CHAPTER11
Nothing added up.
Nothing made sense.
No clues. No real evidence. Whoever they were dealing with knew what they were doing.
But she also knew they had an end game. And that’s exactly what this was.
A game.
The killer was the master and everyone else was his pawn.
She picked up another stack of papers that she’d printed and paced in front of the desk in the basement of Gunny’s lodge.
This was the office that Beck had created for Athena’s Team.
For Beck’s girls.
When Fay had left the CIA, she thought a piece of her had died and that she’d never get it back. When Beck called and told her about her plans, a tiny spark developed deep in Fay’s gut.
That first mission in Wind River, she felt alive for the first time in a long while. But it wasn’t enough to fill her heart and soul.
That had been Walker and she still wasn’t sure where to file that in her life. She never expected a man would be able to give her that kind of fulfillment. It had always been her job. If it didn’t come from herself, it wasn’t real. That had been the motto she’d lived by her entire life.
Being with Walker made her re-examine that philosophy.
“Man. When your wheels spin, it’s like listening to a herd of elephants,” Beck said from across the room.
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It does to me,” Beck said. “What’s got you all riled up?”
“This fucking case.” Fay scurried across the room and plopped on the sofa next to Beck.
“Not Lee?”
Fay laughed. “That’s a different frustration, but it’s working itself out.”
“And if Hank hired him?”
“It would be annoying as hell for anyone who had to work with him.” Fay set the papers on her lap and tucked one foot under her butt. “Something had to have happened to him in the past and it’s going to take a major event for his world attitude to change. I will give him credit where credit is due and he’s done some good things to help out this case, but he’s got a bit of an attitude that isn’t helping.”
“Hank and Jake want me to meet with them later this week to discuss him, so they want a report from you. Verbal, of course. Nothing in writing.”
“I don’t want to be the reason someone doesn’t get hired.”
“Trust me when I say that’s not going to be the reason, but it could tip the scales.” Beck shifted, setting her laptop to the side. “In order for Athena Team to work, I need to know that any one of Hank’s men is going to work well with my girls. Generally, we’ll try to keep the pairing as is, but that doesn’t mean you won’t end up working with Stone, Bodie, or anyone else.”
“I get it.” Fay might not like Lee. She also might find his attitude a hindrance toward the investigation, but when he buckled down and did his job, he wasn’t so bad. “If this isn’t going to be in writing and won’t come back to bite me in the ass, I’ll be honest.”
Beck raised her finger and made a cross over the center of her chest. “You have my word.”
That was good enough for Fay. “He’s not a good fit. He’s constantly going rogue. Walker’s starting to feel like a damn babysitter and what’s worse, he no longer trusts Lee. Not because he thinks he’s doing anything wrong, but Lee keeps lying to him.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Honestly, I think Lee is investigating on his own and he wants to crack it by himself and take all the credit.”
“Is that what Walker believes?”
“He’s leaning toward that, but it’s hard for him. Lee was on his team and he’s feeling betrayed,” Fay said.
“I can understand that. I would too. I’m going to present all this to Hank and Jake at my meeting with them over dinner.”
Fay rubbed her temples. “I have to admit I feel in a little over my head with this investigation.”
“Why?”
“Earlier Walker used the world convoluted to describe a theory that Lee had. The word really bothered me, and the more I looked at these cases and tried to loop it all back to what has to be two different situations, it dawned on me that whoever is behind the murders wants all this to be convoluted. I no longer think this is about Sparrow.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because if it was, this asshole would say it.” Fay flipped open one of the files. “I found a similar case where a killer was purposely tormenting a police officer. Every single kill, the perp would pin a note on the victim’s chest and would personalize it.” She handed some images and a summary sheet to Beck. “And then this case is one where the murderer was playing games and leaving cryptic messages meant for someone else, but everyone at first thought it was meant for the psychologist.”
“That’s interesting. So, who do you think these notes are meant for if it’s not Sparrow?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I’m getting a list of everyone who worked the missing boys cases. Not just cops, but other first responders, feds, even people on the fringe. I’m going to cross-reference that with anyone who made a public mistake.”
“Sounds like a plan.”