Not paying any attention to anyone, he went for the break room. He needed a Mountain Dew and a minute alone to regroup. He rolled his head on his shoulders and shook the aggression out of his arms as he tried hard to re-center himself. The sexual buzz then the confrontation downstairs over Aaron had escalated into straight up pissed off on a level he hadn’t experienced in a very long time.
All these erratic mood swings reeked of the PTSD diagnosis he’d been given upon discharge from the military, probably resurfacing after his brother’s death. Honestly, he’d been spoiling for a fight for the last few months. Kreed knew the signs. He was a ticking time bomb, and he needed to get his fucked-up shit under control.
“Hey. Where’s everybody?” Connors came from out of nowhere, stood directly in front of him, and effectively diminished his bad mood. Kreed couldn’t hide his smile. Connors was dressed in khaki walking shorts, flip-flops, and a frayed sweatshirt. Putting aside the fact it was freezing outside, he’d never seen the guy in anything other than his standard issue FBI crisp blue suit, stark white dress shirt, and matching silk tie.
“I’m not even sure I know who you are.” Kreed’s smile grew. He reached in his pocket for some change then dropped the money into the slot and pushed the button.
“I’m not here because I chose to be.” Connors shoved past Kreed.
“They’re in the conference room,” Kreed called out then thought better of it all. He quickly grabbed his drink then spun around. He jogged the few steps back to the conference room, bypassing Connors as he went, because he wanted a front row seat to Connors meeting Aaron for the first time. After all the hate the man had spewed to Knox about Aaron’s presence in the case—not trusting him as far as he could throw him—there was absolutely no way Kreed would miss this moment. Besides, Mitch would want a play-by-play. He owed it to his buddy to capture every minute. He made it inside the door, crashed into a front row seat, sending the chair rolling backward, bumping into the table as he kicked back to watch the show. Guaranteed entertainment. Too bad he didn’t have a bucket of popcorn; it would go really well with his Mountain Dew.
“Aaron Stuart, meet Special Agent Connors. Yep, it’s him—pale legs and all,” Kreed called out as Connors entered the room. He couldn’t see what Aaron did because his sole focus remained on Connors, who didn’t disappoint. He didn’t miss the wince, that little brief narrowing of Connors’s eyes at the introduction. Aaron’s hand came into his peripheral vision and Kreed laughed out loud as Connors hesitated to extend his hand. The guy was too much.
“Good to meet you,” Aaron said with definitely more manners than meaning. Connors didn’t seem to possess that same attribute though.
“We should get started,” Connors said. Kreed tracked the guy when he bypassed Aaron altogether as he rounded the table to shake Agent Brown’s hand. They were actually assigned partners. Huh. Kreed couldn’t see how Brown managed day to day with that stiff and formal agent. Kreed would never greet Mitch so formally. Actually, he and Mitch were more into greetings by way of insult.
Aaron’s gaze slid his direction. “You need to Google ‘mouse and Mountain Dew experiment’ sometime, just for the hell of it.” Aaron’s nose scrunched up as he nodded to the green can in Kreed’s hand before walking away.
“What? Why?” Kreed looked at the soft drink then shrugged before bringing the can to his lips and finishing the last of the sugary drink in one big gulp. He tossed the can in the nearest wastebasket and headed back to the table before the briefing got underway.
Aaron drew Kreed’s attention over to him. His laptop was out and he typed quicker than any man Kreed had ever seen before. Kreed watched Aaron’s long slender fingers fly across the keys as he gathered information. He couldn’t help but wonder how well Aaron used those deft digits for other things.
The wall-mounted monitor lit up, drawing Kreed’s attention back to the FBI meeting room and what he was supposed to be concentrating on. Shit! Get your head in the game, Sinacola. Numbers and letters in no particular order scrolled across the screen as Kreed’s focus centered back on the task at hand.
Kreed turned his attention toward Colt’s picture—the New York Panther’s freshly out-of-the-closet quarterback whose automobile accident spurred this entire investigation. He’d never met the guy or his partner, Jace, yet he felt a bond with both of them.
“Do we need a refresher synopsis?” Connors asked from his seat at the head of the table. Since Mitch was out, Connors would, of course, be the sole lead. Kreed wrinkled his nose, remembering how many times he’d wanted to kick the guy’s ass during the brief time they’d worked together on this case.
“I think we’re good,” Kreed started but Brown cut him off.
“I’ll do it. I’ll hit the high points,” Brown said, taking his seat and opening a file. Thank God. Kreed breathed a sigh of relief. Connors could get windy. “Secret Service Agent Peter Langley was arrested in the attempted murder of State Trooper Cody Turner. Charges were also filed on the attempted murder and abduction of Elliot Greyson, Senator Greyson’s college-aged son.”
Aaron typed quickly and the agent’s mugshot appeared on the screen. Brown was silent a second, turning pages in the file before he spoke again.
“He pled guilty to a number of crimes but was found dead in his cell of an apparent suicide before any additional information was obtained. It was widely believed—albeit not with most of the parties present in this room—that Langley worked alone in master-minding and carrying out a long list of hate-related crimes against nine men, ranging from murder to kidnapping. Then, Stuart here spotted Langley’s attorney in the picket line at Derek Sinacola’s funeral…” Brown stopped and looked up at Kreed a moment, worry clear on the guy’s face.