“I should. It’s written on the bathroom wall with a phone number under it. For a good time call…”
He laughed hard, and she found herself laughing with him.
Rapp wasn’t laughing half an hour later when Jon Haversham planted his hands on Rapp’s desk and loomed over him. “It won’t take much to end this farce of a task force and your less than stellar career. You’re already on thin ice, Rapp. And you too, Jane. Now I’d like to hear an ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ or you’re both fired.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Jane hadno idea how they’d gone from questions to threats of being fired so fast.
The conversation had started out nicely enough.
Rapp asked about Haversham’s family, the move, how he’d liked Las Vegas, and then they’d chatted about people they both knew.
Jon Haversham had real presence. Tall and broad chested, with chestnut hair flecked with gray and a stern countenance that melted when he smiled. A handsome older man who projected confidence and sincerity.
When he’d first sat down to talk to Rapp, he’d been magnetic. But as Rapp’s questions continued, Haversham’s charm and affability faded. Fast.
“Fired, sir?” Rapp asked. “For what? For asking why the FBI would bury a case that should have been investigated and is now directly tied into our Code Blue Killer’s motives?”
“Exactly what are you implying?” Haversham asked.
Rapp continued to speak calmly. “I’m not implying anything. I’m asking questions. Why did the Harvester case go nowhere?”
“AgentRapp, I did my job in Las Vegas to the best of my ability.”
Jane didn’t understand his emphasis on Rapp’s title.
Haversham continued, “In no way did I bury the Harvester case. We had a lot of movement on the investigation you’re not privy to. Not that I need to answer to you.”
“You need to answer to someone.”
“Who the hell are you to take me to task?”
The questions around Haversham leaving Las Vegas hadn’t hurt him any. Hell, the guy had been promoted to ASAC of a major field office. Everyone here spoke his praises.
Trust Rapp to get under her boss’s boss’s skin.
Watching him stand up to Haversham told her things she hadn’t known about him, though.
Rapp didn’t buckle under the stern glare of authority. And he didn’t cave under threats.
“Just answer the question,sir.”
She picked up on the attitude, and so did Haversham.
But screw it. She hadn’t appreciated Haversham’s threat to fire her for doing her job either. She kept her voice even, unemotional, and stern. “Yeah,sir.Why did you bury the fact that the Harvester ring that you’d been investigating reached into Seattle? That’s the reason we’ve got the Code Blue Killer thinking he has to rectify the FBI’s apparent incompetence.”
Haversham’s angry glare bored into her, but she refused to back down, even though she saw Rapp subtly shaking his head at her from the corner of her eye. Apparently, only he was allowed to question authority.
“I see you’re learning a lot from Gunther. How to be insubordinate, how to insult your superiors, how to?—”
“Stick to the truth no matter where it takes me,” Jane said over him, aware she was likely kissing her career goodbye. “And for the record, I workwith,notfor,Agent Rapp.”
Rapp blew out a breath. “Look, sir, you’re missing the point. The rumors that Kaminski was involved with the Harvesters was a closely guarded secret, but I saw the case files.”
“They were buried.”
“Not deep enough,” Jane muttered and quickly closed her mouth when Haversham glared at her.
