Page 13 of Forever Gone

“Then resend it and copy me directly.”

Selena climbed the steps. One concrete corner had crumbled away, exposing stone beneath.

“How’s the Washington field office doing without me?”

“Fine. Fine.”

“That sounded convincing.”

“We’re surviving. Tanya has been promoted in admin. She’s taken over questioning every expense request since Martha retired a few weeks ago, though she lacks patience.”

“Patience is overrated.”

Selena reached the doors but did not enter.

Meg lowered her voice. “Brent’s pining after you.”

Selena gave a small shake of her head. “He is not.”

“He’s been a real grump since you transferred away.”

“Brent’s a grump whenever he isn’t the center of attention.”

“He claims the office has lost its best investigator and its only tolerable lunch companion.”

“He eats at his desk.”

Selena rested her palm against the cool metal doorframe.

Meg said, “You two wouldn’t have been an item, would you? That would have been a problem.”

“Of course not.”

The denial came too quickly.

Brent Mayfield had been a colleague, an occasional mistake, and for several months something neither of them had bothered to define. They had seen each other a few times, usually when work left them too tired to make better decisions. But ever since her first case back in Elmsview, she had distanced herself from him.

Old news, at least to Selena.

The final weeks before her transfer had been different. Brent had called more often. He had offered to help pack. Once, in her apartment doorway, he had started a sentence with “I thought we might” and then changed the subject before finishing it.

Selena had let him.

Selena opened the door. The hinge gave a drawn-out squeal that echoed into the entrance hall.

“Before you go,” she said, “how’s the Morimer investigation?”

Meg did not answer at once.

Selena stepped inside and let the door swing shut behind her. The lobby had once held trophy cases on both sides. One remained; its glass filmed with grime and its shelves empty except for a tarnished plaque awarded to the 1987 girls’ basketball team. A coil of network cable sat on the floor beneath a federal security camera that had not yet been connected.

“He’s still under surveillance,” Meg said. “Financial team is tracing businesses tied to him. We have eyes on his known associates. So far, nothing we can move on.”

“For a man who runs most of the organized crime in Kentucky, he’s showing impressive restraint.”

“Men like Morimer don’t stay in business by panicking when law enforcement pays attention.”

“He knows he’s being watched,” Selena said.