Miller’s involvement in this investigation had all his instincts screaming. Cam had been serving in California on a multi-agency drug task force when the former assistant director of MCU had suffered career suicide. Miller had been named in his stead, and the man had always been a little too concerned about public relations to suit Cam. Given the recent twist in this case, however, there was real cause for worry.
“How long will it take for the internal review on Boggs and Franks to be conducted?” he started when Miller had re-seated himself.
Miller frowned at him. “Just concern yourself with the investigation, Agent. I’ll manage the personnel matters.”
“With all due respect, sir, I need to know how long I’m going to be down two agents on the task force.” The assistant director exchanged a glance with Gonzalez. “I can’t afford to wait days—or weeks—to be fully staffed again.”
“The agents have already submitted reports of the events. We can probably have Franks’ hearing conducted late afternoon. Tomorrow morning at the latest.” He gave a shrug. “Boggs isn’t going anywhere for a while, so his can wait.”
The timeline was quicker than Cam had expected. And unfortunately, no one could be certain at this point how soon Boggs would have a medical discharge allowing him to resume his duties. “I’ve just come from re-interviewing one of the witnesses to the sexual assault last night. Cyber crimes did a preliminary check and discovered one of the kids took a video on his camera phone. He sent it to a group of friends that he believes numbers around thirty recipients.”
Miller’s face visibly grayed at the news. “God, this gets worse by the minute.” He took out a handkerchief to mop his balding dome. “Multiply thirty kids who all might’ve sent it out to thirty more… Has anyone seen TV? It could already be on the morning news.”
“We need to prepare a statement about the events of last night and get it out to the media sooner, rather than later.” He was aware of Gonzalez’s sharp look. The words were a first, coming from him. But he was not unmindful of the nightmare ahead of them if the investigation became dogged with sensationalism. “In the meantime, I’ve directed Spencer Pals to make a list of people that may be on that list and I’ll request that Cyber Crimes cross check the group. Agent Turner can contact each of the individuals on the list the boy is making. If the video hasn’t been made public yet, maybe we can prevent it from happening.” Jenna would be free for the task after the sketch session with Trina Adams was completed. The last thing he wanted was for family of the victim discovered last night to stumble across that video online.
Miller nodded. “That’s the best we can hope for, I suppose. I’ll take care of the press release myself. Maria, I’d appreciate you making yourself available for the news conference.”
“Within the hour we’ll have our third composite drawing of the man seen on the riverbank, if you decide you want to release them.”
The assistant director switched his attention to Cam. “Have copies of the sketches sent to me. How soon before you can determine whether the same man attempted to kill Dr. Channing last night?”
“I’ve got someone on the way to go over the security footage as we speak. We’ll know shortly.”
Miller nodded decisively. “I’ll arrange for the news conference as soon as possible, but the focus will be on the man seen by the teenagers without mentioning the attempt on Channing’s life. I believe Maria has already discussed with you her intention of continuing Dr. Channing’s consultation on this case. She believes, and I concur, that Channing’s input can help us narrow our focus on Vance’s accomplice.”
It was easy to see that he was outnumbered in his feelings about that action, so Cam reserved his argument
“How long will it take for the internal review on Boggs and Franks to be conducted?” he started when Miller had re-seated himself.
Miller frowned at him. “Just concern yourself with the investigation, Agent. I’ll manage the personnel matters.”
“With all due respect, sir, I need to know how long I’m going to be down two agents on the task force.” The assistant director exchanged a glance with Gonzalez. “I can’t afford to wait days—or weeks—to be fully staffed again.”
“The agents have already submitted reports of the events. We can probably have Franks’ hearing conducted late afternoon. Tomorrow morning at the latest.” He gave a shrug. “Boggs isn’t going anywhere for a while, so his can wait.”
The timeline was quicker than Cam had expected. And unfortunately, no one could be certain at this point how soon Boggs would have a medical discharge allowing him to resume his duties. “I’ve just come from re-interviewing one of the witnesses to the sexual assault last night. Cyber crimes did a preliminary check and discovered one of the kids took a video on his camera phone. He sent it to a group of friends that he believes numbers around thirty recipients.”
Miller’s face visibly grayed at the news. “God, this gets worse by the minute.” He took out a handkerchief to mop his balding dome. “Multiply thirty kids who all might’ve sent it out to thirty more… Has anyone seen TV? It could already be on the morning news.”
“We need to prepare a statement about the events of last night and get it out to the media sooner, rather than later.” He was aware of Gonzalez’s sharp look. The words were a first, coming from him. But he was not unmindful of the nightmare ahead of them if the investigation became dogged with sensationalism. “In the meantime, I’ve directed Spencer Pals to make a list of people that may be on that list and I’ll request that Cyber Crimes cross check the group. Agent Turner can contact each of the individuals on the list the boy is making. If the video hasn’t been made public yet, maybe we can prevent it from happening.” Jenna would be free for the task after the sketch session with Trina Adams was completed. The last thing he wanted was for family of the victim discovered last night to stumble across that video online.
Miller nodded. “That’s the best we can hope for, I suppose. I’ll take care of the press release myself. Maria, I’d appreciate you making yourself available for the news conference.”
“Within the hour we’ll have our third composite drawing of the man seen on the riverbank, if you decide you want to release them.”
The assistant director switched his attention to Cam. “Have copies of the sketches sent to me. How soon before you can determine whether the same man attempted to kill Dr. Channing last night?”
“I’ve got someone on the way to go over the security footage as we speak. We’ll know shortly.”
Miller nodded decisively. “I’ll arrange for the news conference as soon as possible, but the focus will be on the man seen by the teenagers without mentioning the attempt on Channing’s life. I believe Maria has already discussed with you her intention of continuing Dr. Channing’s consultation on this case. She believes, and I concur, that Channing’s input can help us narrow our focus on Vance’s accomplice.”
It was easy to see that he was outnumbered in his feelings about that action, so Cam reserved his argument
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