Page 20 of Her Last Promise

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The dawn light crept through the blinds of the small conference room like hesitant fingers, casting thin strips of pale gold across everything—the scatter of papers and coffee cups that had accumulated over the last few hours, the laptops, the table itself.Rachel rubbed her eyes, the grit beneath her lids a reminder of the mere two hours of sleep she'd gotten before the call about Harrison came in.They were currently in a conference room just down the hallway from the breakroom, where it was assumed James Harrison had been beaten and abducted.Neither Rachel nor Novak had seen the point in returning to the field office if they could literally sit in the center of all of Harrison's work-related information.

As Rachel read through a print-out of a case from four years ago, a cardboard box landed on the table with a dull thud.The sound seemed to echo her mounting frustration.The smell of stale coffee hung in the air, mingling with the lingering scent of whatever cleaning product the janitorial staff had used the night before—though he had been sent home shortly after Rachel and Nova had arrived, unable to finish his work.Rachel's stomach churned, protesting the combination of too much caffeine and too little food.And too little sleep.

"That's the last of them," Novak said, his voice rough with fatigue as he stared at the box.He'd loosened his tie hours ago, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows – a far cry from his usual pristine appearance.Rachel found herself missing Jack's methodical approach to cases like this, then immediately pushed the thought aside.Novak was doing fine.Different, but fine.Though she had to admit, his tendency to drum his fingers against the table when he was thinking was beginning to fray her already worn nerves.But she’d long ago gotten used to his tendency to fill silence with chit chat, so she supposed she’d eventually get used to this as well.

At the far end of the conference table, a man named Malcolm Wickers hunched over his laptop, his round face illuminated by the blue glow of the screen.He’d worked for the firm for three years, serving as their security tech.His thick-rimmed glasses kept sliding down his nose as he pored over the security footage, and he absently pushed them back up with his middle finger every few minutes.Rachel had noticed the habit about twenty minutes after he'd arrived, and now couldn't stop tracking it like a nervous tic.Still, his presence was a godsend.When they'd discovered Harrison's laptop locked down tight, Malcolm had been their salvation, arriving within thirty minutes of their call with a confident smile and a laptop bag full of what he called his "digital skeleton keys."

"Got through another section of footage," Malcolm announced, adjusting his glasses again."Nothing unusual between 2 PM and 4 PM.Just normal office traffic."

Rachel nodded, trying to focus on the stack of files in front of her despite the heaviness of her eyelids.The words kept swimming on the page, and she had to resist the urge to reach for what would be her fifth cup of coffee.Her hands were already shaking slightly from the previous three.

The morning light was growing stronger now, and she could hear the building coming to life around them – elevator doors sliding open and closed, the distant murmur of voices, the occasional phone ringing.Two policemen—including Jennings—were out there to greet employees as they came in to let them know what was going on.From what Rachel could out together, many of them were being sent back home.

Each sound made Rachel tense, wondering if it might be news about Harrison...or another victim.The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, a constant drone that seemed to bore into her skull.

"Here's something," Novak said, pushing a file across the table."Smith and Harrison worked together on the Kepler case in 2019.Harrison prosecuted, Smith presided."He reached for his own coffee cup, found it empty, and grimaced."That makes what, eight cases now?"

"Nine," Rachel corrected, scanning the document and adding it to their growing pile of connections.Nothing that screamed motive.Nothing that explained why someone would want to—"

"Hold up," Malcolm's voice cut through her thoughts, sharper than before."You really need to see this.I think I got something…"

Rachel and Novak moved to stand behind him, leaning in to study the grainy footage.The detail wasn't the best Rachel had ever seen, but it was reliable.The timestamp currently displayed read 4:42 PM from yesterday afternoon.Rachel braced her hands on the back of Malcolm's chair as he leaned closer to the screen.

"Watch the front entrance," Malcolm said, tapping a finger against the screen.

A man in business casual attire – crisp button-down shirt, dark slacks – entered through the glass doors.It was, ironically, what they'd been told by Malcolm, the same sort of thing Harrison had been wearing the day before.There was nothing remarkable about the man, nothing that should have set off alarm bells, but Rachel felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she watched him pause just inside the entrance.His movements were too deliberate, too measured.

"I'm going to play it again," Malcolm said, rewinding the footage."Watch his eyes."

This time, Rachel saw it.The subtle sweep of the man's gaze as he entered, the calculated way he took in the lobby.When his eyes found the security camera, his chin dropped immediately, obscuring his features.It was the kind of movement that might look natural to anyone else – checking a phone, perhaps, or looking for something dropped – but to Rachel's trained eye, it screamed of premeditation.

"He knew exactly what he was doing," Novak muttered, voicing her thoughts."Can you zoom in?"

Malcolm nodded, his fingers flying across the keyboard.The image enlarged, becoming grainier but revealing more detail.The man's shirt was light blue, possibly white.His slacks were charcoal gray.He carried no briefcase, no bag – nothing that might identify him as having legitimate business in the building.

"Now watch this sequence," Malcolm said, queuing up another clip."Between 5:00 and 5:10, everyone leaves.I’m speeding it up, of course, but as far as I can tell, everyone has left work.Some also left early yesterday when word of what happened to Judge Smith started to make the rounds.So…by 5:10, everyone has left the building.Everyone except James and our friend in the button-down."

They watched as the building emptied, workers filing out in ones and twos, heading home for the evening.A woman in a red blazer checked her watch as she pushed through the doors.Two men deep in conversation, one gesturing animatedly.A maintenance worker wheeling his cart toward the exit.But their suspect and Harrison never appeared in the lobby footage again.

"I've checked every angle we have," Malcolm said, clicking through different camera views."Front entrance, elevator bank, main hallways.But neither of them show up again."

“Is there a back entrance?"Rachel asked, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it confirmed.

"There is, but there are no cameras back there," Malcolm confirmed, pulling up a building schematic on his second monitor."It's the building's blind spot.A small loading dock area, employee smoking section, and emergency exit.No surveillance coverage at all."

"That makes no sense," Rachel said, straightening up and beginning to pace.The conference room suddenly felt too small, too confined.Her footsteps echoed on the industrial carpet as she moved."Why come through the front, let yourself be seen, then leave through the back?Unless..."She stopped, staring at the frozen image on Malcolm's screen.

"Unless what?"Novak prompted, leaning forward in his chair.

"Unless he wanted us to see him.Wanted us to know he was here, but not enough to identify him."She turned to Malcolm."Can you clean this up?Get us a better look at his face?"

Malcolm's fingers were already flying across the keyboard."I can try to enhance it, maybe adjust for the glass distortion.The reflection's working against us, but I might be able to compensate for it.It'll take time, though."

"Do what you can," Rachel said, fighting back a yawn."When you have something workable, we'll send it to the bureau's tech team.Maybe they can—"

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, making her jump.The sudden movement sent a wave of dizziness through her, and she had to steady herself against the conference table.For a paralyzing moment, it felt all too familiar to what it had been like trying to work through her tumor.It’s back,she thought, knowing it wasn’t true but terrified of the prospect all the same.

---