Chapter 37

"I'm telling you,Jake, it was like Jekyll and Hyde. He practically threw me out of there after mentioning Meredith. Something's off."

Jake clutched his phone to his ear. "You brought up Meredith?"

"No, Dvita did, but that's not the point. I wasn't trying to dispute his competence. I mean we witnessed him break through to Claire on a level I didn't know existed, but he was so defensive today. He told me I'd need a warrant if I want to see Claire's tapes. I think he's hiding something."

Jake pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd been excited when he saw Dana's name on his caller ID. He'd take any excuse to ignore the mountain of paperwork that had piled up on his desk in his absence, but Dana hadn't taken a breath in nearly ten minutes.

"Dana, last night you thought Claire was the D.C. Reaper. Now you're telling me it's Dvita?"

"The D.C. Reaper? Did the story break?"

"Not yet, but I got a heads up that the Post has it. NSA issued a gag order, but based on the buzz at HQ, it's only a matter of time before somebody runs with it."

"Is Claire implicated?"

"Right now, you know as much as I do, which is pretty much nothing."

"What about Jenkins?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to avoid her considering she hasn't cleared me from leave yet. She'd be pissed if she heard I was still sniffing around this."

"What else have you learned?"

"Not much. Mostly that I'm not the only one with no love for Hayes. Maybe this was him getting what he deserved. With any luck the DOJ will prove this was an isolated event. The best we can hope for is Claire witnessing it was just collateral damage. If that's the case, we'll get her the help she needs to move on."

"I don't think it's that simple, Jake. I think Dvita knows something he's not telling us about what happened to Hayes. Either that or he's covering up something even deeper. He was a completely different person today. I don't know how else to explain it."

"Dana, I mean this in the best way, but when you're trying to prove a theory, you're like a dog with a bone. It can rub some people the wrong way."

"So, you're saying it's my fault his personality did a 180?"

"I don't know, Gray. The guy spends his life studying nut jobs. It's bound to rub off." Jake regretted the words the moment they were out of his mouth, but the sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line told him Dana had taken his comment to heart.

"And I spend my life studying death. What does that make me?"

"Dana. You know I didn't mean it like that." He exhaled his frustration. "Forgive me if I'm being short. Being back here, dredging up questions about Hayes, it's got me on edge, but I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"It's fine."

But the tightness in her voice told him it was anything but. "Hey, why don't I pick up lunch and meet you both at the Smithsonian when you're done?"

"That's not a good idea. After what happened with Sadie there, I worry being back would be a difficult reminder for Claire."

"Okay, then why don't you both come here. We can order in."

Her voice pitched with surprise. "To the J. Edgar Hoover Building?"

Jake didn't know why she was saying it like that. Dana had been to his office dozens of times when they were working a case. "Yeah. Why not? I'll leave visitor badges downstairs."

"You're not even supposed to be there. How are you going to get us in?"

Jake sighed. "Dana, I've worked here a long time. Can you give me some credit?"

"I don't know if it's a good idea to bring Claire somewhere people are talking about what happened to Hayes."

"What else are you going to do? Go home and put her under house arrest? She's not a child, you can't babysit her forever."

"I know that, Jake."

He couldn't ignore the strain in her voice. "Hey, I know you're just trying to protect Claire. That's what I want, too. We're on the same team, Dana."

"I know. She's just been through so much and I don't know how to help her. I hate feeling useless."

Jake avoided looking at the folders of cold cases stacked on his desk. He knew the feeling of helplessness all too well. "We've gotta keep the faith. It hasn't even been 48 hours."

"You always say the first 48 hours are the most important."

Of course Dana's beautiful mind would conjure up Jake's words to use against him. But she wasn't wrong. Statistically, the likelihood of finding new evidence in cases like these plummeted after the 48-hour window closed. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been fighting his own impulses as he watched the clock the past day and a half.

"I just wish there was something more we could do."

Jake knew the familiar drive all too well. The hum of his senses honing in on details that didn't quite fit. The thrill of finding that needle in a haystack. Some of his most vital leads started out as hunches, and when those hunches led to cold hard evidence, well, there was nothing quite like chasing that high.

It's part of what kept him at the Bureau this long. Jake was good at his job. He possessed instincts that couldn't be taught, instincts that solved cases and saved lives. But he'd seen those same instincts in Dana. She viewed the world differently than anyone he'd ever met, and her endless intellect in all things dark and otherworldly made her a natural. That's why telling her to ignore this hunch felt wrong, even if he was doing it for the right reasons.

"Sometimes part of this job is knowing when it's out of your hands," Jake said. "We have to trust the DOJ will get the job done. In the meantime, I need to shift my focus to keeping my word to Wade."

"Have you had any luck?"

"You mean tracking down a ghost?" Jake huffed a bitter laugh. "Not exactly."

Jake hadn't even started, choosing to procrastinate with backlogs and paperwork rather than opening the wound that searching for his father would inflict.

Claire and Dana helped with a preliminary search, but he'd known it wouldn't result in any real leads. If Adam Miller was that easy to find, Jake would've tracked the deadbeat down years ago to give him a piece of his mind.

"Jake." Dana's voice pulled him from his spiraling thoughts. "You're right. We're a team. Leave the visitor passes. We'll be at your office as soon as Claire's finished here."