CHAPTER SEVEN

Emelia didn’t even realize that it had been twenty-four hours since she’d been taken. Walking into the bureau offices, she was surprised that it was already mid-afternoon the following day.

With a herd of mammoths behind her, everyone stopped, standing to watch as she made her way toward Frank’s office.

“Emelia,” he whispered, standing from his desk. “Shit, we’ve been looking for you.”

“Looking for me? Why didn’t you go to the house you sent me to?” she snapped. Chief, Hex, and Sebastian stared at her. That’s their girl.

“We did,” frowned Frank. “We went to the house I told you to go to.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head, looking at her friends and family. “What was the address you guys went to? Where did you find me? I wasn’t paying attention.”

“We went 18233 Cranberry Cove,” said Leif.

“That wasn’t the address,” said Frank. “The house I sent you to was 987 Crabapple.”

“Damn. They moved me. How did they move me?” she muttered.

“You’re not that big, Em. It wouldn’t take much to drag you to a car,” said Major. “Did you find anything at the other house?”

“Nothing. There weren’t any clothes, nothing to identify the owners. We found Emelia’s car out front, but that was all. Em, Tara, and Cord didn’t make it. They knocked on the front door, and it appears they were both shot right there on the porches of the homes. Neighbors heard the shots but nothing else.”

“Why didn’t they shoot me?” she whispered. “Why let me live?”

“I don’t know,” said Frank, shaking his head. “This just went from armed bank robbery to murder. We’ve got dozens of teams looking for them now.”

“Wait. They knew me. The woman, she said she knew who I was. She named my sisters, my father, and my grandfather. How would she know all that?”

All eyes turned to a very nervous Frank, who was shaking his head.

“I swear that I haven’t said anything to anyone. Even Tara and Cord didn’t know about your family. I have no clue how anyone would know.”

Emelia took a seat, rubbing her temples. She had a vicious headache from whatever the old woman had given her in her tea.

“Baby, what do you need?” asked Sebastian.

“Can someone go ask Helen for some aspirin and a soda? She keeps them in her desk.”

“Helen’s not here today,” said Frank. “She said she had a family emergency and is headed to New York to see her son.”

Emelia froze, slowly looking up at everyone. Sebastian stared at her, knowing that expression. The others just waited.

“She doesn’t have a son in New York. Her son is in Ireland, and her daughter is in California. She never takes off. Never takes off to see them because they don’t invite her to see them.”

“Maybe he moved or something. I don’t think it means anything,” said Frank.

“Are you fucking with me right now?” growled Hex. “You’ve got a mature woman working your front desk who lies about a family emergency on the same day that Emelia is kidnapped and two other agents are shot. Wake up!”

“Don’t fucking come in here and yell at me! I’m in charge here, not you.”

“I can fix that,” said Chief. Frank stared at him, then back at Emelia. He knew who they were, and he knew that they could make one call and have him removed from his position.

“Fine. I don’t know much about Helen. She’s nice to everyone, says hello, runs errands when we need it. That’s about all I can tell you.”

“She’s worked here for almost thirty years,” said Emelia, staring at him. “That woman has worked here thirty years, and you know nothing about her. There’s no telling how many other agents have died because of something she knew, said, or did. She just said to me that I was the only person who ever asked about her.”

“That’s why she didn’t have you shot,” said Chief. “Your kindness kept you alive, honey.”

“Yes, but their indifference may have killed them. Tara and Cord were good agents, just always head down.”

“We’re all like that,” frowned Frank.

“Not all,” said Sebastian, staring at Emelia. She smiled at him then stood, looking down at Frank.

“I’m going to find them, and when I do, it will be my last case for the bureau. I won’t break any rules or laws but stay out of my way.” He had nothing more to say as she left the room, each man bigger than the last following her until it was just Chief and Hex.

“Just for clarification,” said Hex, “we didn’t promise to not break any rules or laws.”

At the desk of Helen, Emelia rifled through the drawers, files, and folders looking for something that would give her an explanation.

“I don’t get it,” said Emelia. “She was here every single day. She wore professional attire without it being expensive, and she drove a car that was seven years old. She didn’t take expensive vacations or trips. Nothing.”

“Where does she live?” asked Forrest.

“Near Falls Church, I think,” said Emelia. “I was never at her home, but we talked about things like where she shopped, went to the movies, that sort of thing. It was always in the area of Falls Church.”

“We’ll see if we can find an address,” said Brix.

“Honey?” said Chief, turning to her with an envelope in his hand. In Helen’s handwriting was her name on the front. She took the envelope and opened it, finding the letter inside.

I’m sorry, Emelia. I really like you, and you’ve always been kind to me. That’s why you’re alive and the others are not. As you can imagine, you won’t see me again. Don’t try to find me. I can’t promise I won’t shoot if you do. Our reasons don’t matter any longer for what we did. Just know that it was necessary.

“Necessary? How is killing two agents necessary?” frowned Emelia.

“I don’t know, babe, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Let’s find her address and let’s dig in and see if we can make connections to other retirees of the bureau. Helen might have made a few helpful friends over the years.”

Emelia nodded as they walked toward the elevator banks. She pushed the button and then turned to her friends and family.

“Alright, but if that old woman comes near me with a gun, she’s going to realize just how unfriendly I can be.”