A Neighbor’s Lie

“What do you need, Steven?”

“I want to get together to talk,” he said. “Just to sort of reconnect and check in on each other, you know?”

“I don’t think so. That wouldn’t be the best idea.”

“There’s no ulterior motives here,” he said. “I promise. I just…I feel like there are things I need to apologize for. And I need…well, I think we need closure, you know?”

“Speak for yourself. Things are pretty much closed for me. No closure needed.”

“Fine. Then consider it a favor. I just want like half an hour. There are some things I’d like to get off my chest. And if I’m being honest…I’d just like to see you one more time.”

“Steven…I’m busy. My life is crazy right now, and…”

She stopped, not even sure where to go from there. And really, it wasn’t like she had this massive social calendar that would prevent her from seeing him. She knew that for Steven to make such a call was huge. He was having to humble himself, which was not something he had ever done well.

“Chloe…”

“Fine. Half an hour. But I’m not coming to you. If you want to see me, you’ll have to come to DC. Things are crazy here right now and I can’t—”

“I can do that. When’s a good time for you?”

“Saturday. Lunchtime. I’ll text you a place for lunch.”

“Sounds good. Thanks so much, Chloe.”

“You’re welcome.” She felt that there was more she should say, anything to ease the tension. But in the end, all she said was “Bye, Steven.”

She ended the call and pocketed her phone. She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d only caved because she was in a rather lonely position. She thought of Agent Moulton and wondered where he and his lady friend had gone off to. More than that, she wondered why she was so hung up on it.

She reached her car and drove home as the streets of DC began to darken toward night. It was a remarkable city; despite the congestion and weird blend of history and commerce, it was somehow beautiful all the same. It set her into a melancholy state as she headed to her apartment—an empty new apartment in a location she had felt fortunate to find but that now felt like some isolated island calling her home.

***

When her phone stirred her awake the following morning, it pulled her out of the haze of a dream. She tried snatching at the tendrils of it as it escaped but then stopped, wondering if it was even worth it. The only dreams she’d had as of late involved her father, stranded and alone in prison.

She thought she could even hear his voice humming some old Johnny Cash tune he’d often sung around their apartment when she’d been a little girl. “A Boy Named Sue,” she thought. Or maybe not. All of those songs started to sound the same.

Still, “A Boy Named Sue” was in her head when she slapped at her nightstand for her phone. As she yanked her phone from its charger, she saw that her clock read 6:05—just twenty-five minutes before she had set her alarm to go off.

“This is Agent Fine,” she answered.

“Agent Fine, it’s Assistant Director Garcia. I need you in my office right away. Shoot for within the hour. I’ve got a case I need you and Agent Rhodes on as soon as possible this morning.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, sitting up. “I’ll be there right away.”

In the moment, she didn’t care that it was another day with Rhodes. All she cared about was that so far, she was 1-0 as far as cases went and she was eager to improve upon that record.

CHAPTER SIX

Chloe arrived in Assistant Director Garcia’s office three minutes later. He was sitting at the small conference table in the back, looking through a few papers. She saw that he had already set out two cups of coffee for them, steaming and black, on either side of the table.

“Good morning, Agent Fine,” he said as she entered. “Have you seen or spoken with Agent Rhodes?”

“She was pulling in just as I got on the elevator.”

Garcia seemed to think about this for a moment, maybe confused as to why she had not simply waited at the elevator if she’d seen Rhodes. She then wondered just how much Johnson had told him about the little power struggle that was at play in their partnership.

Having finished her own coffee in her car on the way, Chloe sat down in front of one of the cups and sipped from it. She preferred a splash of cream and some sugar but didn’t want to appear high maintenance. Just as she started sipping, Rhodes entered the room. The first thing she did was shoot Chloe a look of annoyance. She then took the seat in front of the other cup of coffee.

Garcia eyed them both, apparently sensing the tension, but then shrugged. “We’ve got a murder in Landover, Maryland. It’s a case that appeared pretty normal at first. Maryland PD is running it right now but they’ve asked for our help. It’s also worth mentioning that Jacob Ketterman of White House Public Affairs knows the victim. He used to work with her back in the day. He has requested we look into it as well, as a favor. And when it comes from the White House, we try to keep it quiet. That should be simple with this case. It’s a pretty simple homicide from the looks of it. It’s one of the reasons we’re putting new agents on it. It’ll be a good test and there seems to be so pressing time table, although of course we’d like it solved as soon as possible.”

He then slid two copies of his report over to them. The details were brief and to the point. As Chloe read over them, Garcia recited what he had learned.

“The victim is thirty-six-year-old Kim Wielding. She was working as a nanny for the Carver family when she was killed. From the best we can tell, someone entered the home and killed her. She was hit in the head twice with something very hard and then strangled. There were two rather nasty blows to the head. It has yet to be determined which of those things killed her. We need the two of you to find out who did it.”

“Was the murder the sole reason for the killer to visit the home?” Chloe asked.

“Seems that way. Nothing was reported stolen. The house seemed exactly the way the Carvers last saw it…with the exception of their dead nanny. The address is right there in the files,” Garcia continued. “I just got off the phone with the sheriff in Landover. Both of the Carvers and their three children have been staying at a motel since the murder occurred two days ago. But they’ll be meeting with you at the house this morning to answer any questions. And that’s it, Agents. Get out there and get another win for us. Head down to HR and check out a car between the two of you. You familiar with the process?”

Chloe was not, but nodded anyway. She assumed Rhodes already knew the ins and outs. Given the way yesterday had gone, Chloe assumed Rhodes knew just about every single piece of information on how the bureau was run.

Both Chloe and Rhodes got up from the table. Chloe took one last gulp of her coffee before heading out of Garcia’s office. They walked down the hallway toward the elevator without a word shared between them.

This is going to be a long day if she and I don’t get past this stupid rivalry nonsense, Chloe thought.

As Chloe pushed the Down arrow, she turned to Rhodes and did her best to not just break the ice—but to obliterate it.

“Agent Rhodes, let’s just get it out in the open. Do you have a problem with me?”

Rhodes smirked and took a moment to think about her answer. “No,” she said finally. “I don’t have a problem with you, Agent Fine. But I am a bit hesitant to work with someone that was placed into ViCAP at the very last minute. It makes me wonder if someone is doing you favors—favors that are unfair to other agents that busted their asses to be part of this program.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I was asked to join this program. I was perfectly content to stay my course with the Evidence Response Team.”

Rhodes shrugged as the elevator doors opened up. “I’m not so sure the ERT would have been so thrilled with how you muddled that footprint yesterday.”

To that, Chloe remained silent. She could keep having this little war of words with Rhodes, but it would do nothing but make the working relationship even worse than it already was. If she was going to bring it to a stop, she was simply going to have to prove herself to Rhodes.

Besides, she had screwed up yesterday. And the only way to fix that was to prove herself with this new case.

***

When Rhodes elected to drive without any sort of conversation about it, Chloe let it ride. It wasn’t worth getting upset about. On the way to Landover, Chloe started to wonder if something had happened at some point during Rhodes’s path to get to where she was—something that caused her to be bossy and to overcompensate. She had plenty of time to ponder this during the half-hour drive to Landover because Rhodes was still not making any real effort to talk.

They arrived at the Carver residence at 8:05. It was a gorgeous house in a well-to-do neighborhood, the type where all of the lawns were perfectly edged to show the perfect lines of the sidewalks. There was a newer minivan in the driveway, parked in front of the garage. Rhodes pulled in behind it and killed the engine. She then looked over to Chloe and asked: “We good?”

“I don’t think so, but that doesn’t matter. Let’s just focus on the case.”

“That’s what I meant,” Rhodes spat as she opened the door and got out.