Already Taken (Laura Frost FBI)

“They’ll have you logged in and out as a guest, won’t they?” Laura asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Yes, I guess so.” Alice nodded. “What is this about?”

Laura took out her notebook and placed it in front of her. “We’ll need the name of that facility so we can check with them,” she said, even though she didn’t really think that there was any question of Alice being their murderer. She was far too thin and frail-looking, and with those hands, Laura wondered if she could even wield a knife. She watched Alice write the name with satisfaction, noting it was difficult for her to even hold a pen. “I’m afraid there have been two murders which we believe might have been linked to the reunion.”

Alice jumped, nearly dropping the pen. Her face went white. “No,” she breathed. “That can’t be. Who was killed?”

Laura opened up the images of Janae Michaels and Jamie Bluton on her phone. “Do you recognize them?”

“Yes!” Alice exclaimed, but then her face colored slightly. “I don’t remember their names—you’ll have to forgive me, there were so many people—but they were definitely at the event!”

“That’s okay,” Agent Moore spoke up. “I forget people’s names all the time! I got introduced to my new colleagues for the first time recently, and I’d forgotten all of them by the time we went around the room.”

Alice chuckled. “Yes, well, my memory’s not what it used to be, either.”

“Do you remember hearing of any disputes or disagreements at the event?” Laura asked. “Anything negative at all that could explain why this has happened?”

“No,” Alice said, the corners of her mouth dropping down in pure misery. “No, it was a wonderful event and everyone had so much fun. Or, so I thought. Now, I don’t know what to think.”

“Do you have a list of everyone who attended the event?” Laura asked. They still needed one, after all. The marketing manager hadn’t been able to provide it for them before Agent Moore managed to kill the power, and there was no telling when he would be able to get it back up and running or get access to that database remotely. Laura shot a subtle glance down at Agent Moore’s hands to make sure they were firmly and safely placed on her lap.

“I do,” Alice said. “And everyone who was invited. Which do you want?”

Laura blinked. “Both,” she said. That was much more useful than she had expected. They might actually be able to make sense of something if they had data from both lists.

Although, the only time it would probably come in handy would be if someone else died, and they were only on the invited list, not the attended list—which was a depressing thought. But then she shook her head. The first two victims had actually attended, so that wouldn’t be a link.

“I’ll help as much as I can,” Alice said, as her printer whirred into life. Laura had a flashback to the previous office they were in and held her breath, but it soon started spurting out page after page of names and she relaxed.

Until she realized the enormity of what they were dealing with.

The marketing manager had said there were almost two thousand people in attendance. There were even more who were invited, but chose not to attend.

They had a lot of potential suspects—and a lot of potential future victims.

The problem was, Laura wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do next.

And Agent Moore was looking at her in that way that made it absolutely clear that Laura was going to have to be the one to decide.