Page 10 of Absent Remorse

There was silence on the other end of the line for several seconds.

“I’m looking at her training records, Phelps. She isn’t ready to go into the field as an agent.”

“But as a consultant?” Simon tried. “Please, ma’am, I believe this is our best shot at cracking this case.”

There was another pause on the line.

“All right,” Palliser said at last. “But she doesn’t get a weapon or a badge for this. As far as the world is concerned, she’s still a civilian. If she helps you to make progress on this case, great. But if not, I’ll pull her from it and send her back to Quantico.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Simon said and hung up.

Amber looked over at him expectantly. “I’m in on the case?”

Simon nodded. “You’re in. Let’s get back to the FBI offices. I need to get you briefed on the case. I just hope you can find answers from this puzzle before anyone else dies.”

CHAPTER SIX

“This way, Amber.”

Amber took a moment to just stand there and drink in the atmosphere of the FBI department where Simon worked before following him across it.

There had been security down below, and there were probably cells, interrogation rooms, even an armory elsewhere in the building, but this floor could have been the offices of an expensive firm of lawyers, with a series of glass fronted offices arranged around the edges of the space, while a central area was given over to desks and communal workspaces with evidence boards set up.

Simon’s office appeared to be on the far side. Amber followed in his wake as they headed for it, carrying the cube as she went.

They got about halfway before a woman moved to intercept them. She was probably in her mid-fifties, tall and pale, with otherwise jet-black hair marked by a single streak of grey. She was wearing a dark pantsuit over a white blouse, and her sharp features currently held a stern expression.

“Agent Phelps, is this Amber Young?”

Amber saw Simon wince slightly, as if he’d been dreading this interaction. That made a thread of fear rise up in Amber.

“That’s right, Agent Palliser. Amber, this is my boss, Agent Palliser. She’s the one who okayed you being pulled out of FBI training for this case.”

“Reluctantly,” Agent Palliser said, looking Amber up and down, as if she wasn’t sure that it had been such a good idea after all. Amber saw her eyes fix on the cube Amber was holding. “Is that the puzzle?”

Amber nodded. “It was delivered to my … friend, Joseph, at theWashington News.”

Shouldn’t she just call him her boyfriend? That was what he was, right? Except, between her training and his job, they didn’t seem to have moved onto that stage yet.

“Delivered to him, or he created it?” Agent Palliser asked, sounding suspicious.

Amber couldn’t help feeling a little shocked at the idea that Agent Palliser might think Joseph had anything to do with all this. He was one of the best, kindest people she knew. Admittedly, the fact that she was seeing him might be clouding her judgement, but she simply couldn’t imagine him having anything to do with this.

“Joseph is a reporter, not a murderer!” Amber said.

“And from what I understand, the Puzzle Killer also worked at your newspaper,” Agent Palliser said. “So, merely being a reporter doesn’t exclude anything.”

“If you want to look into the reporter, ma’am,” Simon said, “you’re welcome to do so, but for the moment, I don’t believe that he’s a priority.”

Amber felt a wash of gratitude at the way Simon was standing up for Joseph. Heclearlywasn’t the murderer. The murderer was still out there somewhere, and they needed to focus on finding him.

“As the agent on the case, that’s your decision to make,” Agent Palliser said. “Just as it was your decision to bring Ms. Young onto the case. I trust you’ve made the right decision with that, Agent Phelps.”

Amber saw Simon nod. “I’m confident that she’ll be able to help.”

“Tell me about the puzzle,” Agent Palliser said, looking straight at Amber.

Amber did her best to get her thoughts in order. There was something intimidating about Simon’s boss being right there in front of her, demanding answers, something that made it hard to get words out. Only the fact that she was talking about puzzles made it possible at all.

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