Page 110 of Unnatural Death

THE SUN IS LOW on the horizon as we drive away from Nokesville, headed back to Alexandria. I call Doug Schlaefer, asking if he can meet me at headquarters.

“It appears we have a dead female FBI agent and another woman who are tentatively identified as Patty Mullet and Bonnie Abel. At a glance they may have shot each other. Or someone else shot them,” I explain. “Something like that can’t wait. Fabian’s off camping in an igloo somewhere. Not sure we’ll have any luck with him.”

“I’ll try him anyway,” Doug says.

Benton and I are on our phones most of the drive. When we’re back in Alexandria on West Braddock Road, I think about letting Marino know what’s going on but decide against it. He and Dorothy are together as they should be, and I don’t want him leaving her alone.

Doug and I can manage without him, and then Lucy calls. She’s returned Janet’s software to an earlier instantiation of the programming, and in the process lost a lot of information.

“But we’re no longer under siege,” she explains.

“Good for you,” I reply. “I know that none of this has been easy.”

“Do you know how someone was able to hack in?” Benton asks as we reach my headquarters.

“We’re still working on that. Probably an attachment that shouldn’t have been opened,” she says in a way that indicates she’s the one who did it. “I wasn’t careful enough.”

Benton pulls into my parking lot, and I dig in my briefcase for the remote gate opener. The tarmac hasn’t been plowed. It’s thick with slush and mostly empty. Rex Bonetta’s truck and Clark Givens’s SUV are near the closed vehicle bay door. Norm’s Suburban is here, and it’s just my bad luck that he’s on duty.

“I’m going to let you get started while I rustle up something to eat.” Benton stops near the building.

“It’s almost six o’clock now and I’ll be tied up for hours. Why don’t you go home and check on Lucy?”

“Nope. I’m staying here with you, and will want to deal with some of the investigators anyway. But first we need food. Wendy’s or Bojangles?” he asks, and my mouth waters at the thought of buttermilk biscuits and fried chicken.

I’d like that with a side order of dirty rice, I tell him. Leaving the remote gate opener in the car, I kiss him and climb out. I open the pedestrian door, and when the garage door hasn’t been activated the vehicle bay’s interior lights don’t turn on unless one flips a switch. I don’t bother as I walk in, preferring the darkness as I’m mindful of our cameras.

I have an uneasy feeling that Norm is observing me as I head to the light seeping under the door leading inside the building. Fabian’s El Camino is parked where he left it last night, and I walk past it and up the ramp, letting myself into the receiving area. The security office is empty, and I unlock it, walking in. I can tell that Norm’s not been inside.

I pick up the aluminum baseball bat Wyatt likes to keep propped in a corner. Blue with a silvery handle, it’s badly pitted from being used to pulverize bones from the crematorium. Reaching the elevator, I see that it’s stopped on the top floor. I imagine Norm borrowing somebody’s office. Or checking out what’s in storage closets and breakroom refrigerators.

I decide to take the stairs, and there’s no one on my hallway, the lights dimmed automatically after hours to conserve energy. Shannon’s office door is closed, and my building seems even emptier when she’s not around. I’m reminded of the light and life she’s brought to this place since taking the job. Propping the baseball bat against the wall, I check on the cricket container in the fiddle fig tree pot.

I’m relieved and pleased that Jiminy is stirring about. I refill his bottle cap water bowl, dropping in several of Merlin’s greenie treats that I brought from home. Taking off my boots, I put on my lab coat, and a pair of rubber surgical clogs. I’m carrying my briefcase to my desk when Fabian calls.

“How’s life in an igloo?” I sit down behind my desk, logging onto my computer.

“We heard what happened,” he says excitedly. “The shootout in Nokesville, holy moly!”

“The bodies won’t be here for at least an hour, probably longer,” I let him know, and he says that he and Faye are on their way. I’ve barely ended the call when it’s followed by one from Marino.

“Holy shit, Doc. Are you all right?” He sounds like he’s had a few. “Dorothy and I are seeing what’s on the news about Nokesville. Who’s the FBI agent?”

“Nothing’s confirmed …”

“Cut the bullshit, Doc. Who’s dead,” he says, and I tell him who we believe it is.

“The damn son with the weird name? Ledger? He’s who we should be looking for,” Marino declares.

“It would seem he’s vanished for the time being,” I reply.

“I feel I ought to be doing something to help. I don’t like you being there alone after dark with that piece of shit on the loose.”

“I can’t imagine him or anyone else coming here,” I reply. “Rex and Clark are in their labs, and Norm is somewhere in the area. I’m heading downstairs now to get Doug’s and my stations ready. Fabian and Faye are on their way. I’m fine. You stay home and take care of my sister. Have a lovely snowy evening with her, Marino. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

I send Rex Bonetta and Clark Givens a text, letting them know I just got here. Doug and I will be taking care of the two victims from Nokesville. I’ve barely pressed Send when Clark is calling my cell phone.

“Is the thinking that the Nokesville homicides are related to what happened in Buckingham Run?” he’s asking.

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