SAFE (3 page)

Chapter 3

Melissa walked into the side doors of the unimposing building located at 6
th
Ave and Jackson Street, taking the stairs instead of the elevators. The building had been converted years ago from the Workforce Development Commission to the County Sheriffs’ building. The building covered two city blocks, was centrally located to downtown and close to the freeways with enough parking and underground parking that it met the needs for Task Force location. The main draw was the huge third floor, which had been designated for the Task Force including offices and a tactical area.

As soon as she entered the door to the floor the smell of coffee hit her and drew her to the small alcove where the coffee makers ran almost 24/7. Thank goodness for Lonnie Tommè, IT geek and coffee genie! She was just pouring a cup when she heard Buck Stanfield’s voice.

“Melissa, where the hell are you?” came her boss’s gruff call.

“Coffee, where else!” She turned to see him as she took a sip of her dark brew and noticed the other person with him.

“Agent McKinney, I want you to meet Tyrone DuValle. DuValle is on loan from Louisiana’s FBI offices and here for as long as it takes to assist us with this investigation.” Buck Stanfield was an imposing man of six foot two but the man standing next to him topped him by a good three inches. As soon as Melissa’s eyes connected with dark eyes from her past she almost flinched.

Almost.

“Agent DuValle,” Melissa offered, extending her hand. Ty didn’t hesitate to take it but she could sense his surprise when she didn’t say more. She cocked her head, daring him, her dark blue eyes refusing to look away. “Who were you expecting?”

“Now Melissa, none of that. DuValle hails from the low country and has worked a couple of these types of cases. The higher ups wanted him on the Task Force and we’re glad he’s here, aren’t we?” The last was said with enough force that Melissa looked at Buck with surprise.

“You promised…” she started to say, but he cut her off.

“And you are co-team Lead, but Agent DuValle is the Lead Agent, as of today.” Buck’s no nonsense statement set Melissa’s teeth on edge.

It didn’t matter to the brass that she was the highest decorated female agent in the DEA. She had been the top female recruit out of the 19-week Academy, which had showed her top in the class in firearms proficiency and marksmanship, outstanding above the men in weapons safety and tactical shooting, and had been a Team Leader on the deadly-force decision training section that had finally earned her the respect of her classmates. She had maintained an academic average of 97 percent on all academic examinations, and passed the firearms-qualification test with flying colors. It was a long road to successfully demonstrate leadership and decision-making in so many of the scenarios the Academy pushed on them but she had done so with flying marks, not to mention passing the rigorous physical-task tests that many of the male students never mastered. She had been with Buck’s command for five years and Melissa still fought the “good old boy system” every corner she turned. It had everything to do with the fact that she was female in a male-dominated world. Melissa clamped her mouth shut before she said something that would get her in more trouble than she could buy herself out of and stood at parade rest.

“Now, DuValle will be the Lead of the Team and you will be his second-in-command. I need the two of you to wrap this thing up because not only the Governor but the national press has gotten a hold of it and the Governor is not happy.” Buck started to leave but turned back to the two of them.

“And by the way,” he said as an afterthought. “Your offices have been set up so everything has been moved to the upper floor. The Task Force has the entire floor. It should give ya’ll the room needed for your team and the offices to work out of. Now, go do what you both do best and keep me posted.”

With that, Buck Stanfield marched off down the hallway to his own office like the little general he thought he was and his decree could solve the world’s problems. He didn’t look back and no one in the large room around them thought anything of questioning the man.

Melissa’s mind was reeling, trying to come to terms with the fact that her case had just been handed over to the FBI agent standing next to her, a man she knew from her past but hoped he didn’t remember her. She watched him from her peripheral vision and waited, sensing his emotions just under the surface. Despite DuValle’s quiet exterior and cool façade, she sensed turmoil and strength beneath but no recognition. She did what she did best, waited him out.

Tyrone DuValle hadn’t expected his friend to throw him under the bus and onto the Task Force. Once he had a quiet minute, he was going to ask the old bastard what the hell was going on. He had come to Texas to help, not to take over the investigation and he had made that very clear to Stanfield. Ty didn’t want the responsibility of leading the team, he wanted to investigate what was going on, find the ones who were grabbing these kids and put a stop to it.

Too many young teens were turning up missing along the Gulf states, so many of them later coming up dead in ditches and bayous. Tyrone had promised the parents of the last two families that he would find a way to end this if it was the last thing he did. His years working FBI cases for missing kids had become his specialty, one he had taken on after seeing one too many parents lose their precious children for whatever reason. It was the reason he had come to Texas, to help, not lead a team.

He also wasn’t expecting the headstrong beauty in front of him to be on the Task Force. Stanfield hadn’t given him a heads up about any of this and he damn sure didn’t want the responsibility of taking over her investigation. If it had been him, he would be spitting mad, too. He stood watching the beauty in from of him and mentally shook his head.

Tall, honey blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a stubborn chin, with high cheekbones and deep blue eyes hadn’t changed since the last time he see her so long ago. He’d read the brief as he driven down, stopping overnight in San Antonio. She had changed since high school. That thought was all he could think about and wondered if she remembered him. Melissa standing there wearing sharply pressed regulation khakis tailored to fit her well-proportioned hips and crisp long sleeve uniform shirt just made his mouth water. It also made his body remember just how long ago it had been since he had held a woman.

Her shirt was tailored to fit her form, pen tucked at the waist yet not too tight so as to allow her plenty of movement if needed. She wore her sidearm low on her right side, the opposite him, and Tryon was struck by how professional and damn sexy she was just standing there, waiting. Clearing his throat, Ty tried to figure out how to make this work for both of them.

“Look Miss McKinney, I didn’t ask for this. I came here to help, not take over your investigation.” He watched her eyes light up briefly before her expression closed off and she took a deep breath. At first he thought it was going to be good.

“Well,
Agent DuValle,
beggars can’t be choosers and people in Hell want ice water. Now don’t they?” She said it with a quirky half smile, a dimple peeking out in her right cheek and Tryon saw a bit of devilment in those blue eyes looking back at him. Ah hell, he was going to kill Buck Stanfield.

“So, where are we working at?” Ty tried again, refusing to rise to her bait.

“Follow me,” was all he got as Melissa took off down the center isle of the bullpen and out the doorway. She led him to the stairwell and headed up, letting her head take over as the walls closed in. The door marked Third Floor was open and she turned down a long hallway where the Team was now set up with desks, a conference area, whiteboards, and IT section.

“Wow, he works fast,” Ty whispered as he looked around. “He doesn’t mess around, does he?”

“You have no idea,” Melissa threw back over her shoulder, catching one of the admin’s coming in the door.

“Put my stuff in that office and set the other desk up for Agent DuValle. Also, make sure the coffeemaker is stocked for later. I’m sure we’ll be here more hours than we care to count.” The young man grinned and carried the boxes into the office she indicated before disappearing.

“Mind telling me where the investigation is at?” Ty asked her, slipping a hip onto a nearby desk.

“I’ve got the last crime scene posted on the white board in the conference room if you want a look. I’ve also loaded everything onto a flash drive so you can study it later on your laptop.” She tossed him a shiny red flash drive before walking off.

“Lonnie, where’s that damn coffee?” he heard her yell, and Ty grinned. Yep, he was going to kill Buck.

“Stop yelling and start following your nose!” came a snarky reply, which had chuckles coming from a couple of areas around the room. Evidently Agent McKinney’s penchant for coffee was well known.

“I didn’t ask where my nose was. I ask where the damn coffee was at.” The lilting reply came from the corner, then Ty heard a deep sigh. “Damn, that’s good. Thank god you got here, Lonnie.”

“Before you get started want to introduce me to the rest of the Team?” Ty asked her, bringing her to a stop with the coffee cut to her mouth.

An odd expression passed over her face and was gone. She leaned against the wall outside the coffee bar and gave a shout.

“Guys, front and center!” she yelled, taking another deep sip of her coffee.

He heard several chairs scraping back and Ty found himself surrounded by the Team. He was surprised by what he saw.

“You’ve met Lonnie Tommè, who is our IT specialist, resident geek and all round boy genius.” The young man Melissa pointed to couldn’t be more than twenty years old with long black hair, startling blue eyes and wearing a boy band t-shirt with some kind of slogan on it that Ty was sure was outlawed in most states. He wore tight skinny jeans and the brightest neon yellow tennis shoes Ty had ever seen.

“I swear the boy creates magic in more ways than one. We can’t do anything without him and I’ve stopped trying.” The young man stood there for a minute and looked like he almost blushed before pulling himself together.

“Welcome and if you need anything, just yell. Oh, and let me see your smartphone in a bit. I’ll sync it with the tablets so you get all of the latest updates as they come in.” Lonnie winked at him, gave him a quick two-finger salute and left like the breeze he seemed to be. Everyone smiled as he left.

“See what I mean?” she grinned, watching the kid disappear down the hall.

“Paco Garcia,” a young man stepped forward, offering his hand.

“Paco has been with us for ten years. He works logistics and government agencies, and anything else we can find for him. He’s one of the best agents we have and I’m lucky he’s on the team.” She laughed when his face turned red, which Ty thought interesting for the Hispanic young man.

“Danny Ashton.” The man stepped forward and shook his hand. He couldn’t be more than late twenties with a sadness buried deep within that didn’t reach his eyes. Ty knew about sadness and hoped this job didn’t burn Ashton out too soon as it did so many good agents.

“Danny is our PR man as well as the one who has to deal with all of the manic upper management shit that goes on. I don’t want his job for anything but he works well with Buck so it’s all good.” Melissa’s comment brought an instant smile to Danny’s face, causing a remarkable change. Ty could see how much the man respected her and he could tell it was mutual.

“You just hate having to watch your mouth around reporters, Lisa.” Danny grinned, shaking his head. He looked over at Ty and ducked his head. “The last time she spoke to the press it took Buck and I almost a month to clear up the flack. She’s a menace when the reporters get in her face and don’t let them even try to get near a crime scene.”

“That’s your job, Ash. I just want to put a bullet in them.” Everyone laughed at her comment except Melissa and Ty knew there had to be a story behind it.

“Hopefully, you can keep us out of trouble if this whole case goes to hell.” Ty told Danny because his gut had been screaming at him since he had gotten the call. Danny looked around the room and then at Melissa, and it was apparent he thought someone was missing.

“Where’s Chip?” he asked, looking at Paco and Melissa.

“Who’s Chip?” Tense quiet settled around the group before Melissa cleared her throat to answer him.

“He’s our other Agent and evidently he’s late getting in. Again.”

“Who is he, exactly?” This time Ty looked directly at Melissa, dismissing the others who quietly slipped out of the area and made it back to their own offices.

“Anthony Chip Nicholson has been with the DEA for eleven years. He didn’t like it that I was made the Team Lead for this case and made it very clear to Buck. That’s one reason why I was a little upset they made you and I co-Leads. It will make Chip happy to take me down a peg or two.”

Ty could tell by the way Melissa continued to hold her coffee cup that it bothered her. Her body language screamed how much she was holding back. He didn’t want there to be problems with the Team, and especially between the two of them working the case.

“I’ll handle Chip Nicholson and make it clear to him that you are still the actual Lead and that I’m only here to help. I tried to tell Buck that and I’ll also handle him.”

“I don’t want any problems with this, DuValle. I just want to solve the case.” Melissa gave him a pointed look before walking toward the conference room.

He shook his head, watching Agent Melissa McKinney walk out of the area with her nose in a cup and her eyes on the tablet she opened in her other hand. She moved across the room without so much as looking up but didn’t run into anything on her way. Ty was amazed as he watched. Melissa was now so lost in work she didn’t spill a drop as she entered the conference room and partially closed the door behind her.

Ten hours and countless pots of coffee later Ty was feeling his stomach begin to roll from too much acid and not enough food. He’d skipped lunch to work though the paperwork, reviewing the information Lonnie had loaded onto the flash drive for him. Now he needed to get out of there and find someplace to eat to clear his head. Too many kids were being taken and the more he looked at the information that had been gathered so far along with what he had managed to pull together from other agencies across the country it was finally becoming obvious, this was an organization who had deep pockets and high-ranking sources. They had to have moles in almost every branch of government because the trails always went cold, and each time a department had tried to get someone undercover it had ended badly.