting Edge

He didn’t care about being fair, not about this.

“I’ll take responsibility for Agent English’s personal safety,” Duke said.

She faced him with shock and something like distrust. He didn’t want to read too much into it, she was on an emotional roller coaster, and one he realized she’d never ridden before. But he was irritated that she didn’t try to understand.

He needed her to trust him. Without trust, there could be no relationship.

“I can accept that,” Hooper said. “Hans?”

“Great. We need to go over the cases, and it wouldn’t hurt if you reviewed them as well, Nora, when you have a chance.”

She quickly calmed herself, and said in a measured tone, “I understand your point, Dr. Vigo, but I can’t imagine anyone who would have a personal vendetta against me, to such an extent that they would kill to … to do what?”

“Nora, you understand terrorism. I understand psychopaths. This is a case where the two have collided, and I think we have a wholly new, and dangerous, monster on our hands. Be careful.”

Duke’s phone vibrated and he looked at the message. It was his partner, J. T. Caruso.

He stared at the message with a heavy heart, but not surprise. Maybe he’d already sensed the truth, because he couldn’t imagine that Russ Larkin had any part in killing Jonah. But it didn’t make the news any easier to swallow.

He told the three FBI agents, “Russ Larkin’s car was found in Reno. He’s dead.”

By the time Duke and Nora arrived in Reno, nearly two hours later, Russ Larkin’s corpse had been taken to the morgue. Nora contacted the Reno FBI office after Duke had been notified by Reno PD about the latest murder, and Agent Sara Ralston met them at the crime scene: a squalid parking lot behind an abandoned warehouse.

Duke felt damn guilty that he’d harbored ill thoughts about Russ being a villain in this mess. When both Russ and his computer had gone missing, Duke’s first thought was that he was guilty. Only later did it occur to Duke that Russ might be in trouble.

“Did you see the victim?” Nora asked Agent Ralston.

“Just. When I got here, they had already removed him from the vehicle, had him bagged and tagged. The deputy coroner on scene is an acquaintance, gave me the basic. Dead more than twenty-four, how much more he won’t know until the M.E. does his job. Dressed in jeans and T-shirt, sneakers, no visible damage aside from the slit throat. Cut deep, likely from behind.”

“Passenger seat or driver’s seat?” Duke asked.

“Driver’s,” she said. “Seat belt still on, and there was a clean strip of shirt where it hit him, so I’d say the belt was on when his throat was slit.”

Why the hell did Russ drive all the way to Reno and park behind an abandoned building? Twenty-four hours would have put him there at two p.m. on Monday, well after the arson fire. “Could he have been dead longer?” Nora asked.

“Could be, I really don’t know my decomp well. I’m white-collar crimes, but we have a small satellite office here, and my violent-crimes squad is out in the middle of nowhere handling a murder-suicide on federal land. Nasty stuff. Don’t know how you do this every day.”

“I’m domestic terrorism, not VCMO,” Nora said. “But I get my fair share of the dead.”

“The M.E. is fairly friendly. We might be able to get an answer before the official report.”

“I heard there was a note with the body,” Duke said. “Do you have it?”

“Saw it, don’t have it. Reno PD has it.”

“We’d like a copy,” Nora said.

“Go ahead and ask. They’re territorial here.”

“Whatever it takes,” said Nora. “We need that note-it’ll help with the profile.”

Duke crossed over to where the CSI team was processing Russ’s car and getting it ready to transport to their garage for further evidence collection. He picked out who was in charge easily enough, and crossed over to the twenty-something kid. They were all young, which surprised him.

“Duke Rogan, I spoke with Lieutenant Rob Prentiss two hours ago about the victim.”

“Prentiss? He’s at the station.”

“He asked me to come because the victim was in my employment and has classified information in his possession.”

The kid said, “Take it up with Prentiss. This is my crime scene, and you’re in it.”

Duke pushed. “He said I could get a copy of the note that was attached to the body.”

“I don’t know anything about that. He didn’t talk to me.”

“Call him.”

“I’m busy. You’re not from our jurisdiction, are you?”

“Sacramento.”

“Sacramento what? You’re not a cop, so I don’t know what you think you’re going to get from me.”

Nora was suddenly at Duke’s side, and the kid gave her the once over. “Hello,” he said.

She said, “Officer Dressler, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Special Agent Nora English, FBI attachment to the Department of Homeland Security,” she said rapidly. “Mr. Larkin, the victim, works for a contractor of DHS, Rogan-Caruso Protective Services, and in such capacity, has sensitive and classified information pertaining to national security. Mr. Rogan, the principal of the company, is a security-cleared consultant to the JTDP for both DHS and FBI and as such, I’d expect you to give him whatever information he needs to insure that the health and safety of all Americans is not jeopardized, which any delay could risk.”

Dressler blinked. “What is-”

Nora glanced at her watch, and said, “We’re on our way to another crime scene, and the killer in question is crossing state lines, which actually puts this case squarely in my jurisdiction. I’ve been told that Reno’s CSI unit is extremely competent. I’d rather not call in my team, but I don’t have time to dick around. Either we get what we need-now-or I’ll secure this scene personally until my ERT arrives.”

Duke was impressed. He’d never heard anyone bullshit so completely and have it sound so legitimate. He kept the grin off his face, but he wanted to kiss Nora for her quick thinking. He didn’t think she would appreciate it here, especially with her if you defy me I’ll win arrogance.

Dressler mumbled, “A minute,” and walked away.

Nora turned to Duke, her lips turning up just a fraction, and she winked.

“I need Russ’s laptop and flash drive,” Duke said.

“He’ll give you everything you need. I’ll sign an evidence receipt and give Dressler the car to process, which will make him happy. Ralston told me he’s a stickler for details, which makes him a bastard to deal with in jurisdictional issues, but a godsend in the evidence room.”

Dressler returned a moment later. “Prentiss said to give you what you need.” He was obviously unhappy with the order.

Nora softened and gave Dressler the benefit of her smile. “Thank you, Officer Dressler. I appreciate your cooperation. All we need is the letter and any computer equipment in the vehicle, which is the property of Rogan-Caruso. There may be highly classified information and we need to know what the killer may know, in order to protect the well-being of American citizens. However, I would greatly appreciate it if you could process the car and trace evidence from the victim. I’ll trade you information. This is a highly charged case, and I promise your expertise will be much appreciated.”

He wanted to argue, but didn’t. “I’ll prepare an evidence receipt.”

“Thank you,” Nora said. “And as soon as you have any information off the vehicle, please contact me directly.” She handed him her card.

While Dressler went to gather the sealed evidence, Nora asked Duke, “Why would Larkin be out here? Do you have clients here?”