Gone Unnoticed: A Kate Reid Novel (The Kate Reid Series Book 3) (4 page)

She considered his question. He didn’t know. He only knew what was printed in the papers or what was shown on TV, not what she actually went through. Kate didn’t hold it against him, though. “It’s okay. I don’t know what it is, to be honest. All I know is that I want to work in the BAU and if Agent Scarborough can pull some strings, I shouldn’t feel bad about that, should I?”

“Sounds like you already made up your mind about it.” Will grabbed another slice. “Let’s just get back to studying. Forget I said anything.”

Jocelyn returned from the cafeteria and, when she opened the door, the two were startled by the noise.

“Hey, you’re back,” Kate said.

“Am I interrupting something?” Jocelyn stepped inside and closed the door behind her. “What’s up, Caison?”

“Just studying. You want to join us?” Will pushed aside some of his things to make room.

“Actually, that’d be great. If you’re sure I’m not interrupting.” She looked at Kate for confirmation.

Kate had grown to like Jocelyn. She was easy-going, helpful, and always managed to see the positive side of just about any situation, which, considering her background, was a pretty impressive quality. So rather than become embarrassed by what her roommate was clearly trying to imply, she simply shrugged it off. “Sit down.” Kate patted the seat of the chair next to her.

Studying until the wee hours was nothing new for trainees, and it was only when Kate caught a glimpse of black skies from the window of the dorm room that she realized the hour had become late. “Anybody know what time it is?” Rather than wait for an answer, Kate grabbed her phone. “It’s almost midnight. I don’t know about you two, but I’ve got to get some sleep.”

Jocelyn raised her arms and expelled a pent-up yawn. “Yeah, it’s time to quit for the night.” She stood up and closed her notebook. “Good night, Caison.”

Will seemed to pick up on the fact that this was her way of telling him to leave. “Right, okay. Yeah, I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” He shoved his laptop into his bag. “Thanks for studying with me.” He was looking at Kate, although Jocelyn answered.

“No problem.”

“Thanks for the food and the help. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kate walked to the door and held it open.

A quick nod and he was gone.

“You know he’s got a thing for you, right?” Jocelyn said, pulling her hair back into a bun.

“Oh, I don’t think so.” She paused for a moment. “Wouldn’t matter anyway. That’s not something I’m interested in.”

“I know, but he might not.” Jocelyn slid under the light covers of her twin bed. “You might want to nip that in the bud.”

Kate crawled into her own bed, grunting a reply. “Good night.”

FOUR

I
n an unassuming
house nestled in the suburbs of Baltimore, James Corbett waited for word from the higher-ups, specifically, the man who he had come to know only as the Arranger. No names. That was part of the deal. He understood the nature of the business and didn’t question it. Not when the money was pouring in freely.

Still, he knew that the FBI was looking for him and had already been to his previous home. They’d tracked him down by his internet service provider. It was then he switched to a proxy server that disguised his IP address, but it had been too late. They knew about the websites and had already shut them down. Not that it mattered much. It was merely a hiccup and several more websites were already in their place. But he was keeping a low profile nonetheless. What he hadn’t wanted was for his boss to consider him too much of a risk.

So as he waited for the call, he knew he would have to offer the Arranger some assurances to pass along to those in charge. Corbett and his team had gotten sloppy and amends would have to be made.

The call was coming in. “Yeah,” Corbett said. “Understood. I’ll be there.”

And that was it. He was to meet someone at a predetermined location and pick up the next set of assets. That was what they were called—assets. The women they found. Usually prostitutes; sometimes young women working at a local dive bar or strip club. They were scoped out, ensuring little to no family and no documentation. That was key. Without documentation, it was nearly impossible to track them down.

“It’s happening tonight. I need you there by eight p.m.” Corbett barked the order over his cell phone.

“I got it. I’ll be there.” Stan Kovac was Corbett’s second in command. He handled the transportation and distribution of the assets.

Corbett ended the call and returned to his laptop. The SD card from his camera slid into the drive and he began uploading the pictures of some of the latest acquisitions. They were beautiful and young. Most hardly spoke a word of English, which was fine by him. He took his time with each of them, photographing every inch of their firm bodies. As he opened the files, he stared at the images. His own private porn site and he’d had the privilege of breaking them in already. It was the best way to instill fear and let them know who was in charge. Heat began to rise in his groin as he looked at their ruby red lips and soft skin. He continued to leer at them while he serviced his growing need for release.

» » »

Kate was the last to arrive to class this morning. She quietly lowered her laptop bag to the floor and slid into her chair next to Will.

“Pushing it a little, aren’t you?” he asked.

“It was a late night.” She retrieved her tablet and placed it on her desk.

“That’s what happens when you’re pulling double duty.”

“Looks like we can get started now,” the instructor said as he surveyed the room. He turned to the interactive screen and began to write the words “Forensic Evidence.”

This was what she’d been waiting for. Kate had some knowledge on this subject after having worked in evidence collection for more than a year and the graduate program at UCSD, although that had been cut short.

As the instructor began, Kate noticed a marked shift in Will’s body language. He was sitting further away and his books rested so far at the edge of table, they just might fall off. His legs jutted out the side, almost into the aisle. His wasn’t a particularly tall man, only slightly above average, but that still meant he surpassed Kate and her five-foot-six-inch frame. She wondered if Jocelyn had been right. It had been some time since she’d seen that look in a man’s eyes, but Will had it the other night while they were studying. It hadn’t been her intention to give him the impression she was ready to start some kind of relationship. Not to mention the fact that they were colleagues, trainees, and that would only make matters more complicated.

Kate was not here to meet a man. She was not here to do anything other than become an agent.

“We’re going to review the following information for tomorrow’s assessment,” the instructor began. “First, you’ll need to understand how ViCAP works and what its uses are, as well as CODIS and, finally, you’ll be given the parameters of an actual case file and will need to understand the use of these programs, including NGI, and how these databases impact the agent’s ability to see to a successful prosecution.”

This was something she could wrap her arms around with ease. She’d had the experience and knowledge of such programs and it filled her with a renewed confidence. Maybe she had earned her spot here after all.

It was this confidence that made the time pass with record speed. She’d breezed through the subjects and was ready for more when the instructor started to wrap up the session.

“That’s it for today. You’re all free to go.” He shut down the video and began to pack up his files.

“I’ll see you later.” Will moved quickly to leave.

“Reid, can I have a word with you?” the instructor asked.

Kate grabbed her bag and walked to the front of the classroom. Most of the other recruits had already left. “Yes, sir?”

“I’m sure you are aware that I spoke with Agent Scarborough.”

“Yes, sir.”

“There’s a chance that if you are able to be of value in the case he and Metro Police are working on, and we can arrange for extracurricular training with regards to the tactical teams, we might find an agreeable resolution. We both agree that there are extenuating circumstances here and it would be a shame for you not to see a satisfactory completion of the training as a result. That being said, you will need to make up for every hour that you miss and bear in mind that it should be kept to an absolute minimum in any event.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ve already been working closely with Agent Scarborough on the issue and have discussed how we might approach the problem. I appreciate your assistance and I’ll be the first one to tell you that I intend to pass that segment of the training.” Kate paused for a moment. “Is there anything else, sir?”

“No. You may leave.”

» » »

The paper target was moving towards her as her instructor approached. Kate removed her safety glasses and pulled the headphones from her head.

“Nicely done, Reid.” He pulled the target down to examine it and then turned to Kate. “Remind me not to piss you off.”

Six shots, three in the center, two in the head, and one just outside the X.

“Thank you, sir.” The partial grin on her face was hard to conceal, but she tried anyway.

The firearm was returned to her holster and, as the day’s temperature reached its peak, she was ready to find some relief and head back to the main part of campus.

Will jogged to catch up with her. “Hey, you have lunch yet?”

“No. You want to go grab something?” Maybe he’d reconsidered his earlier brush off.

“My treat.” Will walked alongside her now. “McDonalds?”

“How about we just head to the cafeteria?” Her shoulder raised as it carried the weight of her duffle bag.

» » »

Nick had put a call in to Kate, but it went straight to voicemail. The plan had been to have her to come down this evening and work with Agent Dwight Jameson on reviewing the new details they’d received from Metro.

“You’re back?” Georgia stepped into the doorway of Nick’s office.

“I am. And I see you are too?” Nick smiled at the welcomed sight. “How long you here for?”

“Gotta fly out Monday morning, so it looks like I’m yours for three days.” She walked inside and glanced at the paperwork on his desk.

“I’ve got some things I need to jump on right away. You mind if I call you later and we can go out and grab some dinner?”

“Sure. Actually, why don’t you come over tonight? I’ll cook.” Georgia stood at the front of his desk, waiting for a reply.

“That’d be great. I’ll give you a call later.”

She nodded and turned to walk out of his office.

“Hey,” Nick began. “Thanks for checking in on me.” He watched her continue on and admired her from the back.

Before she left his view, a call came in on his cell phone and he was disappointed by the disruption, but on glancing at the caller ID, he realized he needed to take the call. “Kate. Thanks for getting back to me.”

“Sorry for missing you earlier. How’s it going?” she asked.

“Can you come in later? Do you have time?”

“Yeah. I just finished with firearms training and so I’m free for the rest of the day. I was grabbing a late lunch with Caison, but we’re just about finished, so I can head up now if you’d like.”

“Great. See you in a few.”

It seemed like only minutes had passed when Kate appeared at his door.

“Afternoon,” she said.

“Shit.” Nick turned his wrist to check the time. “You got here quick. I completely lost track of time. Come in, please.”

Kate dropped into the chair. “So, what do you need me to do?”

Nick started rifling through the papers on his desk. He picked up the file Detective Moreno handed over as well as two others. “I’d like to find out what these three women have in common, besides the obvious ethnicity. Can you review these ASAP and get me something, anything we can cross-reference?”

“Of course. I can get on this right away.” She stood up and turned to leave.

“Hold up. How’d everything go today?”

“Great. The firearms instructor said he wouldn’t ever want to piss me off.”

Nick chuckled. “No, I don’t think he would. Let me know when you’re finished. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Thank you, Agent Scarborough.”

Kate pulled up a chair at one of the empty desks in the bullpen. She could have gone home to do what Nick asked, but she preferred to be around the other agents. It make her feel like she was a part of something.

She booted up the computer and logged into the FBI server. However, the files would need to be scanned in and so Kate headed towards the printer room. On her way there, she ran into Agent Jameson.

“Hi, Kate, nice to see you.” He stood a full head and shoulders above her and was built like a brick chimneystack, square and thick.

“Agent Jameson, good to see you too.”

Jameson and Scarborough had been the last ones to see Marshall alive. She didn’t often run into him, but he sometimes worked closely with Nick and this was one of those times. It seemed there were reminders of her past everywhere.

“I understand Scarborough gave you the profiles of the reported missing victims?”

“He did. I was just getting ready to scan them in so I can start working on them.”

“Good. I’m glad to be working with you again.”

“Thank you, Agent Jameson. Same goes for me.”

“Call me Dwight. I think we’ve known each other long enough to go by first names. I’ll see you later, Kate.”

There were half a dozen printers and a few scanners inside the room. It might have been easier if she’d just taken a picture of each page and uploaded them, but she needed to be sure that the quality of the documents remained intact and couldn’t risk one single word being misread because the image was shoddy.

The first document was loaded and it began to scan to the file on her computer. She peered out through the large picture window and into the corridor. Agent Myers was approaching and noticed Kate inside.

Myers leaned in. “Hey. What’re you doing in here?”

“Just scanning some files for Agent Scarborough. He asked me to take a look at a few things and draft a report.”

Georgia’s brow creased. “What’s he got you working on?”

“The sex trafficking case. He’s got me cross-referencing the profiles of some missing victims.”

“I see. I guess I didn’t realize you were helping him out. In fact, I didn’t realize you’d been assigned a field office.”

“Well, I haven’t officially and it’s only been a few days, but I’ve been able to juggle it so far. He’s not pushing me too hard.” Kate wanted to diffuse a situation that appeared to have evolved into one.

“Okay, I’ll let you get to it, then. Good to see you, Kate.”

“You too, Agent Myers.” While they occasionally went out socially, Kate never presumed to call her by any other name here and understood the chain of command.

The files were scanned. Kate grabbed the folders and walked back to the desk. As she opened each one and began cataloging the dates of birth, locations, identifying markers, etc., she began to get a sense of déjà vu and half-expected Marshall to come strutting down the hall as he used to do to check up on her. She hadn’t done any real casework, and simulated exercises were not the same, since leaving the SDPD behind. Captain Hearn had offered her plenty of opportunity to stay, but in the end, he knew she couldn’t possibly. So now here she was, doing the same thing. And it felt good.