Page 25 of Deep Tide

“Who’s in with the chief?” Emmet asked Adam McDeere, who sat alone in the sea of cubicles.

“No idea.” The officer glanced up from his computer. “I just got here. I was clearing the accident on the causeway.”

McDeere looked as tired and irritable as Nicole felt. The back of his neck was sunburned, and his khaki uniform was soaked with sweat. He had a Dairy Queen bag on his desk, and just the sight of it made Nicole’s stomach growl. She’d strategically skipped breakfast before this morning’s autopsy and planned to eat lunch afterward. But the day had gotten away from her and now she felt light-headed.

Emmet tossed his keys on his desk and dropped into a chair.

“Hey, you want to grab some food?” she asked him. “We’ve got an hour before the team meeting.”

“I’m good,” Emmet said, not looking up.

And there went another effort to get things back to normal. Since yesterday, he’d been keeping his distance, and their usual good-natured ribbing was nonexistent.

“Lawson.”

She turned around to see Brady standing in his doorway.

“Got a minute?” he asked.

“Sure.”

Despite the chief’s low-key tone, she could tell something was up as she crossed the bullpen. When she stepped into his office, a man got up from the visitor’s chair. Muscular build, thick brown hair. He wore jeans and a black leather jacket that was too warm for their eighty-degree weather.

Brady closed the door behind her. “I’d like you to meet Agent Moran.”

He offered his hand, and Nicole gave it a firm shake, noting the holster beneath his jacket. Was that agent as in DEA? ICE? Being near the border, they dealt frequently with both.

“So... is that DEA?” she asked.

“FBI.”

The sense of dread that she’d been feeling all afternoon intensified. She glanced at Brady, who stood with his arms folded, watching their exchange.

“Detective Lawson is leading up our case.” Brady turned to Nicole. “How’d it go at the coffee shop?”

“Good,” she replied, looking at the agent again. What did the FBI want with her homicide case?

“They finished processing the storeroom?” Brady asked.

“That’s right.”

Nicole had filled him in on the details over the phone, and clearly he was comfortable sharing them in front of this agent.

“Someone cleaned up blood in there with a mop or sponge,” she told Brady. “But with Luminol, they found streaks on the floor and traces in the tile grout. They got pictures and took some swabs.”

“So, they think she was attacked there?” Brady asked.

“Looks like. We’ll see what the lab results say.”

“Agent Moran has some questions about the case. He thinks it might be linked to something he’s working on.”

“It’s possible,” the agent said. “Right now, we’re just trying to learn more.”

“And what is it you’re working on?” she asked.

“It’s a multiagency investigation. That’s all I can really say at this point.”

She glanced at Brady, wondering if he knew, but his expression gave nothing away. She looked at the agent again.

---