remains to be discovered.
And that brings me to what I don’t know.
“I’m having a hard time swallowing the assumption that
he’s intentionally holding back information that could’ve prevented unnecessary
deaths. I do, or did, trust him. Now I’m not so sure. I need to find out. But
even if his office is compromised, my plan is to continue with the mission. We
all witnessed Arrington killing that woman. Regardless of how they turned, we
need to stop them.”
“What’s the plan?” asked Dallas.
“The plan is, you and I are going to find out who put
that bullet in Arrington’s head,” started Ryan. “I’m thinking it was a .50
caliber sniper round. Our snipers weren’t using rifles with that type of
ammunition. That has military written all over it. I’m also thinking they’re a
part of the same group Scott eluded was shadowing us. Again, I can’t confirm if
the deputy director is the one giving up our location and plans. Hell, I don’t
even know if I can trust Scott, but oddly enough, he’s the only one that seems
to be pointing me in the right direction. He also gave me the name of a
scientist we need to track down. She may have some answers for us, but she’s
not the priority at the moment.”
“I didn’t find any bugs on us or our gear,” said Dallas.
“I’ll check our cell phones before we leave. I can guarantee our safe house is
wired in every corner, but every FBI safe house is tapped. I should be able to
determine if the devices are ours or someone else’s.”
“Okay, before we go any further,” said Ryan. “We’ll have
to conduct our investigation as if we’re cut off from the resources of the Bureau.
That means I don’t intend to report our methods or findings. We have to dumb it
down and leave no trail for anyone to follow. And to make it more interesting,
we still have to make the deputy director believe we’re following his orders as
normal without question.
“What I just asked of you is grounds for your dismissal
from the FBI or even criminal charges. I’ll take full responsibility for anything
I ask of you, but know you may suffer consequences for sticking around.”
“Ryan, I’m in agreement with Dallas,” said Tom.
“Disclaimers aren’t necessary. I can’t speak for Michelle, but I’m pissed, too.
It could’ve easily been us that Arrington ripped apart. Not to mention we had
to stand by and watch him kill an innocent girl. If I had known more about what
we were dealing with, I never would’ve let him take her into the house.”
“Actually, Tom is speaking for me and quite well,” said
Michelle. “I don’t like being used. It feels like we were set up. If you’re
right about the other group shadowing us, it seems we’re taking all the risks
flushing out the target so they can kill it from a mile away. I wouldn’t mind
getting my hands on the assholes looking at me as expendable. Of course I’m
in.”
“Thank you, Michelle,” said Ryan. “I promise I’ll try to
give you that opportunity to put your hands on them. I feel sorry for the guy
making the mistake of looking at you as a defenseless girl.”
“Many have, but not one of them will again,” she added
with a slight smile. “What do you need me to do?”
“It’s actually what I need you and Tom to do,” said
Ryan. “I need you to start with a clean slate profiling the remaining three.
You can begin with the several photos I took with my phone of the Virginia crime scene. I had a feeling they’d come in handy. I also need you to look at the
files I’m not supposed to show you. I want you to work up a second profile
focusing on who created them. We all know Arrington’s file didn’t fit what we
saw, but I’m not sure it was completely fabricated. I suspect the Syracuse killing may not have been one of his. What it should do is give us another angle
to possibly identify the other group crashing our party.”
“Reverse engineering a serial killer’s profile,” said
Tom.
And that brings me to what I don’t know.
“I’m having a hard time swallowing the assumption that
he’s intentionally holding back information that could’ve prevented unnecessary
deaths. I do, or did, trust him. Now I’m not so sure. I need to find out. But
even if his office is compromised, my plan is to continue with the mission. We
all witnessed Arrington killing that woman. Regardless of how they turned, we
need to stop them.”
“What’s the plan?” asked Dallas.
“The plan is, you and I are going to find out who put
that bullet in Arrington’s head,” started Ryan. “I’m thinking it was a .50
caliber sniper round. Our snipers weren’t using rifles with that type of
ammunition. That has military written all over it. I’m also thinking they’re a
part of the same group Scott eluded was shadowing us. Again, I can’t confirm if
the deputy director is the one giving up our location and plans. Hell, I don’t
even know if I can trust Scott, but oddly enough, he’s the only one that seems
to be pointing me in the right direction. He also gave me the name of a
scientist we need to track down. She may have some answers for us, but she’s
not the priority at the moment.”
“I didn’t find any bugs on us or our gear,” said Dallas.
“I’ll check our cell phones before we leave. I can guarantee our safe house is
wired in every corner, but every FBI safe house is tapped. I should be able to
determine if the devices are ours or someone else’s.”
“Okay, before we go any further,” said Ryan. “We’ll have
to conduct our investigation as if we’re cut off from the resources of the Bureau.
That means I don’t intend to report our methods or findings. We have to dumb it
down and leave no trail for anyone to follow. And to make it more interesting,
we still have to make the deputy director believe we’re following his orders as
normal without question.
“What I just asked of you is grounds for your dismissal
from the FBI or even criminal charges. I’ll take full responsibility for anything
I ask of you, but know you may suffer consequences for sticking around.”
“Ryan, I’m in agreement with Dallas,” said Tom.
“Disclaimers aren’t necessary. I can’t speak for Michelle, but I’m pissed, too.
It could’ve easily been us that Arrington ripped apart. Not to mention we had
to stand by and watch him kill an innocent girl. If I had known more about what
we were dealing with, I never would’ve let him take her into the house.”
“Actually, Tom is speaking for me and quite well,” said
Michelle. “I don’t like being used. It feels like we were set up. If you’re
right about the other group shadowing us, it seems we’re taking all the risks
flushing out the target so they can kill it from a mile away. I wouldn’t mind
getting my hands on the assholes looking at me as expendable. Of course I’m
in.”
“Thank you, Michelle,” said Ryan. “I promise I’ll try to
give you that opportunity to put your hands on them. I feel sorry for the guy
making the mistake of looking at you as a defenseless girl.”
“Many have, but not one of them will again,” she added
with a slight smile. “What do you need me to do?”
“It’s actually what I need you and Tom to do,” said
Ryan. “I need you to start with a clean slate profiling the remaining three.
You can begin with the several photos I took with my phone of the Virginia crime scene. I had a feeling they’d come in handy. I also need you to look at the
files I’m not supposed to show you. I want you to work up a second profile
focusing on who created them. We all know Arrington’s file didn’t fit what we
saw, but I’m not sure it was completely fabricated. I suspect the Syracuse killing may not have been one of his. What it should do is give us another angle
to possibly identify the other group crashing our party.”
“Reverse engineering a serial killer’s profile,” said
Tom.
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