Page 29 of Fatal Betrayal

"I'm not worried," he said finally. "I'm actually happy. I wouldn't want Agent Burnett anywhere near this case."

He probably wasn't too happy to have her as his only alternative, but he left it at that.

"Good," she said, relieved to have one less problem to deal with.

"Have you ever spoken to Agent Burnett about Hannah's case since you joined the FBI?" Cooper asked.

"Yes. I looked at the file about a minute after I became an agent, but I didn't talk to him for another six or seven months after that. He was hard to get a hold of, but we were finally able to have a conversation about it."

"What did he say?"

"That the case still haunts him."

"Does he think Hannah is alive?"

"He wouldn't go that far, but he had hope that she was."

"Maybe the case haunts him, because he did a shitty job."

"He investigated other people, Cooper. Their interviews were in the file. It wasn't all about Kyle."

"It was mostly about him. But, of course, you'd be on Burnett's side."

"I'm on Hannah's side. I was always on her side," she said forcefully. "I actually do think Burnett could have done a better job, but it was eighteen years ago. He didn't have the resources then that we have now. But…"

"But?" Cooper pressed.

"I'd rather not say. I'm afraid you'll quote me in your next book."

"This is off the record. I want to know what you think."

"No, you don't. You just want me to agree with you, to say you're right."

"Well, that too," he admitted. "But whatever you have to say, finish saying it. I won't quote you. I swear." A half-smile followed his words.

A reluctant smile lifted her lips, too. They had sworn a lot to each other when they were kids. "Well, if you swear…"

"I do."

"I believe Agent Burnett could have dug deeper, pushed harder for a longer period of time. His investigation ended quickly. He told me he was working a lot of cases back then, and he was just one person. They didn't have the manpower they have now."

"Sounds like an excuse."

"Maybe, but even if he had tried harder, pushed longer, dug deeper, he still might not have found Hannah. Some kids are never found. I wish that wasn't true, but it is." She paused. "I'm sure there are families who feel like I've let them down. Sometimes, I feel that way myself. I wish I could bring every child home, but it doesn't always work out that way."

"I know," he said, a somber note in his voice.

"That said, I'm not giving up on finding Elisa," she told him. "We're just at the beginning. There's no reason to lose hope. And I won't stop looking for her. You can believe that or not."

"Do you swear?"

She looked over at him again, seeing a gleam of humor in his eyes. "I swear."

"Then I believe you."

CHAPTERSEVEN

Andi's breathof relief surprised Cooper. He wouldn't have thought she'd care one bit about what he thought, but apparently, she did. Maybe it wasn't that shocking, because she'd always desperately needed to be good at what she did, to feel like she was succeeding at whatever she was trying to accomplish.

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