Page 45 of Absent Remorse

“Maybe,” Simon said. “Or he just went crazy and found that the same mind that came up with ways to con people out of their savings was useful in constructing impossible puzzles.”

Amber wasn’t sure which possibility was more worrying. Either they were dealing with a dangerously unstable guy or someone who had calculated all of this to bring him some advantage that Amber couldn’t see yet. Was there a deeper game to this behind all the rest of it?

Ultimately, though, it didn’t matter. They could ask him which it was once they’d arrested him and brought him back to the FBI. What mattered was getting him in custody, where he couldn’t hurt anybody else.

“When will backup be here?” Amber asked. The two of them might have brought in suspects before but in those cases, they’d only been going to question them initially. Now that they knew that a killer was sitting there, it was simply time to go in and arrest him.

“Backup won't be here soon enough,” Simon said. “If we wait, there’s a chance that he will spot us and run. We can't allow that to happen.”

“So, we're going in?” Amber asked.

“Not ‘we’, me.” Simon’s tone was determined as he said it. “You should stay here, Amber. You aren't a trained agent yet. I can't put you in danger like that.”

“And I’m just meant to wait out here while you go in to face a murderer alone?” Amber said, not quite believing it. “No, that doesn’t make sense. I’ve helped you get this far. I want to see this through to the end, and you shouldn’t have to try to take down a killer alone.”

Simon still didn't look convinced. “Amber, you’re still technically a civilian. If you get hurt in there, I'll be in a lot of trouble with my superiors.”

“I've backed you up before,” Amber pointed out. “I've helped to take down suspects. I could be useful here. It's definitely better than going in alone.”

It wasn't just that, of course. Amber wanted to see this through to the end. She had found the solution to the puzzle, and she wanted to be there to see the criminal that puzzle unveiled. She had earned that much. She wanted to be there for the moment when they arrested him and stopped him from hurting any more people.

She also didn't like the idea of Simon going in alone. If the killer saw him coming, there was a chance of Simon being hurt or even killed. Simon might not truly be her partner, but Amber still wanted to back him up the same way.

Simon must have seen that she wasn't going to give in on this because she heard him sigh. He reached down towards his ankle.

“All right,” he admitted. “I could do with the help on this. You have backed me up before, and you are at least training to be an agent, but Idon’tlike the idea of you going in there unarmed. Without a weapon, you’re just one more person I have to protect, rather than someone who can back me up.”

He came up with a gun in his hand, smaller than his service weapon and clearly there as a backup to it. He held out the pistol to Amber carefully.

“Aren’t you worried about what your superiors will say about a civilian with one of your guns?” Amber said.

“Not as worried as I am about the prospect of you getting killed because you weren’t armed and able to protect yourself,” Simon shot back.

Amber took the gun gingerly, wondering if she should continue arguing. This did not seem like the time, however, to bring up her dismal scores at the range in training. Instead, she checked the gun the way she had been trained to, trying to look less nervous than she felt about the prospect of having to use it.

“Are you ready to go?” Simon asked her.

Amber nodded. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her as she reached for the door handle.

She and Simon stepped out of the car, starting down the short path towards the house. With every step, Amber expected the killer to spot them coming and to start firing on them. She would have preferred Simon to have better backup than her for this, but for now, all she could do was try to watch out for danger as they approached the house.

Simon reached the door first, hammering on it with a clenched fist, loud enough that anyone inside would have to be able to hear it.

“Adam Trench! This is the FBI! Open the door!” He waited a second or two and then hammered on it again. “Adam Trench! Open up!”

There was no answer from inside the house. Amber found herself moving around it, looking for any signs of movement. Simon was more direct, though. He took a step back, lifted one foot, and then kicked the door hard enough to splinter the wood around the locks.

“Amber, on me!”

Amber tried to remember her training. They’d worked on the proper procedures for sweeping a property, moving with other agents as a team, covering the angles so that it was possible to move forward as a unit.

She remembered to keep Simon out of her lines of fire, lowering her weapon whenever he moved through them, then raising it again to cover more of the angles around them. They moved into a living room that looked blandly decorated, without any personal touches, as if it were only a temporary home that the inhabitant hadn’t put their stamp on. Or perhaps a place that he wanted to be able to leave in a hurry without feeling any attachment to it.

Amber swept the room, trying to make sure that there was no one hiding, waiting to ambush them. She could see Simon doing the same, clearing it before moving on in the direction of a dining room.

Even as they did it, though, Amber saw sudden movement. A man came barreling down the house’s stairs, a bag in one hand as he ran for the door. He was middle aged, probably in his forties, with dark hair and a body that had probably once been athletic but was now running to fat. He was wearing a dark shirt and slacks but was currently barefoot. It didn’t seem to be slowing him down.

“Stop!” Simon called out. “FBI!”

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