The Price of Murder by Judith Erwin

Author:Judith Erwin [Erwin, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-eight

“You are aware you’ve pissed off Agent Steele,” Jake said as he edged onto the passenger seat of the black SUV. “The fire in her eyes warmed the room when you told her to go back to the field office.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“Damn, O’Brien. Did you miss reading the first commandment in the special agent bible?”

“Which is?”

“‘Thou shall play nice with thy partner.’ You need her to have your back.”

“I did not miss it. But the fine print says there’s an exception when thy partner doesn’t know—you fill in the rest. While we’re talking about partners.” O’Brien jabbed a key in the ignition. “What’s the deal with you and the lovely Ms. Kavanaugh? She’s a hell of a sharp gal—beauty and brains. Pretty risky combination for a married man to travel with.”

“Might be, but I’m not a married man.”

O’Brien grimaced. “I thought you got hitched. I ran into one of our colleagues from Quantico who said you had married a doctor.”

“That crashed and burned when she moved up the chain of command. She’s now the proud wife of Assistant Special Agent in Charge Hal Kirby.”

“Crap!” O’Brien turned his face toward Jake. “Did that have anything to do with why you left the Bureau?”

“Eyes on the road, Charlie,” Jake said with a grin. “But you nailed it.”

“Damn. Well, if you have any ideas about Kavanaugh, you’d better watch out because that local, the younger one, Harlan, has a hard on.”

“Trust me, I’m aware. But Harvard’s not shopping.”

“Is that a fact? According to Detective Harlan, she says you’re not a couple.”

“That’s what she says.”

“And what’s the Shepherd word?”

“That, my friend, is classified.”

“That answers my question,” O’Brien said with a knowing nod. As he drove up the entry to the J. Turner Butler expressway, he glanced at the GPS map on the vehicle’s screen. “Looks like we’ll pass the exit leading toward the field office. Want to jump off and grab a sandwich? Quite a few fast-food choices in the area. Might even find you a clean shirt.”

“Good plan. If we were passing by the office, why didn’t we give your partner a lift?”

“And provide her another chance at trying to tag along. No way. All is good.”

Jake chuckled. “Come on. Don’t tell me you’re a throwback to J. Edgar’s philosophy whereby it takes testosterone to be an agent.”

“Hell, no. I’ve worked with outstanding females. This one may become one, but right now, she doesn’t know what she doesn’t know but thinks she does. It annoys the crap out of me.”

Before getting food, they stopped at a Target to buy Jake a shirt and a jacket, which he changed into at a nearby service station restroom. Back on the road to Amelia Island, Jake made a quick call to Liz to check on the office and then glanced at his watch. “We should make it by four,” he said to O’Brien. “Estimating an hour with Remington, we can make it to the hospital by five-thirty—hopefully find out more about Jameson’s chances.”

“Given the injuries you described, he’s probably been in surgery all day.

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