A Face to Die For (Forensic Instincts 6)
“We’re standing here in the dark for an hour?” Lina asked.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Why?” Brianna was re-centering herself, forcing herself to think straight. “Why aren’t you calling the police right away?”
John pursed his lips, clearly deciding how much to say.
“Given this much evidence, the NYPD would step in and take over the entire case. Casey doesn’t want that—not until she has the evidence she needs to turn over to them. She’s getting it now.” John gazed from one girl to the other. “Trust her.”
“We do,” Brianna said at once.
“Yes, we do,” Lina echoed.
“Good.” He reached past them to turn off the front hall light. “I’ll go take care of the bedroom light.” He took a step in that direction.
“This plan of Casey’s—it falls outside the lines, doesn’t it?” Lina blurted out.
John didn’t reply.
“Whatever it is, let’s give her the time to do it,” Brianna answered for him. “That’s why we hired her.”
* * *
After rushing down the four flights of stairs at the FI brownstone, Casey burst into Ryan’s lair. He looked up from his computer, surprised at her uncustomary dramatic entrance. But seeing her expression, his eyes narrowed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, swiveling his chair around.
“Where’s Claire?” Casey’s gaze took in the entire room. “Is she with you? Please say yes.”
“She just left to buy a box of herbal tea.”
“Call her. Get her back here. Now.”
Ryan asked no questions. He just did as he was told.
Not three minutes later, Claire appeared in the doorway. She looked embarrassed. “Ryan and I were just…”
“This isn’t about the two of you. That’s none of my business. It’s about Brianna.” Casey explained everything John had told her, showing the photos to both of her teammates.
“Shit,” Ryan breathed. “Where the hell was the security detail watching Hanover? How did he get into Brianna’s apartment without being seen?”
“I don’t know,” Casey replied. “Somehow he got by them. We’ll figure out what went wrong later. Right now, our focus is on Brianna.”
Claire had paled. “This reached the crisis level much faster than we expected.”
“And we have to rectify that.” Casey was in military mode. “Claire, you and I have to break into Hanover’s office now. As in right now. Whether or not it’s a good time. We need those scent pads, and we need Hero to confirm Hanover’s presence in Brianna’s apartment. John’s waiting an hour before calling the cops. That’s as far as we can push it. After that, they’ll have to be alerted.”
“And we’ll lose control of the whole case,” Ryan finished for her. He began rummaging around on his desk, finally producing a faculty ID card, which he gave to Casey. “Emma charmed this out of some semi-retired professor’s pocket. It’ll get you in the building.” He rose and went over to a shelf. “Here.” He tossed two NYU T-shirts and two pair of jeans at them. “These were down here for safekeeping. You’ll just be wearing them tonight instead of tomorrow.” He turned his back. “Get dressed.”
Both women pulled off their work clothes and donned the T-shirts and jeans Ryan had thrown them. They’d planned their attire. They had to look like any other grad students.
“I’ll get the equipment,” Casey said. “Then we’re gone.”
CHAPTER 11
NYU Stern Business School
Faculty wing