If She Knew. Блейк Пирс

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      “Well, like I said, I’m retired.”

      “And who sent you? I’ll need their name and contact information and then they have to fill out a request to get you the information.”

      “I was really hoping to step over all of the legalities.”

      “I can’t help you, then,” the woman said.

      Kate wondered how far she could push it. If she went too hard, someone would surely notify Clarence Greene and that could be bad. She racked her brain, trying to think of another course of action. She could only come up with one and it was much riskier than what she was currently attempting.

      With a sigh, Kate gave a curt, “Well, thanks anyway.”

      She turned on her heel and walked back out of the office. She was a little embarrassed. What the hell had she been thinking? Even if she did still have her bureau ID, it would be unlawful for the Richmond PD to give her any information without approval from a supervisor in DC.

      It was beyond humbling to walk back out to her car with such an absolute feeling—the feeling of being a basic civilian.

      But a civilian who hates to take no for an answer.

      She took out her phone and placed a call to Deb Meade. When Deb answered, she still sounded tired and far away.

      “Sorry to bother you, Deb,” she said. “But do you have a name and address for the ex-boyfriend?”

      As it turned out, Deb had both.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      While Kate did not have her old bureau ID, she did still have the last badge she had ever owned. It was propped up on the mantel over her fireplace like some relic from another time, no better than a faded photograph. When she left the Third Precinct station, she headed back home and scooped it up. She thought long and hard about also taking her sidearm. She looked longingly toward the M1911 but left it where it was in her bedside drawer. Taking it with her for what she had planned would be asking for trouble.

      She did decide to take the handcuffs she kept in a shoebox under the bed with a few other treasures from her career.

      Just in case.

      She left her house and headed for the address Deb had given her. It was a place in Shockoe Bottom, a twenty-minute drive from her home. She was not nervous as she made the drive but she did feel a sense of excitement. She knew she should not be doing this, but at the same time, it felt good to be out and on the hunt again—even if it was in secret.

      Just as she reached the address of Julie Hicks’s former boyfriend, a guy named Brian Neilbolt, Kate thought about her husband. He popped up in her head from time to time but sometimes he seemed to pop up and sort of settle in for a while. That happened as she turned onto the destination street. He could see him shaking his head in frustration.

      Kate, you know you shouldn’t be doing this, he seemed to say.

      She grinned thinly. She missed her husband fiercely sometimes, a fitting contrast to the fact that she sometimes felt she had managed to move on from his death rather quickly.

      She shook the cobwebs of those memories away as she parked her car in front of the address Deb had given her. It was a rather nice house, split into two different apartments with porches separating the properties. When she got out of the car she could tell right away that someone was home because she could hear someone speaking very loudly inside.

      When she climbed the porch stairs, she felt as if she had taken a step back in time, about one year ago. She felt like an agent again, despite the lack of the firearm on her hip. Still, being that she was in all actuality a retired agent, she had no idea what she would say after she knocked on the door.

      But she didn’t let that stop her. She knocked on the door with the same authority she would have one year ago. As she heard the loud talking inside, she figured she’d stick with the truth. Lying in a situation that she was already not supposed to be a part of would only make things worse if she was caught.

      The man who answered the door took Kate a little off guard. He was about six feet three inches and was absolutely jacked. His shoulders alone showed that he worked out. He could have easily passed for a professional wrestler. The only thing that betrayed that façade was the anger in his eyes.

      “Yeah?” he asked. “Who are you?”

      She then made a move that she had missed very much. She showed him her badge. She hoped the sight of it would carry some weight to counter her introduction. “My name is Kate Wise. I’m a retired FBI agent. I was hoping you could speak with me for a few moments.”

      “About what?” he asked, his words quick and snappy.

      “Are you Brian Neilbolt?” she asked.

      “I am.”

      “So your ex-girlfriend was Julie Hicks, correct? Formerly Julie Meade?”

      “Ah shit, this again? Look, the fucking cops already hauled me in and interrogated me. Now the feds, too?”

      “Rest assured, I’m not here to interrogate you. I just wanted to ask some questions.”

      “Sounds like an interrogation to me,” he said. “Besides, you said you’re retired. Pretty sure that means I don’t have to do anything you ask.”

      She pretended to be hurt by this, looking away from him. In reality, though, she was looking over his massive shoulders and the space behind him. She saw a suitcase and two backpacks leaning against the wall. She also saw a sheet of paper sitting on top of the suitcase. The large logo identified it as a printout of an Orbitz receipt. Apparently, Brian Neilbolt was leaving town for a while.

      Not the best scenario for when your ex-girlfriend had been murdered and you had been taken in and then immediately released by the police.

      “Where are you headed?” Kate asked.

      “None of your business.”

      “Who were you talking to so loudly on the phone before I knocked?”

      “Again, none of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

      He went to close the door, but Kate persisted. She stepped forward and wedged her shoe between the door and the frame.

      “Mr. Neilbolt, I’m only asking for about five minutes of your time.”

      A wave of fury passed through his eyes but then seemed to subside. He hung his head and for a moment, she thought he looked sad. It was similar to the look she had seen on the faces of the Meades.

      “You said you’re a retired agent, right?” Neilbolt asked.

      “That’s right,” she confirmed.

      “Retired,” he said. “Then get the fuck off of my porch.”

      She stood resolute, making it clear that she had no intention of going anywhere.

      “I said get the fuck off of my porch!”

      He nodded and then reached out to push her. She felt the force of his hands when they struck her shoulder СКАЧАТЬ