"Not anymore. It started ringing when Agent Lawson was in my apartment. He figured out it was hers. He said he could arrest me for obstruction of justice."
"He could. Why didn't he?"
"I'm not sure. I told him about Landon, how I was sure my brother's death wasn't an accident. I don't know if that touched him in some way, or if he just thinks I might provide a future lead because I'm going to dig into why Sabrina wanted to talk to me. He said he wants to work together, but if I don't cooperate, he can still take me in."
"Then you should cooperate."
"I will, but if you can help me at all, I'd appreciate it. I'm happy to pay for your time."
Julia gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "No need. Your brother's death never sat well with me. If I can help you now, I would love to do that."
"Before yesterday, I'd given up on finding out what happened to Landon, but now there's a whole new trail to follow."
"A dangerous trail," Julia reminded her with a serious expression on her face. "If the killer saw you at the park, you could be in danger, Haley. You need to act like you have no idea what's going on. And you might want to look into hiring security."
"I can't afford that."
"I can probably find someone who won't cost you a fortune," Julia said.
"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for a long time. I'll be smart."
"Smarter than you were last night when you met a stranger in a deserted park?" Julia asked, with a pointed smile.
"I shouldn't have done that," she admitted. "But I was so curious, so desperate to get information, I took the risk."
"You were lucky. You might not be that lucky again. Your desperation makes you a target. You can't fall for someone else telling you they can help you. You can't trust anyone."
"Except you," she said.
"Right. Except me," Julia said, offering her a brief smile. "I'll make some calls. If I find out anything, I'll let you know."
She let out a breath as Julia got up and walked away, happy to have someone on her side.
Sipping her coffee, she checked her watch. She still had time before she needed to get to work. Picking up her phone, she typed in Sabrina Lin. She'd started researching earlier in the morning, but the more she thought about the text message, the more she wanted to find the person who'd sent that text. She just needed to find someone at Sabrina's job or in her friend circle whose first or last name started withA. It wasn't much to go on, but she'd started with less before.
ChapterFour
Matt arrived at his new office shortly after his meeting with Haley Kenton. After parking in the underground garage of a nondescript building in Santa Monica that no one would suspect housed one of the FBI's most successful special units, he headed upstairs, where Flynn MacKenzie introduced him to a mix of agents, analysts, cyber techs, and support staff, mentioning that there were eight other agents working in the field on various cases or not currently in the office.
Everyone was welcoming and friendly, but also all business, which was fine with him. He had a murder case to solve. He'd spent time last night with Derek Blake, their chief tech. They'd gotten Haley Kenton's name and address but very little else. Now that he had Sabrina's phone, he hoped Derek could get it open and they could pick up a new lead.
It did appear that Sabrina's death could be connected to Landon Kenton, Haley's brother, but he also still wanted to know why Sabrina had called him. He hadn't found any connections between them. But they had to have someone in common, someone who would have given her his name, who would have told her to only trust him.
"Matt, you're here," Jason Colter said with a welcoming smile. "I heard you started last night. Homicide in the park. Way to hit the ground running."
"It's the only way I know how to hit the ground," he said dryly, happy to see one familiar face. He'd worked with Jason on a case about a year ago, before Jason had left the LA field office to work with Flynn's team. He'd always thought Jason was a smart, insightful, proactive agent who deserved all the accolades he'd been given. He'd also appreciated the fact that Jason had never wanted to trade on his family name to get ahead. He'd wanted to make his own path, away from the illustrious FBI careers of his father and grandfather.
"Have you met Agent Andi Hart?" Jason asked as a dark-eyed brunette sipping coffee joined them.
"We just did," Andi said. "I understand you two know each other from the LA office."
"Matt is one of the best," Jason said.
"I would assume so, since Flynn only hires the best," Andi said with a smile. "Speaking of Flynn, he wants us to meet in the conference room in ten minutes to get up to speed on your case, Matt."
"Great. I need to speak to Derek first. I'll see you in there."
After leaving them, he headed into the tech center, which was filled with the latest and greatest technology equipment that more than matched what was available in the LA Field Office. There were multiple monitors and servers humming, and what appeared to be enough computer power to break into any system.
