Chapter One
“Do you know what this meeting is about?” Detective Warren looked around the FBI conference room expectantly, hoping any of the other officers would know the answer.
“No but it’s got to be big to call an emergency meeting.” Joe leaned back in his chair as he sipped his second cup of coffee of the morning. In the otherwise empty room, a handful of men were grouped together. The walls were a crisp white, the surroundings almost hospital like. But it was far from the clean white sterile environment of a hospital.
“Do you think there was a break with the terrorist ties to Kuli Samid?” George’s voice was hopeful. George was the resident International Terrorist specialist. There were at least four of the agents that worked in the office that worked in that specialized field. “I have been trying to make a break in that case for months now. Right now I would be happy to just be able to disrupt their activities, at least that would stop the money flow.”
“You will get him, but I don’t think this is about Samid. I heard there was a kidnapping in Virginia.” Warren didn’t look up as he spoke, continuing to shuffle through some of the files he brought with him to look through during the meeting. Life in the FBI was always full of work, and even when multitasking there was never enough time to do it all.
As soon as Denise stepped into the room, all the conversations dropped to a whisper, and every eye was on her. Any other woman would have felt a little intimidated, become a little withdrawn. Perhaps even felt a little awkward. The only thing the blank stares did for Denise was piss her off even more. Skipping her morning coffee had not put her in a good mood and this unwelcome feeling she was getting was just making her day so much more fun. She glared at the men defiantly, her blue eyes sparkling with a silent challenge.
Working for the FBI was still primarily a man’s world, she knew that, but she had not anticipated the outright unfriendliness. She was petite compared to the average height of the men around her. In a land of six foot giants, she was a dwarf. A mere five foot five. In good shape from hours of working out and years of martial arts made her confident that she could take any one of them on in a fight. That knowledge helped her walk with a kick to her step. She knew as many of the moves as they did, if not more. Her body was in excellent shape and she didn’t attribute that to her rigorous workout routine.
Her nerves that forced her to keep in shape, when she got nervous or worried, she couldn’t sit still. She had to keep moving all the time. Exercising helped to burn up the energy and relax her. Ultimately it kept her sane. It was why she chose such a physical job to begin with.
She hid her nervous nature. She had always been strong and today, with twenty two pairs of strange men’s eyes on her would be no exception. She belonged here as much as anyone of them did. She graduated from the academy with honors at the head of her class, and being only one of two women in her class, she was damned proud of that fact.
Denise looked around the tables before walking up to a seat up front. She refused to go hide in the back of the room and sat down next to a blonde gentleman with a military style haircut dressed in a black business suit and tie. She smiled at him briefly before turning her attention to the empty chair at the head of the board room.
How long was this going to take? Long meetings, filing, paperwork, this was the one thing she didn’t enjoy about being in the law enforcement field, but it was a necessary part of this world and the foundation of a good prosecution. Nothing had ever given her so much satisfaction as this line of work. It didn’t happen everyday, but there were days she knew she made a difference. After 6 years with the Cincinnati police she finally made the cut for the FBI.
In a whirl of papers, the group of chattering men dispersed to quickly find their seats before their leader took his place behind his desk. Victor De La Cruz was the director in charge of the satellite offices for the Cincinnati field office. He was the one who had interviewed her for the field office here.
The room quickly became silent and attentive waiting for Victor to address the room. He had a commanding manner about him that made everyone look to him for guidance, whether he was officially in charge or not.
“Okay boys and girls, as you may have heard or not, we have had a kidnapping in the Virginia area.” He began to hand a packet of papers around to the room. “Please take one and pass it on. Inside you will find a complete report on the suspect and the vehicle he was last known to be traveling in. A black mustang convertible. ”
Agent Jeff Bryant was the first to comment, “I heard about this guy on the news yesterday.”
“Well, he has crossed the state line and he is headed this way. The authorities in Virginia have contacted us for our cooperation. It appears he has family in the area, a mother and an aunt, and may be headed this way. I want our agents to interview the family and possibly the neighbors. I need four volunteers.”
Denise was one of the first to raise her hand. This would be a good break from her usual assignment in International Terrorism. If there was anything she could do, she needed to try, and this was the kind of opportunity she could never turn down. This was why she joined the force to begin with. She wouldn’t be able to sleep without knowing she tried.
“Larry, George, Shawn, and Jeff. Denise you will partner with Jeff as a new agent. I will need you to go out this morning and do the interviews.” Victor cleared his throat before continuing. “By the way everyone, Denise is our newest agent and I want you to make her feel at home here. We are lucky to have her. She worked for six years for the Cincinnati police and is trained in hostage negotiations.”
There was an eruption of murmured welcomes and hellos, but Denise didn’t mistake the sounds for being friendly, even as she smiled back.