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Ten years had not removed the familiarity of the FBIfield office. The simple brick exterior, the well-maintained shrubs, the simplesidewalk that led from the parking lot to the front door…it felt as if she’dbeen here just last week. She supposed that didn’t say much about her life beforeprison. She’d spent so much time in this building that it truly had felt like asecond home.
She stepped through the entrance and realized that it allfelt the same. It felt like being welcomed home, like a much kinder andspiritual version of a visit from Lora. The morning sun shone through the largearc-shaped windows over the front entrance, gleaming off of the faux-marble floor.
God, she’d missed this.
It was a strange pain, though. Yes, she’d missed it andin that moment, there was an almost euphoric sense of returning to a completelydifferent home. But at the same time, she knew there were people within thesewalls who had assumed she was guilty—that she’d helped Samson kill his firstseveral victims and had only pretended to be diligently hunting him down. Itwould be interesting, she thought, to see how many of those people would seekher out to apologize.
She tucked this bit of resentment away, determined not tolet it eat at her. It would be difficult when she saw her Assistant Directorface to face, of course. She’d never felt that AD Mueller had done enough tomake sure she didn’t go to trial or to even make sure she stayed out of prison.
She headed for the front desk, feeling a bit like animpostor. She was dressed in the only sensible clothes she’d found stillresiding in her closet, having done a single load of laundry the night before.The button-down shirt didn’t fit as well thanks to her well-toned shoulders,and she didn’t miss the slacks at all during her time behind bars. But she thoughtshe looked professional enough.
She didn’t recognize the woman who was stationed there.This didn’t surprise Morgan at all; she’d been gone for ten years. Surely, lotsof personnel had changed. The girl at the front was young, no older thantwenty-five if Morgan had to guess.
“Hello,” the young woman said. “How can I help you?”
“Yes, I’m here to see…”
But she wasn’t sure how to finish it. Should she ask tospeak with her old director? Assistant Director Mueller was probably stillhere. If he wasn’t, Derik would have surely mentioned it during his brief visityesterday. But did she really want to see Mueller right away? They’d gottenalong fine for the most part, but he could be a hard-ass.
“I have an appointment with Special Agent Derik Greene,”she said.
“Of course,” the receptionist said, picking up thelandline phone. “Your name, please?”
“Morgan Cross.”
She saw no look of shock or recognition on the woman’sface as she punched in Derik’s extension. Morgan took this as a good sign. If apanel had been assembled regarding her getting to work on a case concerning theSeven Signs Killer, it was being kept private. That was good. The last thingshe wanted was for a dramatic return, all eyes on her. Especially when abouthalf of the agents had doubted her innocence when she’d been arrested.
Derik showed up just two minutes later. Morgan was not ashamedto admit that she was pleased to see the look of shock on his face.
“I really wasn’t sure if you’d come or not,” he said.
Morgan smiled wryly. “I wasn’t sure either.”
Derik nodded, his eyes scanning her over. “You lookdifferent today. Did you get a good night’s sleep?”
“Sure.” She wasn’t certain how to respond to the smalltalk. Derik had never resorted to such measures before. It didn’t seem like himat all. It made her wonder what the last ten years had been like for him. Whatthings had happened to him to cause such a change?
“You showed up at the perfect time,” he said as they tooka flight of stairs to the second floor. “The panel is assembled right now. Alead came through this morning. We just confirmed it about half an hour ago.”
“And who is on this panel?”
“AD Mueller, AD Yen, Special Agent Whitmore, and me.”
“Whitmore?” she asked. She didn’t recognize the name.
“He came in about two years ago. A transfer from theDallas office.”
“Does he know the Seven Signs case well?”
“Well enough, but he’s a bit of a savant about religious-themedmurders. Still, we know we need your expertise on this. The new team we’veassembled hasn’t been able to make any headway. We need someone who knows thiskiller inside and out. Whitmore is actually a little excited to meet you.”
“Did he think I was innocent when it all went down?” Shehated how bitter the question sounded, but it was already out before sheregretted saying it.
“I’m not sure. If I’m being honest, I’ve not been able tobring myself to ask him. I don’t know if I want to know the answer.Just…remember he wasn’t here at the time it went down, and he doesn’t know youat all.”
They came to the top of the stairs and Morgan nearly grewdizzy from the assault of emotion. She followed Derik down the familiarhallways, the memories flooding back as they walked. She tried not to let itaffect her, but it was difficult. It was like walking through a museum of herpast.
