The Eternity Project

28

5TH PRECINCT POLICE DEPARTMENT, NEW YORK CITY



‘Who are they, really?’

Karina Thorne stood in Donovan’s office, aware of the eyes of the rest of the team watching her.

‘I know about as much as you do,’ she replied. ‘Their boss, Jarvis, keeps his cards real close to his chest. But they’re the real deal and they’re helping us.’

‘What about Warner?’ Donovan pressed. ‘He’s trouble, isn’t he? I can tell it just by looking at him.’

‘I don’t know,’ Karina insisted. ‘What difference does it make? They’re here to help. It’s not like we’re making any headway without them.’

Donovan tossed a letter across his desk to face her. ‘You got any explanation for this?’

Karina looked down at the letter. It was from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who had originally automatically become a part of the investigation because the Pay-Go hit had been on a Federally insured property. Contrary to television cop shows, the FBI routinely assisted police on investigations and that assistance was generally gratefully received, their immense resources and ability to investigate across state borders an asset. But even before the New York FBI Field Office had been able to make an assessment of the crimes, the case had been subject to a jurisdiction request from an even more clandestine agency: the Defense Intelligence Agency.

‘So what?’ Karina asked. ‘We know they got jurisdiction of the case, don’t we?’

‘Read further,’ Donovan said, and tapped a lower paragraph of the letter with the end of a pen. Karina read down and quickly spotted the names of Ethan Warner and Nicola Lopez, both under the overall command of Douglas Ian Jarvis. ‘You see who authorized the change of jurisdiction?’ he asked her.

Karina looked down at the letter and felt a wave of disbelief wash over her. The signatures of some of America’s most powerful military figures adorned the bottom of the letter.

‘The Joint Chiefs of Staff , ’ she whispered.

‘Jesus would be outranked by these guys,’ Donovan said, tossing his pen aside. ‘Who the hell are these people? This is a double-homicide case, now a triple. Sure, it’s unusual and possibly even the work of a serial killer, but since when does the Joint Chiefs of Staff get involved in something like this? They’re not usually interested in anything less than the invasion of entire countries.’

Karina looked straight at Donovan. ‘More to the point, why are you so opposed to them being here? Who cares if it’s FBI or DIA who are tackling the case? You saw what happened in the courthouse. We’re out of our depth here.’

‘We sure as hell will be, if we lose face to your new friends!’ Donovan snapped. ‘I had them checked out, Karina. They’re nothing but bail bondsmen and bounty hunters, working out of a little office in Chicago. How the hell do people like that get involved with the DIA and JCOS?’

Karina frowned as she thought back. ‘Didn’t Jarvis say that he and Ethan served together in the Marines? Maybe they watch out for each other, got to work together on this?’

Jackson shook his head. ‘Seriously? The DIA, with all of its resources, hires a couple of gumshoes out of Chicago and sends them all the way out here to work on this case? They came down here to talk about the death of Aaron Lymes, who we know was a former CIA man. Now they’re taking over everything we’re doing and I want to know why.’

‘I don’t know,’ Karina insisted, and looked at Donovan. ‘Why the hell are you giving me a hard time over this? It’s not like I invited them in on the case.’

‘But you invited them to stay at your apartment, so I heard,’ Donovan snapped. ‘Getting a little cozy with them, aren’t you?’

‘They’re helpful,’ Karina snapped. ‘Which is more than you’re being right now.’

‘Helpful,’ Donovan echoed, watching her. ‘You want to know the most interesting thing I found out about them?’

‘Amaze me.’

‘Our new friends haven’t been seen or heard of for six months. I called Chicago and asked them to send a squad car round for a look-see. There’s no mountain of mail by the front door, so somebody’s collecting it for them, and their homes are in good order. But they haven’t taken a single phone call through their office in six months, nor have either of them made any credit-card transactions or used the cellphones they’re contracted to.’

Karina’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’ve had the police on their case?’

‘Damned straight.’ Donovan nodded. ‘Why wouldn’t I, when they’re sneaking around here? Now they’re getting the backing of major military muscle and we don’t know why. I don’t know what the hell’s going on here but I don’t like it.’

‘What the hell do you want me to say?’ Karina asked. ‘Sure, something’s off about them but they’re not obstructing us. Why the hell would you be so worried about all of this? I want as many people on this case as possible. You think the Chiefs of Staff will pull them off just because you don’t like it?’

‘I haven’t asked them yet,’ Donovan rumbled in reply. ‘And this photographer who keeps following them? They tried to tell me it was a bail-runner. If so, it must be the dumbest criminal in history to keep hanging around the kind of people who will put them back in jail.’

Karina felt entirely unable to defend Nicola, but, at the same time, she genuinely had no idea what the hell was going on. Nicola’s colleague, Ethan, seemed competent but troubled, as though he were on his own private mission.

‘Honestly,’ Karina replied, ‘I haven’t got a damned clue what they’re doing. They’ve only been here a couple of days, for Christ’s sake. I’ll talk to them and try to find out what’s going on, okay?’

‘You do that,’ Donovan shot back as he got up and grabbed his jacket. ‘I’ve got enough to deal with here without having to keep an eye on your damned friends. The media’s already suspicious about the murders and there’s a growing concern that there’s a serial killer out there. The mayor’s on my ass to solve this. With the case in the hands of the DIA, we’re powerless, it’ll probably be solved without fanfare and it will look for all the world as though this department can’t catch killers.’ Donovan barged past Karina and headed out of the office door. ‘There’s no way I’m letting that happen, understood?’


Donovan stormed out of the office. Karina stared after him, as Jackson raised an eyebrow and turned to follow their boss out.

Glen Ryan leaned against the wall and folded his arms as he looked at her.

‘He’s got a point, Karina,’ he said finally. ‘This could really cause a major problem for the department. We need to be seen to catch this a*shole ourselves, whoever it is, not be bailed out by the government.’

Karina shook her head. ‘I don’t give a damn about who catches the killer, as long as they’re caught. What’s the matter with you?’

‘This is about more than just the case, Karina!’ Glen snapped. ‘This is about our jobs. There are cuts going on, in case you hadn’t noticed? The economy’s in free-fall and if we can’t do our job then what’s to stop the department just cutting us loose altogether?’

Karina rubbed her temples wearily. ‘We’d have more money if you didn’t insist on living alone.’

‘Jesus,’ Glen murmured, ‘not this again. I like having my independence, okay? I don’t want to be—’

‘Tied down,’ Karina cut him off. ‘Sure, I know the tune, Glen, okay? But I barely earn enough to eat and I know you’re in the same position. It makes sense, especially if this all goes south. You going to be able to keep your rent going without a job?’

Glen looked away from her for a moment, out of the window, as though seeking a distraction. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Crap!’ Karina snapped. ‘You know. If you’re this bothered about it then maybe we should just quit right now because we’re hardly together except when we’re working.’

‘I don’t want to do that,’ Glen replied quickly.

‘Then what the hell do you want? You haven’t stayed at my place for days.’

Glen dragged a hand down his face and nodded. ‘I know, I’m sorry, I’ve just been real busy, okay? Maybe I’ll come over tonight?’

Karina stared at him for a long moment.

‘Terrific,’ she replied as she walked out of the office. ‘You wait until I have people sleeping on my couch and then you want to come over.’

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake!’ Glen almost shouted as he stormed after her. ‘You want to send me a written invitation next time?’

Karina didn’t reply as she stalked away through the station.