Page 86 of One Final Target

Jodie sat in one of Upton’s chairs. “It feels wrong.”

Sam sat across from her. He brushed the back of her hand with his knuckles. “Jodie, I’m sorry. If it is Ian, this is betrayal of the worst kind.”

“Not only betrayal.” Jodie liked the feel of his hand on hers. She noticed he wasn’t wearing his glove. And he’d shaved; the red stubble was gone. “For months my obsession has been to find theman responsible, and if it’s Ian, well... I feel so odd. I thought catching the person responsible would make me happy, bring me closure. I don’t feel happy at all.”

“Maybe closure will come when Collins is in custody.”

“Maybe.” Jodie chewed on a thumbnail. Nothing in her believed Ian was a mass murderer. She understood Sam meant to be supportive. Her thoughts weren’t clear enough now to debate the issue. “Guys, I guess I’m more tired than I thought, even though I’ve slept most of the day. I’m going back to bed.”

Sam stood as well. “I understand. I think I could sleep for a week.”

“Rest well, Jodie. You’re safe here,” George said.

After Jodie went back to her room, George looked at Sam.

“What do you think about this person in custody? Ian Hunter.”

“I only met him briefly, and I didn’t like him.”

“But? He was on your list, or so you said.”

“True. Everything is stacking up so nicely. I mean, the killer laid low for months, not a peep. He committed a practically perfect crime and got away scot-free. The IED explosion was on the verge of going cold. This hacking wasn’t discovered months ago, though the FBI looked for it. Now, suddenly incriminating evidence is falling from the sky like confetti.”

“You want to keep looking at everyone even though Hunter is in custody.”

“Yes.”

Upton chuckled. “I trained you right. Trust no one, test everything. I have an interesting tidbit for you. I found out about Bennett. Why he was fired.”

“Why?”

“It happened at an end-of-probation party; things got out of hand.”

Sam rolled his eyes. End-of-probation parties always got out of hand. Too much alcohol. “What’s new?”

“This was over-the-top. A woman accused Bennett of rape.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah, criminal charges were never filed, but Bennett was shown the door.”

“Hmm. Jodie said there were no hard feelings, and everyone was still friends, even after he got fired.”

Upton shrugged. “It was a long time ago, so it’s plausible. After all, Hunter’s the one in custody, not Bennett.”

CHAPTER47

JODIE LAY DOWN ON THE BED,but she didn’t close her eyes. She couldn’t conceive of any scenario where Ian was the guy who murdered her whole team, Hayes, and Jukebox, and then tried to kill her. They’d known each other forever; Ian had been in the academy class before hers. They’d worked together in patrol when she got off probation. He was a good, honest cop or he would not have been on her team.

He’s a killer?

Her phone buzzed with an unknown number. She stared at it, then realized the FBI agents often had the same prefix. Maybe it was Agent Greto. She hadn’t heard how he was doing. She answered.

“Jodie? It’s Agent Parker, the FBI tech. I took your laptop.”

“Yes.” Jodie’s face brightened. He should know about the hacker. “Agent Parker, do you have something for me?”

“I’ve given everything I found to your uncle. The virus on your computer traces back to Ian Hunter.”

---