Circle the wagons …
She stuffed her phone in her pocket and pasted a smile on her face as she strolled back into the kitchen. “For once Griffin seems to be working at high speed,” she said lightly. “He already has a few leads. Things are looking up … Did you save me any lasagna?”
12:35 A.M.
A ping signaled a text on Kendra’s phone on the nightstand.
Lynch.
She hesitated before she reached for the phone. She’d just crawled into bed after making sure Olivia had drifted off to sleep in the guest bedroom. She was tired and on edge and didn’t want to have to spar with Lynch when she felt as if she’d already been on stage all evening.
But if she didn’t answer, there was no telling what effect that would have on Lynch. He was so smart and intuitive that she didn’t want to risk alerting him that things weren’t proceeding as she’d like them to be.
Hell, what an understatement.
She grabbed the phone and read the text.
A MULTI-CITY SERIAL KILLER? REALLY? WERE YOU BORED WITH THE ORDINARY GARDEN VARIETY?
Is that all he knew? she wondered, relieved. It must be or he would have instantly mentioned the message from Zachary. SOMETHING LIKE THAT. DON’T YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO BUT TAP YOUR SOURCES ABOUT MY BUSINESS? TALK ABOUT BEING BORED. IF YOU KNOW THAT, THEN YOU MUST KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE SO MANY EXPERTS RUNNING AROUND HERE THAT I’LL HAVE NOTHING TO DO.
He shot back: YOU’LL FIND SOMETHING. PROBABLY INTENSELY TROUBLESOME IN NATURE.
NONSENSE. She paused. DID GRIFFIN TELL YOU?
A slight hesitation. DOES IT MATTER?
NO, JUST CURIOUS. She typed on quickly. WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN GUILIN THAT YOU HAVE ALL THIS TIME TO HARASS ME?
Another hesitation. WHY, TRYING TO GET THEIR STAR OLYMPIC GYMNAST YUN SHULI TO DEFECT. WHAT ELSE COULD BE MORE IMPORTANT?
MAYBE THEIR ENTIRE DIVING TEAM? she asked.
THAT’S NEXT MONTH’S ASSIGNMENT. ONE STAR PROJECT AT A TIME. BUT MAYBE I’LL BE ABLE TO SQUEEZE YOU IN AFTER THE GYMNAST. I’M ALMOST THERE WITH HER. ANOTHER WEEK SHOULD DO IT.
AND WHO INVITED YOU? I TOLD YOU THAT NEITHER ONE OF US IS GOING TO BE OF MUCH IMPORTANCE IN THIS CASE.
YOU DID, DIDN’T YOU? THEN MAYBE I’LL JUST CONCENTRATE ON SNATCHING THAT DIM BUT MAGNIFICENT ATHLETE AND FORGET ABOUT BOTHERING ABOUT YOU. GOODNIGHT, KENDRA.
He was gone.
She put her phone back on the nightstand. She was uneasy, but it might be for nothing. She had attempted to make the text completely normal, but she had been nervous, and she might have blown it. She had never been able to tell how well Lynch could read her. She had an uncomfortable feeling it was far too well.
But so far he had learned only the basics, and she needed to keep what had happened today from him at all costs. That would be the tipping point that could send him here to try to help her. Everyone close to her seemed to think that would be the best possible thing that could happen. She might have thought that herself a few days ago.
Not now.
Because she had been going over the list of people she cared about and checking it twice.
And Adam Lynch was very high on that list.
This was her battle. Face it alone. Keep him away.
She began to dial Griffin’s number.
Circle the wagons …
Guilin, China
Lynch gazed down at his phone as he leaned back in his chair.
Kendra had never before asked him about one of his missions. She knew they were confidential and he didn’t talk about them. The question had come out of nowhere. A deterrent?
And she had stressed that she was not going to have an active role in this investigation—that was causing him to be increasingly uneasy.
And she had asked him if Griffin was his source. Why?
Put them all together and he didn’t like the result.
What wasn’t she telling him?
He started to punch in the number of his contact at the State Department. He hadn’t used Griffin because he had a tendency to ask for favors that were pricey in both his time and efforts. State and Justice had their own moles that were more easily controlled and usually knowledgeable.
Maybe not this time.
He hung up after checking with both contacts. He knew no more than they’d told him previously.
He had no choice.
Griffin.
He punched in Griffin’s number.
He answered in two rings. “It’s after one in the morning here, Lynch. In case you’ve forgotten, I don’t take kindly to having my sleep disturbed.”
“But you sound so wide awake. Almost as if I’m not the only one who’s called you tonight. Could that be true?”
Silence. “I get a lot of calls. I’m an important guy. That’s why they call me Special Agent in Charge. But I don’t get many calls like yours that I wouldn’t choose to accept if asked.”
“But I’m certain that you took Kendra’s call with no argument. Did she tell you I might phone you?”
“I believe it’s time I hung up. We have nothing to discuss.”
“Wrong. Can you tell I’m a bit irate? Kendra is trying to shut me out and that annoys me. You’re aiding and abetting and that makes me angry. I don’t think you’ve ever seen me really angry, Griffin. I don’t believe you ever want to.”
“Then I suggest you go back and talk to Kendra.”
“Maybe. But right now I have to know what I’m going to be facing. We both know how difficult Kendra can be.” He paused. “Or you wouldn’t be giving me such a hard time. But I won’t give up until I know what she’s keeping from me.”
“Why are you so certain that she’s keeping anything from you?”
“She doesn’t want me there. For some reason she doesn’t want me to work this case. She didn’t even want to talk about it. Now when I texted her before I didn’t get that response. That means something happened that was more than what I could find out from my other sources. Whatever it was, you’re keeping it undercover and top secret to such an extent that the info can’t be accessed in the usual ways. And it seemed so bad to Kendra that it closed her down.”
“Imagination.”
“Don’t tell me that. I know how she thinks, how she feels. Now you tell me what happened to her.”
Griffin was silent.
Lynch knew he could keep pushing, but his impatience was growing by the minute. He needed to know. “Okay. What do you want?”
“If I did know anything, it would be something that I wouldn’t want leaked to anyone,” Griffin said warily. “Particularly not to the press. This case is proving to be a real hot potato. We’re dealing in very sensitive issues.”
“What do you want?” Lynch repeated.
“Only your cooperation when I ask for it. At my discretion, of course. What else?”
“One job, that’s all.”
“I realize how valuable your time is, Lynch. Would I ask anything more?”
“If you thought you could get away with it. You can’t. I’m coming to you because it’s quicker. Otherwise, I’d go through Metcalf or one of your other agents.”
“And they’d end up without a job.”