Chapter Fifteen

He arrived at the Bureau’s parking garage entrance and was vetted by security. The remote-controlled gate lifted, and he drove in, pulling into his assigned spot. Then he went around to open her door.

“Miss Culverton,” he said, and gestured.

She stepped down gracefully and said, “Thank you, Agent Fuller,” in a spot-on ‘you-bore-me’ tone.

“Right this way, please.”

They moved into the elevator, standing several feet apart, as two strangers would, for the ride up to the Director’s floor.

***

“I’m sorry you guys had to scramble like that, Larry,” the Director of the Chicago division said once they’d been shown into his office and seated in his visitor’s chairs.

“And to you, Miss Culverton, my apologies. How is Miss Rivers?”

“She’s well, sir. She opted to stay… where we were, and watch over U.S. Marshal Jenkins, sir.”

“I see,” he said, fingers steepled. “Larry, it’s my understanding both were directly involved in the events of the last forty-eight hours?”

“Yes, sir, right in the middle of it, unfortunately. There wasn’t a chance to get them out before trouble came, sir.”

“Relax, son. You did good,” the Director said, and smiled.

“And I hear tell Miss Rivers is quite a shot with a long gun. I’d have liked to have seen that.”

“Beg pardon, sir?”

The Director leaned forward.

“Larry,” he murmured. “I know where you were, and I’ve heard all about what happened. I’ve got family up that direction myself; I grew up in Lexington, you know, and I have a third cousin that’s a cop in Ravenna.”

“I actually did not know, sir.”

“Yes, well, now you do,” he said, chuckling, then turned his attention back to Leah.

“So, young lady. What are your plans?”

She was momentarily confused.

“My plans, sir?”

“Your plans,” he repeated. “I understand you’ll be done with your Criminal Justice and Psychology degrees in the spring. Have you considered working for the Bureau?”

“I hadn’t until now,” she answered candidly. “I’d planned to move back to Texas in the spring.”

“Think it over,” the Director suggested. “Something tells me you’d be quite a tenacious asset.”

“Now, before you two get going, I have one more piece of business. We’ve investigated this group top to bottom, Larry, and C.W. was the only mole here. He did name other parties in other branches of law enforcement, mind you. And a thorough… cleaning of houses is well underway.”

Larry nodded his understanding.

The Director nodded back.

“Just so you’re aware, Larry. There shouldn’t be any more problems here. Go get your evidence lined out, and get your official report done. I want it on my desk no later than Thursday morning so we can request warrants and present to a grand jury for indictments as soon as possible. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

They rose to leave, and the Director said, “Oh, and one more thing. I’m assigning you personally to watch over Miss Culverton here until all arrests have been made. As part of that, I expect you to take her out for a nice meal or two. It’s the least we can do for her. Use the company card.”

“Yes, sir.”

As they left his office Leah almost gasped in surprise; she could have sworn she heard the old man softly mutter, “And when the time comes, I expect a wedding invitation, young man.”

She risked a glance at Larry, whose expression gave away absolutely nothing, and they took the elevator down to the lab.

“Larry!” Bruce exclaimed and gave him a fist bump. “Glad you’re back in one piece, man. Was that intense, or what?”

“Just a bit,” Larry grinned. “Bruce, I’d like you to meet Leah Culverton.”

“Hello,” she said, and shook his hand.

“Okay, don’t keep me waiting. What have you got?” Bruce said with excitement, and his eyes grew wide when Larry opened the locket and showed him what was nestled inside.

Bruce immediately put on latex gloves, and gingerly took the entire locket out of Larry’s hands. “None of you touched that, right? Just the locket?”

“Nope, just the locket.”

“Good. I’m on this,” Bruce said. “I’ll get started on it right away. What’s the turn time?”

“The Director asked for my formal report and supporting documentation by Thursday morning.”

“I can do better than that,” Bruce said. “You’ll have my results within the next twenty-four hours.”

“One more thing, Bruce,” Larry said. “I need a laptop. Got any spares?”

“You know I do.”

“Can I get you to overnight it for me? I promise it will come back safely. I’ll even sign for it.”

“Where do you need me to send it?”

***

“What was that?” she exclaimed as soon as they left the parking garage. “Does your big boss always act like that?”

“Yep,” Larry grinned. “I really admire that man. I’ll tell you something else, too. He’s usually much more… colorful. The only reason he didn’t cuss a blue streak when he was talking about C.W. was because there was a lady present. But he knows his stuff, and he’s the best boss I’ve ever had. He really cares about his people.”

“Did he say what I think he said as we were leaving?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t hear him say… oh, never mind,” Leah said. “So, what’s next?”

“Well, it’s a little after five,” he pointed out. “And we had a late lunch. What about heading to your apartment? We could start going through things, see what can be salvaged and what needs to be replaced. And when we get hungry, we’ll figure something out.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

***

When they arrived at her door and Leah saw the ‘Do Not Cross’ tape strung across it, she frowned.

“We’re clear to go back in there, right?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Please, allow me.”

He reached out, yanked the tape down, and gestured.

“After you.”

She stepped forward and unlocked the door, then walked in and looked around, sighing. 

“Yep, it’s still horrible, and I still didn’t dream it,” she muttered.

He put an arm around her shoulders just as her phone pinged.

“It’s Shannon,” she said, and started to read the message.

“She says Pete is being a little bit grouchy.”

“Well, he got shot. I can see where he wouldn’t be a beam of sunshine,” Larry quipped as he stepped over shattered dishes and looked under the kitchen sink for trash bags.

“Aww,” Leah said, hand on her heart as she read some more.

“It’s not that. He’s upset because they’re not letting him use that arm for a couple of days, so he’s not able to write to her as much as he wants to.”

“How much do you want to bet those two will be married in a year’s time?” Larry asked when Leah came to the narrow doorway.

“Seriously? I don’t even think it will be that long. My money is on a May wedding. Mid-June at the latest.”

“One question - why can they not text back and forth?”

“Pete’s arm, remember? Not to mention, Shannon is constantly forgetting to charge her phone.”

Another ping, and Leah laughed.

“She says Mabel, one of the nurses, volunteered to be the messenger whenever she can.”

“And true love finds a way,” Larry drawled in his best Southern accent, making Leah snicker.

“Okay, funny man, focus. Where do we start with all this?”

“Well, I’d say the bedroom, maybe? Since you’re going to need a place to sleep at some point.”

“At some point?”

He shrugged.

“If the beds are too torn up, you can always crash at my place until we can replace your stuff.”

Leah decided to mess with him a bit and narrowed her eyes.

“That’s moving a little fast, isn’t it?”