Kiley tried to let go of her worry over the Abeds and refocus her thoughts. “We think it could be related to our shooter or the terrorist threat.”
A long silence filled the phone.
“I know you can’t tell me what you’re working on,” Taylor said, “but I assume you all got safely to your destination.”
Kiley smiled over Taylor’s not-so-subtle way of asking about Sean. “Yes, and Sean is fine.”
Kiley’s phone rang, and seeing Lancaster’s name, she quickly said good-bye to Taylor and answered.
“Just a friendly reminder that evidence is due here soon,” he stated plainly.
Exactly what she was afraid he’d say. “Unfortunately, it’s going to be late. I’m sorry, I—”
“I’m coming over to your office to pick it up,” he snapped.
“About that.” She inhaled a long breath of air laden with the caustic smell of jet fuel before having to explain. “I’m in Tacoma, Washington, and it’s with me.”
“What? Just what are you trying to pull here?” A sharp edge of anger tinged his tone.
She couldn’t let his irritation bother her, as she couldn’t do a thing about the problem right now. “I’m not trying to pull anything. We received a strong lead last night and had to immediately hop a plane. The notepad’s in our forensic lab, and the slugs and casing are with our firearms examiners. I’ll evaluate the phone as soon as I can and overnight it to you plus keep you updated on the forensics results.”
“This lead,” he said, sounding a little less mad, “care to share?”
She forced herself to sound positive and cheerful. “I can’t yet, but if it pans out and you’re cleared to be read in, I’ll call.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Any progress on your end?” she asked, making sure she didn’t sound like she was grilling him.
“It’s early stages yet. I did receive Firuzeh’s banking and credit card information. Nothing out of the ordinary. No large deposits or withdrawals in her checking account. But I’ll be tracking down a few recent charges on her credit card. I’ll let you know if they give me anything to go on.”
Thinking the call went better than could be expected, Kiley thanked him for his cooperation and battled the bitter wind whipping across the tarmac to open the car door. She grabbed her FBI windbreaker from her backpack and slid onto the passenger seat.
Sean closed the hatch, and she took comfort from their equipment piled high in the back as it made her feel more prepared. He jumped behind the wheel. Cam and Mack took the back seat. In minutes, Sean had them out of the base and on the road for the quick twenty-minute trip to the port.
He glanced at her. “When we reach the scene, do you wantme to get on the phone to our local office and arrange for a command center?”
“Perfect.” She smiled. “That’ll free me up to start assessing the port findings right off the bat.”
“What’s your plan in handling the JTTF agents when we get there?” Mack asked. “You thinking about including them in the investigation?”
She swiveled to face him. “Since we don’t know anything about them, I thought I’d play it by ear.”
He frowned. “Odds are good they won’t be happy with our interference.”
“Yeah,” she said. “It’s hard if fellow agents get their backs up when we all have the same goal in mind.”
“Having a reputation as the best usually opens doors, but it can also get in the way,” Sean said, and she knew he spoke from experience in leading investigations.
“Doesn’t help when some of us get cocky.” She eyed Cam.
He held up his hands. “Message received. I’ll tone it down.”
“At least until we establish our rapport with this team and decide on how we’ll handle their involvement.”
Sean took a longer look at her. “I’m glad you’re keeping your options open and not ruling out their help, but don’t let these guys play you.”
She crossed her arms. “Sounds like you don’t have a lot of confidence in my leadership ability.”
