Before He Harms

“Don’t worry, though, Mom,” Mackenzie said. “He gets plenty of healthy stuff, too.”

“I wasn’t questioning, I was just…curious. It’s been a while since I raised a child…”

“Isn’t it odd?” Frances said. “You think you’re done with being ensnared by the magic of children when your own leave home and then…bam! You’re a grandparent.”

“It is, I suppose,” Patricia said, looking at Kevin. She reached out with one hand and he grasped it, coating her index finger in vanilla ice cream.

“As you can see,” Frances said, “he’s quite good at sharing, too.”

Patricia chuckled at this, a noise that earned a big smile from Kevin. Mackenzie could see the tears in her mother’s eyes, but she continued to laugh all the same. And by the time her laughter was at a fever pitch, Kevin was cackling right along with her, as if they had just shared a very private joke.

“I assume he gets his sense of humor from your side of the family,” Frances said. “God knows my kids were never much for laughter.”

“Hey,” Ellington said. “A lot of people happen to think I’m funny! Right, Mac?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Have I ever met any of them?”

He rolled his eyes at her as their mothers had a laugh at his expense. Kevin joined in again, continuing to slap at the ice cream cake as he shoved some into his mouth.

It’s like the twilight zone, Mackenzie thought as she watched the entire exchange. Their mothers were actually getting along. And it wasn’t forced. Sure, it had only been a few moments but something about it felt natural. Something about it—God help her—felt right.

She was sure she was staring, but she couldn’t help it. And there was no telling how long she might have kept staring if the phone had not rung and broken her out of it. She jumped at the chance to get away from the table, hurrying to her phone on the kitchen counter without even wondering who it might be.

That all changed when she saw Director McGrath’s name on the caller ID screen. It was after five in the afternoon and whenever McGrath called at such a time, it usually meant she was going to have a busy few days on her hands. She picked up the phone and looked through the entryway into the dining area, hoping to lock eyes with Ellington. As it was, though, he was speaking to his mother and cleaning up some of the ice cream from Kevin’s hands and face.

“This is Agent White,” she answered.

“Hey, White.” McGrath’s voice was somber as always. It was hard to tell his mood by those two simple words. “I believe I have a case that might be tailor made for you. It’s sort of a rush, though. I’d need to you get prepped tonight and be on a plane very early tomorrow morning, headed for Utah.”

“That’s fine, but why aren’t local agents out there handling it?”

“It’s a special circumstance. I’ll explain it all when you get to my office. How soon can you and Ellington get here?”

She was a little disappointed in herself to be so relieved to have an easy out—a viable excuse to step away from this weirdness with her mother and Frances.

“Soon, actually,” she said. “We sort of have a built-in babysitter at the moment.”

“Excellent. Half an hour work for you?”

“That’s perfect,” she said. She ended the call and then, still staring into the dining area and trying to make sense of it all, she called out: “Hey, E? Can you come here a second?”

Perhaps it was the tone in her voice or the simple deduction that no one ever called them other than people they worked with, but Ellington came right away, and with an expectant smile on his face.

“Work?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Great,” Ellington said. “Because quite frankly, whatever is going on in there is just straight up weird.”

“I know, right?”

Then, as if to punctuate this, both of their mothers chuckled at something from the dining room, and it was followed by their son’s bright cackling laughter.

CHAPTER FOUR

While it felt odd to leave Kevin with both grandmothers, Mackenzie could not deny that it did her heart some good to know that her mother was finally getting in some quality time with her son. Her only fear was that her mother’s stubborn and rather selfish side would pop up and get defensive when it became clear that Kevin and Frances had already formed something of a bond. She was astounded that there were no worries about the situation as she and Ellington made their way through the emptying halls of FBI headquarters to McGrath’s office.

When they entered, it was clear that he was shutting things down for the day. He was placing a few folders into his briefcase and seemed to be in a rather chipper mood.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” he said.

“No problem,” Ellington said. “You actually sort of did us a favor.”

“Is that so?”

“Extended family stuff,” Mackenzie said.

“None of my business then. So I’ll make this short and sweet. We have a dead woman out in Utah. The bureau was called in on it because as far as local law enforcement can tell, the woman has no identity. No records, no social security number, no birth certificate, no known addresses, nothing.”

“And why call agents in DC to handle it rather than field agents in Salt Lake City?” Mackenzie asked.

“I don’t know all of the details, but the bureau down there is in a bit of a pickle. Due to some past issues in the area with certain protected individuals, the Salt Lake City branch has to be incredibly careful about how they handle investigations in the area.”

“That’s rather vague,” Ellington said.

“Well, it’s all I have for you right now. I can also offer that there was a conflict of interest and after things went to court, the bureau ended up being in the wrong. So the Salt Lake City heads called us today to see if we could get some DC agents out there on it to work discreetly. And given the nature of the killing, it seemed like something the two of you would knock out rather easily. Get down there, figure out who she is and who killed her. And why. Then hand it over to the local police and come back home.”

“And what is the nature of the murder?” Ellington asked.

“I’ll have the full reports emailed to you. But it appears that this young woman was running away from someone late at night. The working assumption is that while she was running, she was struck by a vehicle and then had her throat cut. There was also a strip of tape placed across her mouth but the medical examiner thinks it was done after the death.”

Mackenzie figured it was right up their alley. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“When do you need us out there?” Ellington asked.

“There are flights booked for both of you at five fifteen tomorrow morning. I’d like to have you on that flight and looking at the crime scene by noon tomorrow. I know childcare might be an issue for a case like this one, but—”

“For once, I think that might be taken care of,” Ellington said.

“Wait. I don’t know if—”

“Is this the extended family stuff?” McGrath asked. He was done packing up, looking longingly at the door.

“Yes, sir.”

“Like I said, then. None of my business. If there’s a problem with childcare and only one of you can go, let me know.”

And with that said, he pointed them toward the door.