Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet (38 page)

“
I’m not finished.” Ed’s
words were frozen.

The man sat, though with
obvious reluctance. Fin studied the two men and the looks that
passed between them. Definite history, bad history.
Interesting.

“
With all due respect,
sir,” another man said from near the middle of the room. “Our teams
are highly functioning as they are. My unit has an incredibly high
solve rate. I’m not sure rearranging that will be in the best
interest of the Bureau.”

“
Dr. Brockman, thank you
for your input. That brings up another thing. For those of you who
are part of a highly functioning team, you will most likely not be
affected significantly. Some of you may be reassigned to cover any
other holes. We will still have the field intelligence groups and
the investigative services groups and the undercover operations
formative group. They’ll just be under my jurisdiction instead of
Lewis Whiler’s. In the office we’re having built two blocks from
here. I’m sure you’ve all noticed the construction? And the Complex
Crimes Unit—you’ll be moving. You’ve been reclassified. Len will be
calling off a list of names of agents to be reassigned. We will
also be forming a master task force, under my direct leadership.
This team will be the front leaders. They will be the best and
brightest this office has to offer and will set the future course
for this division. When SSA Len calls your name, please
stand.”

Fin watched as the first
set of agents were reassigned, most having very unhappy expressions
on their faces. Another five minutes passed and nearly every agent
had been reassigned or told to stay with their current
unit.

Ed stepped back to the
front. “Those of you who’ve been reassigned, you’re dismissed. You
will be relocating to the PAVAD building in one month. Instructions
will follow. The rest of you, please stay seated. You’ll receive
instructions shortly.”

The majority of the crowd
filed out. Eleven people remained: Fin, Ed, the two men who’d
spoken—Hellbrook and Brockman, three other men, two brunette women,
and two redheaded women.

This was Deputy Ed’s elite
team, Fin realized. His new team. He straightened. Looked them over
carefully. Hellbrook was furious, it was in the way his shoulders
were rigid. The young redhead on his right wasn’t even listening.
She had headphones in. The three younger male agents were all
waiting somewhat impatiently. Fin just glanced over them. The two
brunette women were on opposite sides of the room, and seemed
opposite in personality, from Fin’s first impressions. One was
Hispanic, seemed a bit edgy, squirming in her seat near the front.
The other was small, attractive, businesslike. Cool and calm. She
turned and said something to the redhead on her left.

Fin’s gaze followed her
movement. The hair was dark red. Warm. Straight. It tugged at him,
familiar. The body was small. Delicate. She moved a lot, her foot
tapping, arms crossing and uncrossing. She didn’t want to be there.
Brockman reached behind the brunette and squeezed the redhead’s
shoulder. She turned, became more visible.

Fin’s hand tightened as a
rush of remembered pain shot through him. Starting with his
prosthetic. Psychological remembrance of the morning in June eight
years ago, when he’d lost the hand, and of the woman who’d been
with him at the time.

Anastacia
.

***

“
I don’t like this,” Ana
whispered to Georgia. “The teams were fine the way they
were.”

“
I know,” Georgia whispered
back, as Malachi stood and approached the front of the room. Ana
and Georgia followed. “But my dad knows what he’s
doing.”

“
Gather round,” Ed Dennis
ordered. “We’ll make introductions and I’ll explain a bit more
about this task force.”

“
We’re it, Dad?” Georgia
looked at her father with clear surprise on her usually calm
face.

Director Ed
nodded.

Hellbrook looked at Georgia
appraisingly. Ana shifted in front of Georgia. Her friend didn’t
need to be pulled into the trouble between her father and the other
guy.

Malachi must have thought
so as well. He moved to block Hellbrook’s gaze, a challenging look
on his own face. Ana knew then this wouldn’t be good—not if the
normally placid Mal’s protective streak was aroused. Not good, not
at all. She knew it wasn’t. And Ana always listened to her
instincts.

Malachi spoke. “I’ll begin.
I’m Dr. Malachi Brockman. I head the Child Exploitation Prevention
Division. These are three of my team—SSA Dakon Royal, Dr. Georgia
Ed, and SSA Anastacia Sorin. Royal’s a former demolitions expert
from ATF. Dr. Ed is our team profiler. Ana’s our tactics expert and
victim advocate when needed."

***

Fin watched the man look
toward Hellbrook. Hellbrook’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Michael
Hellbrook. of the Complex Crimes Unit.”

“
I’ve heard of you,”
Brockman said. Fin had heard of Hellbrook as well. The CCU was the
stuff legends were made of. A small team of agents—the unit only
had five people in it—who took the cases nobody else wanted, or
could solve. Hellbrook was legendary, his intra-Bureau fame rising
in the last four years.

Fin thought he’d be older,
instead of around his own thirty-six. Hellbrook continued,
motioning to the young redhead at his side. “This is my agent,
Special Agent Carrie Sparks. She’s our computer forensic
specialist.”

Another man, younger than
either Hellbrook or Fin spoke up. “I’m Lucas Armitage and this is
my partner Maria Angel. We’re with Stephenson. I’ve training in
anti-terrorism and hostage negotiation, and Angel comes from Crimes
Against Children.”

“
Reece Ramirez,” Another
man said, with touches of a New York and Hispanic accent mingling
beneath his words. “I’m with Violent Crimes, as well.”

“
Fineas McLaughlin. I’ll
be heading up C-CAP now that it’s been moved from Whiler’s section
to this new division, transferred in this morning. My recent
assignment was with the National Center for the Analysis of Violent
Crime’s serial murder division, located in DC,” McLaughlin said,
moving from his seat partially behind Ed. His gaze locked on hers.
“Hello, Anastacia.”

Her eyes widened as she
backed away from him slightly. “Fin.”

Fin didn’t miss the fear or
panic that hit the green eyes he remembered so well. She’d not
forgotten him, either. He’d doubted she would. He felt the blood
heat his cheeks. “How are you?”

“
Good.” She said the word
softly, her eyes darting to the dark-haired woman beside her with a
clearly pleading look on her face.

“
You two know each other?”
Brockman asked, and Fin heard the suspicion in his
words.

She stepped back again, the
movement one he recognized as a fear reaction.

His gut twisted. She was
still frightened of him, then. Just like six years ago. She slid
half behind Brockman, her action shouting to him that she viewed
the other man as safety. And viewed him as a threat. Drs. Ed and
Brockman moved closer to her side, a move that told him much about
their team.

So many years later and she
still managed to make him feel like the lowest form of bastard. He
stepped back, deliberately relaxing his body, trying to convey
non-threatening signals. He didn’t want her frightened of him
anymore. She didn't deserve that.

Her gaze jumped to the
prosthetic protruding from his right sleeve. She released a small
sound, her eyes stricken. Fin doubted anyone had missed it. He
turned away, not wanting to make her any more uncomfortable than he
already had. He owed her that much. And so much more.

Fin turned to Ed and
nodded, the signal to begin.

“
Please. Everyone have a
seat. Files have been provided for each of you.” The older Ed led
the way to the table near the front of the room. “I’ll be blunt.
This wasn’t my idea; it came from much higher than me, than this
field office. Funding is iffy at this point; we’re in severe
competition with the Counterintelligence Division. If we can’t
prove a success, we’re losing both Hellbrook’s and Brockman’s
sections, plus half of the rest of the division. Agents will be
reassigned to more mainstream units around the country. It’s up to
the ten of you to make this work.”

Nobody responded. Everyone
paid attention. Fin felt the tension thicken around the room’s
occupants.

“
Sir, I can understand why
Agent Brockman and Agent Hellbrook were chosen, but what about the
rest of us?” Angel asked.

“
I’ve carefully reviewed
backgrounds, performance reviews, and psychological evals—even on
Georgia, my own daughter—you’ve all got exactly what I need to make
this work. All of you will bring something unique to the table. I’m
telling you, we’re all on the line here.”

“
What will our purpose
be?” Brockman stood behind his two female agents, one hand resting
on each woman’s shoulder. Their teammate Royal sat to the left of
Ed’s daughter. Their manner all shouted closeness to
Fin.

“
Crime syndicates, acts of
terrorism, serial killers, child abductions, all of it. Whatever
and whenever a special request is made, I want this division to be
able to pull from any unit and form a team more capable of solving
the case quickly than just a regular field investigation team, more
quickly than any team in any of the other fifty-plus field offices.
I want St. Louis to stand out,” Ed said. “Once the trial period is
over, you’ll basically go back to your original units or teams,
with very minor changes. But this year is a proving ground for the
entire new division. If it fails, every one of you is gone,
reassigned anywhere. Probably in locations other than St. Louis. If
it works—we’ll have a division that is ready at the drop of a hat,
skilled, prepared, and trained in rapid responses to any situation.
And I do mean any, from computer crimes to white collar—to
complex.”

“
So what do you want us to
do?” The daughter flipped open her file.

Fin watched Hellbrook watch
the daughter, a derisive light in his eyes. They’d prove to be a
problem, he just knew it. Hellbrook’s redhead watched everyone,
wide-eyed. Fin didn’t think he’d even heard the young woman speak;
she couldn’t be more than a year fresh from the academy. Armitage
and Angel spoke almost exclusively to each other. Ramirez and Royal
hadn’t spoken at all. Brockman still stood sentinel over his female
agents. Hellbrook’s eyes kept returning to Dr. Ed, much like a
magnet. Fin found that interesting.

And then there was
Anastacia.

He’d never forgotten her,
though they’d only worked together for five months. She’d been
fresh from the academy then, probably as young as Hellbrook’s
redhead.

He wondered if it was the
trauma they’d experienced together or the results of that night in
the storage closet that made him remember her so clearly. Or made
her fear him so deeply.

He wondered if she’d let
him apologize.

He reiterated an old vow to
do just that the instant he got a chance. He’d waited this long,
he’d not miss his chance. Even if he had to corner her.
Again.

***

Ana barely heard the
director’s words, her mind instead focused on the past. And on Fin
McLaughlin. He’d changed in the years since she’d seen him last.
His hair was shorter, still as dark, the color of the most
expensive coffee. His eyes weren’t the warm brown she remembered.
They were cold, clouded. He’d smiled a lot during their short stint
as partners, though she knew he’d not been happy having her
assigned to him. She’d been a liability, he’d told her; in the end,
he’d been right. She’d cost him his arm…

Other Titles

By

Calle J. Brookes

Paranormal

The Blood King
(Dardanos)

Awakening the Demon’s Queen
(Dardanos)

The Healer’s Heart
(Dardanos)

Once Wolf Bitten
(Dardanos)

Live or Die
(Dardanos)

The Seer’s Strength
(Dardanos)

The Warrior’s Woman
(Dardanos)

The Dardanos, Co. Omnibus:
5-In-1 (Dardanos)

Romantic
Suspense

Watching (PAVAD)

Wanting (PAVAD)

Calle Jaye Brookes is first
and foremost a fiction writer. She enjoys crafting paranormal
romance and romantic suspense. She reads almost every genre except
horror. In her day job she is a fiction content editor for an
epublisher that opened in 2011. She spends most of her time
juggling family life and writing, while reminding herself that she
can’t spend all of her time in the worlds found within books. Calle
Jaye loves to be contacted by her readers via email and at
www.CalleJBrookes.Wordpress.com