Page 24 of Haunted

“You need to be absolutely certain before I go on a fishing expedition.”

“What the hell have you gotten yourself into with this girl?” Noah picked up the paper from Nelson’s desk, his eyes widening as he read the name. “Fuck, Keaton. The McArthurs?”

“Damn, K,” Lanie whistled.

Ignoring them, I turned back to Nelson. “Can you do it?”

“Of course I can. The question is how deep do you want me to dive?”

Before I had the chance to answer, Waverly rounded the corner from her office, her sky-high heels playing a staccato rhythm against the hard tile floor. She was wearing black fitted slacks with a matching blazer and a shiny metallic-blue blouse. Though she appeared to be dressed for a day on Wall Street, there was no mistaking exactly how lethal the woman was.

“What’s going on here?” She strode to my side.

“Good morning, R.A.C. Mitchell.”

“Cut the shit, Koen. I may be the resident agent in charge of you clowns, but I can still kick your ass.”

“Whose ass are we kicking?” Duncan suddenly appeared, cracking his knuckles.

Noah startled. “Jesus. Where the fuck did you come from?”

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Duncan deadpanned.

“That’s it. I’m buying you a bell,” Lanie huffed. It was a running joke around the office because Duncan was like a ghost. He could practically materialize out of thin air.

Bringing the two of them up to speed was always the plan, since I’d been utilizing federal resources for personal gain, but I was hoping to have more information before spilling the tea.

“Keaton?” Waverly raised her brow.

“Shit. Okay.” Scrubbing a hand through my hair, I rotated to face my team. “So you all know I found Henley. Well, I took her on a date last night?—”

“You work fast, bro.”

“Shut it, Koen.” Lanie elbowed him in the stomach. “Continue.”

“Anyway, she told me this guy had been harassing her at school; wouldn’t take no for an answer. Then one night he accosted her, nearly raped her, but she fought him off. Two weeks later she was expelled.”

“Sounds pretty suspicious,” Duncan offered.

“Did she give you a name?” Waverly hissed.

“Chase McArthur.”

“As in the youngest son of Congressman Wade McArthur.”

I nodded even though she didn’t pose it as a question.

“You know that blowhard is trying to pass a bill through the state legislature which would tax the use of oxygen?” She rolled her eyes. “Dumbass.”

“What do you need from us, Keaton?” Duncan queried.

“Nelson and maybe a horseshoe for luck.”

“You got it, but do it on your own time. We’ve got a killer to catch. Speaking of…” He walked to the whiteboard where we had an outline of all suspected victims, the locations of their disappearances, crime scene photos, as well as any other pertinent information. “Fingerprints for the woman found yesterday came back to twenty-six-year-old Cassie Engleson.”

“She’s not on the list of the original three who disappeared.”

“No, she’s not, Noah. Which means we missed something. Find it.”

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