Page 22 of For Rage

The Maze Killer stood over her, panting heavily, his pulse pounding in his ears. It was always the same rush, the same thrill, every time he took a life. He felt alive, powerful, invincible.

Now, for the fun part.

CHAPTER TEN

Morgan stormed into the FBI headquarters and headed toward the briefing room, only for Derik to appear right in front of her, his expression nothing short of angry. And Morgan was sure it wasn't about the kiss last night.

"What the hell, Cross?" Derik said. "I called you an hour ago, where were you?"

She pushed past him, continuing toward the briefing room, so they could talk in private, not in the public hall. She pushed inside, grateful for the quiet in the room. She faced Derik, ready to explain herself.

"Look, Mia's place was on my way," she said. "I stopped in myself."

"What?" Derik frowned. "We're supposed to be partners, Cross. We do things together. Why didn't you let me know?"

"Does it matter?" Morgan brushed off. "Look, I think we might be looking for a gardener or something. Mia's hedges were freshly trimmed. The killer could've returned and—"

"We agreed we wouldn't go off and do things without consulting the other," Derik interjected. "That was part of my conditions for being partners again."

"Conditions?" Morgan couldn't help the flame of offense that burned her. He was making her sound like a charity case, like he was doing her a favor by being partners with her again. "I'm not a charity case, Greene. I can work just fine on my own if you don't want to be my damn partner.” She hadn’t known Derik had set any “conditions” to working with her again, but now she was imagining him talking to Irvin the same way she did, only he was setting “rules” for how he’d handle Morgan, as if she needed to be handled with kid gloves.

Derik's eyes darkened at her response, his jaw clenching in anger. "That's not what I meant," he said through gritted teeth. "I just want us to work together as a team. That's how we'll catch this guy. But if you're gonna go off and do things on your own, then there's no point in us even being together."

"What the hell is your problem?" Morgan fired back.

"Right now, you are," Derik said. "You're out of line, Cross. With everything."

Morgan's stomach sank as she digested Derik's words. She could tell, now, this was about more than the case. It was also about her showing up at his house with a bottle of scotch and presumptuously kissing him.

She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. She had other things to worry about, like catching the Maze Killer. On top of that, Irvin had led her to believe she was going to have freedom here—not be answering to Derik, of all people.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I didn't know I needed your permission to do my job. Deputy Director Irvin asked me to come back on personally. He never said I needed to answer to you—we’re supposed to be equals now. And I definitely didn’t know about any ‘conditions’ you had set.”

"Yes, equals,” Derik said. "You need to respect our partnership. And right now, you're not doing that."

She bit her tongue. “It wasn’t about shunning you, Derik, or ignoring our partnership. It was just about getting the information in a timely manner, and I was on my way.”

He seemed to deflate, taking in her words. “Even still, I wanted us to go together. You should’ve called me.”

She’d never known Derik to be the emotional type or get hung up on a detail like this. Morgan knew she should drop it, but she couldn't resist: "Look, if this is about last night, then—"

Derik held up a hand. "We don't have to talk about that."

Morgan clenched her jaw, feeling the tension between them grow thicker. She had no idea how to diffuse the situation, so she decided to focus on the case instead.

"Okay, let's talk about the garden. It's a possible lead, right?" she said, hoping to steer the conversation away from their personal issues. "It's possible that Jim Alba isn't even our guy, and if that's the case, then that means people are still in danger."

Derik gave a curt nod. "Yeah, we should look into it.I'd like to see it myself, but—"

Just then the door burst open, and Amy, the intern, came flying in with a shocked expression on her face. "Agents Cross and Greene, you need to come quick. We just got a call."

"What's going on?" Morgan stepped up, her pulse racing through her chest.

Amy swallowed. "Someone broke into the maze at the botanical gardens."

***

Morgan's eyes darted around the botanical garden, taking in the brilliant hues of the exotic plants and flowers. She could see the maze winding through the grounds, and the birds chirping as they flitted through the air, almost making the place peaceful. But right now, mazes in this city were anything but a fun time.

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