Cul de Sac, page 10
“Leave her alone, okay? She’s not nearly as forgiving as I am.”
Aiden looked as if he wanted to say something, but bit it back at the last moment. The waitress came by with their food, making Chloe realize that the silence they had originally been sitting in had lasted longer than she’d thought.
“Dad…”
It sounded weird to call him that as he sat directly across from her. While it still felt natural, she had to get used to the sound of it. “When we were kids, was there ever something that happened to Danielle? Maybe something between her and Mom or her and you that I never knew about?”
He thought about it for a moment as he dug into his lasagna. “Not that I know of.”
It took everything within her not to tell him how Danielle had started to tremble and shake when she’d learned that he was out of prison—tried not to tell him how Danielle had insinuated that he had treated her in a way that was just as bad as anything Chloe could imagine.
“Why did you always prefer me?” Chloe asked.
He looked at her as if she had just fired a gun at him. “I never showed more affection to one of you more than the other.”
“You did, Dad. I never understood it until later in life, but you did. You never really avoided Danielle, but you were distant from her.”
Even as she said this, something started to present itself in her mind. It was a thought, murky and slow, like something dead in the water, slowly rolling over to reveal its pale belly.
“I don’t remember ever being that way towards her. But then again…I wasn’t the best father, now was I?”
“I didn’t say that,” she said. But she was only halfway present. She was trying to figure out the thought that would not quite come to her. There was something there…a repressed memory perhaps? Something about him treating Danielle differently. Something about privacy, maybe? That felt right but made no immediate sense.
“So tell me how you ended up working for the FBI,” he said.
She tried a bit longer to get that memory to surface but it seemed stuck. So she did her best to appease him just enough to make it through this meal. Of course, she didn’t want to tell him that it was her mother’s murder and his arrest that had eventually led her to this career. So she gave a generic answer. Every question he asked her for the next fifteen minutes, she gave him generic answers. She told him nothing intimate or deep about her life. When he asked if she was seeing someone, she told him, “Not right now.” Which, as far as she knew, might very well be true now.
“Chloe…I need to ask you something,” he said as he slid his empty plate to the side. “I’m not proud of it and it shames me to ask it.”
“What?”
“I need to borrow some money. Not a lot, just enough to get me through the next few weeks. Unlocking bank accounts from almost twenty years ago is pretty tough. I have a tiny nest egg waiting for me at the bank, but it’s harder to access than I thought…especially because your mother’s name is on all of the paperwork.”
Serves you right, she thought, a little guiltily. She did not want to give him the money. She didn’t think he was lying to her, but it was the principle of the thing. Everything this man had put her and Danielle through…everything he had done all those years ago that had led to the death of her mother…
It also revealed the true purpose of him trying to tie things up with her. He cared nothing about reuniting or working on their relationship. He was only after a loan, plain and simple. She hated how much this hurt her—how betrayed she felt.
“How much?” she asked. Despite the hurt, she was fine giving anything to him. Maybe it would keep him away and she could finally move on.
“Maybe fifteen hundred? Just enough to pay the rent and get some groceries. As soon as I get that money freed up, I’ll pay you back.”
“Well, I don’t have that kind of money on me. But my checkbook is in the car. I can write you a check if you like.”
“That should be fine,” he said. He truly did look embarrassed. “Thanks, Chloe.”
She didn’t bother with a you’re welcome. In fact, she was too busy trying to think of a way to end the little daddy-daughter date without seeming like an utter bitch.
But as it turned out, she didn’t have to think too hard. Her cell phone, sitting on the edge of the table, rang. She reached for it immediately when she saw Garcia’s name on it.
“I have to take this,” she said.
Aiden gave her a nod of understanding and started to look at his own phone.
“This is Agent Fine,” she answered.
“Fine, it’s Garcia. I came by your cubicle but you weren’t there.”
“Yeah, I’m out to lunch. What’s up? Is the meeting with Johnson and Moulton over?”
“It is. And we’ll fill you in just as soon as you get here. Meet us in Johnson’s office as soon as you can. How far away are you?”
“I can be there in twenty minutes.”
“See you then.”
She ended the call and started to get up. “Sorry. I have to head back to work right away.”
He smiled, also getting up. “Look…you’re giving me a loan. Let me settle up the bill here.”
Gee, thanks, she thought. She hurried out of the restaurant and got into her car, grabbing her checkbook. As she wrote the check for her father, every muscle in her hand screamed that she was being a fool. She was pressing so hard on the check that a black blot of ink came out as she finished signing her name to it.
She saw him coming out of the restaurant just as she placed the checkbook into her purse. She got out and handed him the check in an almost thrusting sort of motion—like the check was a dagger of some kind.
“Thanks,” he said. “I really will pay you back. You just have to answer my calls when I reach out.”
“We’ll work on it,” she said, wanting to make no such commitment. “Sorry again…but I really have to go.”
She didn’t wait for a response and didn’t give him another glance. She got into the car, backed out, and headed out onto the street. As she headed to headquarters, she realized that she had the steering wheel in a death grip. Her knuckles were white and her jaw was clenched. She tried to decide if she was tense and angry over the lunch with her father, or because she was still clueless as to what had become of Agent Moulton.
Or maybe it was that memory from her past that had tried to present itself, only to sink away into the depths of her mind.
In the end, she decided it was all of it. And she did not relax or allow herself to breathe easy until she was parking her car in the bureau parking garage. But even then, it was sheer tension that pushed her forward.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When she entered Johnson’s office, she saw that Garcia wasn’t there. Johnson, however, seemed to be specifically waiting for her, standing behind his desk and looking out the window to the streets below. When he turned to her as she walked in, he had the same look she imagined someone might have when they had to break the news that a loved one has died. It made her heart sink.
“Chloe, I’m going to cut to the chase,” he said.
“Okay.” She did not sit down. Johnson was standing, so she would stand, too. Besides, there was too much nervous energy cascading through her to sit still.
“Agent Moulton got himself into a hell of a lot of trouble. As of ten thirty this morning he has been indefinitely suspended. He’ll go to trial in a few weeks and if he’s found guilty, he’s looking at jail time. I doubt it will be anything more than a few months, but his career with the FBI will be destroyed.”
She did her best not to seem devastated. She became angry with Moulton in that moment, wondering how he could have been so stupid. She could remember him saying “It was right there…” and explaining how easy it had seemed.
“Is he in the building?” she asked.
“No. he was escorted out of the building. He’ll be allowed to return tomorrow with another escort so he can get his personal belongings.” He sighed here and placed his hands on his hips. “Agent Fine, I need to you be honest with me here: did you know anything about what he was up to?”
“No, sir. He told me this morning, just before the meeting.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Despite what he’s being charged with might suggest, it’s because he’s an honest man at heart. He felt he needed to tell me because…I don’t know. Maybe because he felt he owed it to me, as my partner.”
Dodged that one, she thought. Although, would it be the worst thing if Johnson knew the two of you were sleeping together? Hell, Moulton probably told him during the meeting. He probably had to come clean with anything unethical he’s done while working for the bureau.
“I thought he was honest, too,” Johnson said. “And a damned good agent. This whole thing shocked the hell out of me.”
“Same here,” Chloe said, unable to keep all of her emotions in check.
“But despite what has happened with Moulton, I’d still like for you to take this Barnes Point case back up. I got a call from Sheriff Jenkins this morning. I had to call him back directly after the meeting with Moulton, actually. He says he has a potential witness…someone that claims they know who killed Lauren Hilyard. He’s looking into the witness’s story, but a lot of people in that town are still assuming it had something to do with Lauren’s father and his friendships with higher-ups in Washington. I tried explaining to him that we feel that’s not the case, but they are too scared and won’t listen. Look, I’d brush him off if we were slammed with cases. But he seemed pleased that you and Moulton were there in the first place. He asked if you’d been pulled, but I assured him we’d send you back down there.”
“Okay,” she said. “When do I leave?”
“Soon. In the next hour, if possible. I’m going to send Agent Rhodes down there with you. She’s just now really getting back on her feet and I think it would be a good exercise for her. Assistant Director Garcia is briefing her on the case right now. And honestly…with Moulton gone, she may be your long-term partner, anyway.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Jenkins speaks highly of you, Fine. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Chloe went back to her cubicle. She thought of Moulton and where he might be at that very moment. She wished she could have at least said goodbye to him. It was stupid thing he had done and she wanted to be mad at him. After all, his idiocy was ending the spark of a relationship they had started.
He’s probably much more concerned about other things, Chloe, she thought to herself. Let’s not be selfish.
She had to focus very hard to gather up her notes when she got back to her cubicle. Once or twice, she was sure she was going to start crying. Everything was piling up, pushing against her: Danielle’s problems, her father showing up and asking for money, and now Moulton being pulled away from her and likely kicked out of the bureau. It felt cliché to be thinking such a thing, but she felt like everything was falling apart.
Just as the second wave of nearly crying passed, she heard a heavy knock at the edge of her cubicle wall. She turned in her chair and saw a familiar face there.
Rhodes was smiling at her, dressed in the suit she often wore into the field rather than the office attire she had been wearing for the last few weeks as she had gotten her feet wet with paperwork following her shooting. She looked confident. She looked ready to really get back to work.
“Hey, Fine,” she said. “We ready to rock this thing or what?”
Chloe managed an honest smile. She fondly thought of how she and Rhodes had butted heads at first—small differences that had come to a screeching halt after Rhodes had nearly bled out in her arms after being shot.
“You know what?” Chloe said with stern determination. “I think I am.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The ride back into Barnes Point was uncomfortable for Chloe, but she did her best to hide it. She was genuinely interested in getting back up to speed with Agent Rhodes, but her mind was fixated on Moulton. She knew more information would come day by day in regards to what would happen to him. Until the trial, though, she knew there was nothing to do but wait and assume the worst.
The little bit she learned about Rhodes on the way back through Virginia was eye-opening. She had been tasked with research jobs, helping other teams locate information to push their cases along. She had also been assigned several jobs where she had listened in on wiretapped conversations regarding a sex trafficking operation that was suspected to have its central hub in Louisiana.
“It’s disgusting what these perverts do,” Rhodes said as she talked excitedly about the position. “Trading girls for a gram of coke, auctioning them off to the highest bidder for the night and then ultimately selling them for life to someone that will take them to some deplorable place in another country where they’ll be rented out for the equivalent of three American dollars.”
“Sounds like you’re pretty passionate about it,” Chloe said.
“I am. Which is odd because it was nothing more than a blip on my radar when I started with the bureau. I’ve been talking to Director Johnson about permanently assigning me to the task force that is working towards bringing that ring—and several other like it—down for good.”
The closer they got to Barnes Point, the more natural it felt to be talking to Rhodes. As cheesy as it seemed, she wondered if there might be some sort of unspoken link between them, given the trauma they had shared just a few months ago. It had been a hell of way to start her first case—watching her partner get shot and nearly die on the way to the hospital—but Chloe understood that it had shaped her in some way. And as morbid as it may seem, she had Rhodes to thank for it.
“By the way,” Rhodes said, “I’d be a total jerk to not say it…but I’m sorry about Moulton. It was out of nowhere, huh?”
“Yeah. It makes no sense. But…it is what it is. He regrets it and maybe he’ll take some lesson away from it.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Seems like you’re on some deranged carousel of getting new partners.”
Chloe gave her a smile, slightly forced. “Hey, I think I ended up with a good one.”
Rhodes seemed content with that response. Chloe was pretty sure Rhodes was feeling some of the unease between them and this single comment seemed to dissolve it.
“So,” Rhodes said, “Garcia filled me in, but would you mind giving me your perspective of the case?”
“Sure.”
Chloe spent the remainder of the trip going over the case step by step. It actually did her some good, too. It helped her to step away from the drama she had been dealing with back home and to reorient herself toward the case. And as she talked it out with Rhodes, she started to get a better feel for the turn of events. She wasn’t quite sure why; it was nothing that was absolutely concrete, nothing she could quite put her finger on.
And with that growing certainty in mind, she actually grew excited when she saw the Barnes Point welcome sign up ahead.
***
Sheriff Jenkins was out on a call when Chloe and Rhodes reached the precinct. However, the lady at the dispatch desk told them that he had been expecting them and had made things as easy as possible for them.
“He called my supervisor and said there was a witness in the Hilyard case,” Chloe said.
“That’s right. And she just happens to be in the back, speaking to a few of our officers to officially file the report.”
“Fantastic. Can you point us in that direction?”
The woman got up from her desk and led them down the hallway. As they passed by the little room she and Moulton had interrogated Oscar Alvarez in the day before, a tiny flare of guilt shot through her. The receptionist brought them to the last office at the end of the hallway. She knocked on the closed door and it was answered at once by a slightly overweight cop with a handlebar moustache. He saw and apparently recognized Chloe, excitedly stepping to the side.
“Come on in,” he said. “It’s Agent Fine, right?”
“Yes, and this is my partner, Agent Rhodes.” She looked to the table in the center of the room, giving a polite smile and nod to the woman sitting there. She looked to be in her late fifties, was perfectly tanned, and had her hair straightened to perfection. It was clear that she was from the Farmington Acres side of town. “Is this the witness?”
“Yes,” the officer said. “This is Sheree Goodman. She came in this morning to tell us what she saw but is only now able to provide the time to fill out the report.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I had a work meeting this morning and this was the only time I had.”
“Do you mind if we speak to her?” Chloe asked.
“Of course not. Help yourself. If you need me, I’ll be up front.”
The officer left the room, closing the door behind him. Chloe took one of the remaining seats at the table. She glanced at the report form in front of Ms. Goodman and saw that she was doing a very thorough job.
“Ms. Goodman, can you tell me exactly what it is that you witnessed? And then tell me why you waited so long to come forward with it?”
“Well, at first I figured it was none of my business, and I should keep my nose out of it. But then I heard there still hadn’t been an arrest or even real suspects in Lauren’s murder, so I thought I had better come forward.”
“Okay, I can appreciate that,” Chloe said. “So what exactly did you see?”
“Well, it was Sunday and I knew that Lauren was there by herself. Jerry goes in to his office most Sundays, trying to get things set up for the employees on Monday. He’s co-owner of the print company, you know? Anyway…I just happened to be out on the back porch, firing up the grill while my husband was inside making burger patties. I just happened to look to the left, towards the street, and saw someone that looked familiar walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street.”
“And where, exactly do you live?” Rhodes asked.
“Farmington Acres. Four houses down from the Hilyards.”
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