Edge of Black (Dr. Samantha Owens #2)

*

Bianco was back at long last, and she was not in a good mood. Fletcher was watching Loa write up a statement, and Inez was fetching them a map of Colorado. Bianco stuck her head in the conference room and said, “Detective? May I speak with you? In my office, if you please.”

His balls shrank at her tone. He’d heard it too many times before not to know exactly what was coming. A dressing-down. But for what? He’d done nothing but nail this case to the wall. He had an actual suspect. What did the rest of her team have?

Loa recognized the tone, too, because she flinched and looked at Fletcher with wide eyes.

“Loa, excuse me. I’ll be right back.”

She nodded, and he gathered his notebook and went to join Bianco in her office.

She was sitting at the desk, emanating fury. Inez was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk, back stiff like she knew they were in serious trouble. But for what?

Bianco glared at him and said, “Shut the door.”

He did as she asked and joined Inez. If he was going to be yelled at, might as well be comfortable.

All of Bianco’s earlier friendliness and congeniality and “rah-rah team” attitude was long gone.

“Am I to understand that the two of you went to the State Department and the CIA asking about files on both Congressman Leighton and Dr. Loa Ledbetter?”

“It was me, ma’am,” Inez said. “I requested the files.”

“Did it ever occur to you that there might be a reason for chain of command? Did that not seem like something you should let me know about before you trotted off to State?”

“I was just following a hunch, ma’am.”

Fletcher wasn’t about to let Inez take the fall for this. “A solid hunch that paid off. We found out Ledbetter and Leighton were in Liberia together. She was definitely working for us, and they had a—”

“Shut up, Darren. Inez, after you unearthed this information, you discussed it with whom?”

“With Detective Fletcher, ma’am.”

“Then would you like to tell me why the Washington Post just called me looking for a quote on the story they’re about to run about Dr. Ledbetter and Congressman Leighton’s time in the CIA and how they both were forced out after having a child together?”

Both Fletcher and Inez said “What?” at the same time.

“Don’t play coy with me. Inez, they’re naming you as the source. They said you gave this to them on background, as a well-placed source in the investigation. When they asked if they could use your name you said ‘certainly.’”

“That is preposterous,” Fletcher said. “We never even discussed this. This is the first I’ve heard of Ledbetter and Leighton having a child. It wasn’t from us, Andi. I can assure you of that.”

As he said it, his mind went click. Click. Click. Click.

Loa. Loa was the child.

Fletcher hurriedly counted back. Twenty-two years ago, Ledbetter and Leighton were in Liberia. Loa didn’t know who her father was. That imperceptible twitch when he asked Gretchen Leighton about it.

Son of a bitch.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Inez?”

The girl had tears in her eyes. “It’s not like it sounds. It had to be the guy at State who leaked it. I requested the files. He asked me to dinner. We chatted a little. That was it. He has beyond top-secret security clearance. I never imagined he’d go to the press.”

Bianco slammed her hands on the desk. “Do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve besmirched the name of a man who was a patriot, who can’t fight back. You’ve brought into question everything he’s done in his career from the time he was a soldier until now. And Dr. Ledbetter has been outed as a CIA asset. All because you wanted to play patty-cake with some night watchman from a file room.”

Fletcher’s back went up. That wasn’t fair. “Oh, come now, Andi. You’re being way too hard on the girl. And you were all-fired ready to call Leighton a serial killer twenty-four hours ago. That might have done a bit more damage to his reputation than this will.”

“I’d rather him be a serial killer than people find out he was an asset. A couple of dead girls is nothing compared to the fact that everything he and Ledbetter did is now compromised. Every single mission will now be trotted out, taken apart. You have no idea what you’ve unleashed. I just got my head handed to me. And the fucking Washington Post has the story!”

Bianco wasn’t being shy now, she was bellowing at the top of her lungs.

“Both of you, pack your things and get the hell out of my building.”

There was a tentative knocking at Bianco’s door.

“What is it?” she shouted.

A young man Fletcher didn’t recognize opened the door, practically shaking in his boots.

“Ma’am? Detective Fletcher? There’s been a bombing in Boulder.”





Chapter 48

Dillon, Colorado

Dr. Samantha Owens

J. T. Ellison's books