AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We don’t know if it’s a boy yet,” the Boss pointed out.
“True, but come on,” Michael said. “It’s a boy.”
The Boss sighed. “Yes, probably. But we’re going to do our jobs and not assume anything.”
“Of course,” Faith agreed. “Cause of death for Samantha?”
“Same as for Cassidy.”
“Lovely,” Michael said. “Why is it always girls?”
“It’s not,” the Boss said. “But for this guy, it probably is.”
“A better question is why does he strip them of clothing if there’s not a sexual component?” Faith asked. “Or does the sexual component not require sexual release?”
“I mean… well, we don’t have to get into gory details just yet,” Michael deflected. “Anything else we don’t know that we should, Boss?”
“Yes. You’re taking a private flight to Chicago.”
Faith lifted her eyebrow. “We’re not flying coach?”
“No. I’m using some of the field office’s surplus to pay for a charter plane to O’Hare. You’re too much of a celebrity for us to put you on an airplane.”
Faith shrugged. “I mean, I still go to the convenience store without getting mobbed by the press.”
“Yes, but the Bureau thinks it’s too risky to have you in public. They didn’t want me to give you this case at all, but I ignored them and just found workarounds to take their excuses away.”
Faith frowned. “They’re still blaming me for the media circus surrounding West’s trial.”
“No. But they’re still pissed about it. Not to be an asshole, Faith, but they have a point, too. We’re not the CIA, but it still helps if our field agents aren’t celebrities. I know you’re not Margot Robbie, but enough people know your name and face to make it a liability to have you in the field.”
“But you’re still sending me to Chicago.”
“Because I don’t think the liability outweighs the benefits,” he said. “But you need to be aware that there are eyes on you. So you need to do things by the book this time. And you need to be prepared for heightened media attention if it comes to light that you’re working the case.”
“Meaning we need to try to keep it from coming to light,” Michael guessed.
“I don’t know if you can,” the Boss admitted, “but you need to be prepared to have flashing lights pointed in your face, and you need to find a way to tell them to fuck off without telling them to fuck off.”
Faith chuckled. “I can promise to be as polite as you are, sir.”
The Boss slumped slightly. “I was afraid you’d say that. Just tell them that you can’t discuss details of an active case. If they press you, feed them the usual bullshit. You’re following upon leads, you’ll provide more information once you’ve made an arrest, and so forth.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Michael offered. “Maybe we can use the attention to ask the public to help us out. I know that usually means a thousand pieces of crap info to get one nugget of gold, but that’ll give the locals something to do to keep them out of our way.”
The Boss looked Michael up and down. “By God, Prince, I think you just had a good idea.”
“That happens from time to time,” Michael said drily.
“Well, whatever you need to do, get it done as professionally as you can. We need a reason to keep you in the field, Bold. Otherwise, the decision will be taken out of our hands. Now get out of here. Go catch a bad guy.”
“Hey,” Faith protested. “That’s my catchphrase.”
“Well, here’s mine. Fuck off.”
Faith chuckled. “You got it, sir. When does our flight leave?”
"Soon. Go to the airport, and someone will meet you there with a sign."
