CHAPTER TWO
Rachel sat in the same chair she always sat in when she visited Director Anderson’s office. She’d lost count of how many times she’d used it over the course of her decade or so with the bureau. She’d had some tense meetings and brutal debriefs in this chair, but she’d never felt the insane amount of tension in the room as she did right now.
She knew what she was about to demand, and she would not waver from it. She was, in a very real way, about to play a high-stakes game of poker with him. She knew that Anderson already knew some of her cards but he didn’t know she was sick—that there was an inoperable tumor slowly invading her brain. That was her ace-in-the-hole. And if she played her hand right, she may just get what she wanted today without having to tell him.
“I appreciate you meeting with me, sir,” Rachel said.
“Of course. I know…well, I can understand how the past few days have been hard on you.”
“That’s good to hear. Because you know me, sir. I don’t waste time beating around the bush. And I suspect you already know why I’m here.”
Director Anderson nodded and steepled his fingers together on his desk. “Yes, I suppose I do. And quite frankly, I’m surprised it took you this long to come to me. All the same…I’d like for you to formally make the request.”
She wasted no time. Hell, she’d already wasted two days. “I want to be the one the bureau sends after Lynch. I know you haven’t already tasked an agent with it, and I want it.”
“Agent Gift, you know I can’t allow that.”
“No, I don’t. I know you think it’s a bad idea, but you can allow it.”
The subject rested between them like an invisible bomb—a bomb with the name of Alex Lynch. The man she’d put away years ago who had sharpened a grudge against her. A man who had somehow managed to taunt her and her family from within prison walls, including paying someone to deliver a dead squirrel and a threatening note into her daughter’s bedroom. And now a man who possessed the determination and tenacity to somehow escape from prison was moving around the state, free and on the roam.
“Well, here’s the thing,” Anderson said. “You’re right. I do think it’s a bad idea to let you anywhere near it. Your personal involvement with Alex Lynch makes you a very bad candidate for the job. And don’t you go thinking for a minute that I haven’t yet assigned anyone because I was waiting for you. It’s quite the opposite, in fact. The US Marshals Service is already involved on this. They’re on the hunt.”
“I figured they would be,” Rachel said. “Two days in and what results do they have?”
“They have a few leads, as a matter of fact. From what I was told this morning, they are following a trail that is leading them to Charlottesville. Lynch has a sick mother there, you know.”
“I do. And if you think a monster like Alex Lynch gives a damn about his ailing mother, you’re as sorely misled as the US Marshals Service. I know Lynch. I know him too well.”
“You know I can’t put you on this, Rachel.”
Using her first name…that said a lot. He felt for her. It showed her that Anderson wanted her on it, but knew it was a dead end. “Even if I ignored all instincts and signed you on to it, you know what would happen, right? As soon as the US Marshals run into you, they’ll block you at every turn.”
“Then I just won’t run into them.”
Anderson shook his head. “My answer is no. You’re too emotionally involved. The way he’s messed with your family over these last few weeks…I just can’t allow it.”
Rachel saw the dead squirrel in her daughter’s room, placed there by one of Lynch’s old friends. She recalled how upset her Grandma Tate had been when she’d gotten the letter from Lynch in the mail, informing her of Rachel’s diagnosis. Yes, she was emotionally attached to the case. Yes, she was taking it personally.
“So there’s nothing I can say to make you put me on this?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “I’m sorry, Rachel. But I can’t.”
She sighed, nodded, and got to her feet. “Then I’d like to put in for a leave of absence, effective immediately.”
The look on his face was not one of shock, as she’d expected, but befuddlement. If it were a game of poker, she’d just made a wager that he’d not been expecting. What he didn’t know, though, was that he could not make any sort of countermove. No upping the bet, no calling her bluff. Because she’d already made the decision.
Going after Alex Lynch would have been her last case. After that, she’d give her notice and live the last few healthy months she had with her family.
And if she wasn’t going to get Lynch, then she was done.
“Rachel…Agent Gift, what are you trying to do?”
“I’m not trying to do anything,” Rachel said. “But with Lynch out, there’s no way I’m going to be able to focus on anything else. So I’m going to spend time with my family until he’s caught. In the past five weeks, Lynch has had an effect on my daughter, my grandmother, and the overall safety of my family. So if I can’t go after Lynch, I’m taking the time to be with my family.”
Rachel studied Anderson’s face, trying to decide how he was feeling about this. There was scrutiny at first, as if he thought he might be getting played or manipulated. After a few seconds, he got to his feet and looked her directly in the eyes.
“What else is going on here, Gift?”