Alliance – Chapter 16

When the door opened, a pair of untrusting blue eyes greeted Jackson.

“Can I help you?”

“Are you Skylar Montgomery?”

“I am.  What can I do for you?”

He flashed his badge.  “I’m Special Agent Caldwell.  Can I come in for a moment?  There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Of course,” she replied, opening the door wider for him to enter.

Jackson scanned the living room while she closed the door behind them.  He could have sworn he heard a male voice, but there was no evidence in the room to support that.  He waited for an invitation to sit, but received only a hostile glare from where she stood beside the door.

Yeah, this was going to be a fun one…

“Miss Montgomery, I’ve been assigned to the First Alliance robbery,” he began.

“I figured.  Why else would the FBI be at my door?”

Her tone matched the hostility in her eyes, so he tried to make his own sound soothing when he spoke.  “I understand you must be frustrated by the amount of time that’s gone by and I want to assure you I will do anything in my power to find Raptor and bring him to justice.”

Skylar laughed a mirthless laugh.  “You understand?  I am so glad I finally have someone assigned to the case who understands what it’s like to have your family ripped apart by a criminal.  Tell me, Agent Caldwell, what was the name of the man who murdered your father in cold blood?”

Jackson remained quiet.  He knew better than to interrupt her tirade.  He’d grown up with two sisters and this was nothing new to him.  Of course in this particular instance he couldn’t wait for her to become bored with the argument and stomp off to her room.

“Oh, I can tell from your silence that when you say you understand, you really mean you feel sorry for me.  You can save your pity for someone else because I don’t need it.  Why don’t you tell me why you’re really here?”

“Miss Montgomery, I’m here to tell you in person that I’m on this case and to find out if there is anything you feel I should know that may be useful to me in the investigation.”

“So, I take it you rushed over here to talk to me before bothering to read the files?”

This had to be Dinsley’s idea of a joke. A little advanced warning might have been nice. “No, I’m here because I’ve been doing this long enough to know not everything is always included in the files on a case. I’m here to make sure nothing you feel is important was left out of the official report.”

“Oh.  Well in that case…” The brunette regarded him for moment in silence before circling around him, her fingertips lightly grazing across his back as she moved.  Jackson watched as the anger from before gave way to a more playful look.  Skylar came to a stop in front of him and toyed with his tie, fingers tickling his neck in the process.

“What are you doing, Miss Montgomery?” Jackson asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

She moved in closer and rose to her tiptoes to bring her lips nearer to his ear, pressing her body against his in the process.  “You asked if there was anything I thought you should know.  I just wanted to see if you and I would be able to play nice and get along,” she whispered before she began to kiss his neck softly. “I can think of all sorts of ways to make your investigation more enjoyable for you. Just say the word.”

Her previous hostility would’ve been preferable to this.  Jackson was annoyed to be there on official business while she was apparently trying to seduce him.  Even if he wasn’t involved with Jenna, well sort of involved, he still wouldn’t have invited her advances. If nothing else, the bomb that struck his relationship with Jenna after she learned the truth about him had taught him not to mix his personal life with his cases.

It was just too bad it was a valuable lesson he’d been forced to learn more than once over the course of his career…

Jackson pushed her back gently and gathered her hands in his.   “I’m sorry, but I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

Skylar nodded and moved around the sofa to sit. She gestured for him to have a seat at the far end. “Good.  You and I will get along just fine then, Agent Caldwell.”

“Excuse me?” He sat down, trying to figure out if this was another game or sincerity.

“Let’s just say the last agent on this case spent more time trying to figure out how to get into my pants than he spent trying to figure out where Raptor was.  I just wanted to make certain I wouldn’t have the same problem with you.”

As if he’d really need to spend any time trying to figure that one out. Getting clothes off women was an art he’d perfected a long time ago.

“Unless you’ve got an address for Raptor or a map to the money in your pants, I don’t see the relevance in taking them off.”

“Of course.” She looked anything but convinced. “And you’re here because…why? To chat with me about the worst days of my life? A phone call might have been more appropriate. Besides, I have no idea what’s included in the file and what was left out.”

“And nothing strikes you about that day as more important than the rest?”

An odd mixture of emotions swam through her eyes. She closed them and took a breath before answering, “I’m told the 911 emergency response was a little sluggish that day, which is probably why my father bled out before anyone could get to him.” With obvious effort, she opened her eyes, revealing anger and hatred within. “I think it’s important that the shot wasn’t an instant kill shot, meaning he suffered before he died.”

“I didn’t mean to bring up…”

“Your very existence in my living room is a reminder that my father’s dead and the man who murdered him is still out there because your office couldn’t catch him. I don’t need a reminder, Agent Caldwell. I wake up every morning, and sometimes in the middle of the night, feeling the loss as though it just happened.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Good.  That’s the first productive thing you’ve said since flashing your badge. Maybe you’re actually sorry enough to do something about it. All of the agents and police officers were just around to follow their little investigation checklist, but none of them were sorry.”  She turned her attention to her folded hands in her lap. “Now, I have a very full evening planned and I have quite a bit to do before then.  Be a dear and let yourself out.”

Jackson stood up.  “I’ll be in touch, Miss Montgomery.”

She didn’t look up. “I expect so.”

Jackson left without another word.  The thought entered his head that this was just the sort of thing his last partner, Collin, would love to hear about.  Too bad he was dead.

Another regret…

Once the initial slap in the face of thinking about Collin’s death wore off, something else occurred to him.  Dinsley alluded to the fact he’d previously worked this case.  Was it even possible the conservative man who was his new partner was the same man Skylar just referred to?

If Dinsley was more interested in Skylar than solving the case, Jackson knew he would have to keep a close eye on his partner.  It was the least logical answer, but it was the only one he had that made any sense.  Besides, Dinsley certainly wasn’t giving him any answers.

Why else would he request this cold case?

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