“My door is always open,” Providence said before leaving.
Brit waited while the IT director set up her new laptop. Not long after, a woman walked in and folded into a conference room chair. Her strawberry blonde hair was cut bluntly at the chin. Her thick dark eyebrows were slashed down. She wore an attractive bright blue pant suit, but no smile.
“I’m Karen, your mentor.”
“Oh, okay,” Brit forced a smile.
“Were you expecting someone else?”
“I assumed I’d have Addison.”
“She was mine, but I ditched her. I really wanted Hawk, but he couldn’t do it.”
Steeling her spine, Brit said, “Addison is my sister.”
“It’s probably better not to have family,” Karen said. “You’d probably fight all the time. I know how sisters can be.”
Rather than push back or defend her relationship with Addison, Brit said nothing.
“Britain, you’re all set,” said the IT Director. “I’m here if you have questions or run into computer glitches.” He left the conference room.
Karen introduced her to most everyone on the in-house Internet Team, then introduced her to several Ops. Following that, Karen took her to lunch. They grabbed carry-out, ate in the conference room where Karen talked about the cases she’d been working, along with some of her missions.
Brit didn’t mind that Karen was long-winded. The more she talked, the more Brit learned about the country’s best-kept secret.
Karen beamed. “I’ve been given a high-profile case.”
“That’s great,” Brit replied. “I can help you with whatever you need.”
“Oh, this is way too senior for you. What’s your background?”
“DEA, then a special task force for the past year.” That was all she was going to say about the year she spent as a sniper for Z.
“You can help me with myothercases, but I’m handling the Alphabet Killer case solo.”
“That’s an active-threat case,” Brit said.
“The killer struck again. His fourth victim in, like, nine weeks. The whole town is buzzing. People are freaking out.”
That’s not good.
She was surprised Karen was so nonchalant about the case. If that had been hers, she’d have been all over it. Clues and evidence on a white board. Collaborating with other Ops, whatever it took to double down and catch the monster.
“What letters?” Brit asked.
“I’ve been told to keep that a secret. Just brass, and me, of course.”
Brit fought the urge to roll her eyes. She’d never worked cases in a vacuum. Nothing got solved that way. She loved the team approach. The more skilled eyes working a case, the better chance they had of solving it.
“Do you have any suspects?” Brit pushed. “Anyone you’re bringing in for questioning?”
“Not yet.”
Karen—who shared an office with Slash—spent the afternoon updating Brit on her other cases. Because space at HQ was tight, Brit had to sit at Karen’s desk.
“I’m headed to an offsite meeting,” Slash said to Brit. “Use my desk.” After Brit moved into Slash’s chair, Slash tapped the earbud case on her desk. “You’re welcome to use these. They’re noise cancelling.” With an arched brow, Slash directed her attention toward Karen who was busy on her computer.
Brit acknowledged her with a nod.
