The collection girls emi.., p.23
The Collection Girls (Emily Slate FBI Mystery Thriller Book 2),
p.23
“Slate, this is Calhoun down in tech services. I’ve got that item you requisitioned.”
My heart lurches to my throat. It had been so long I’d pushed it to the back of my mind. “I’ll be right down.” I hang up and glance over at Zara. “Psst,” I say.
She glances up, narrowing her eyes at me. I make a motion toward the door with my head and immediately her eyes widen.
She takes her feet off her desk and replaces her keyboard, then joins me as I make my way toward the doors. We pass Nick’s empty desk along the way. He hasn’t been in for weeks now, though I don’t think he’s been fired. But Janice won’t talk about it.
“What’s going on?” she asks as we push through the double doors.
“Tech services just called,” I say.
“Already? That was fast.”
“No trial, no need to use the evidence,” I reply.
“And no family to release it back to,” she adds. “Which means it all just goes into storage.”
I let out a small laugh. “Not like they’d let any of that back in the hands of the public anyway. It’s too dangerous.”
We make our way down to tech services and meet up with Calhoun, who is in the process of cataloging all the items that were confiscated from Krauss’s home. The room is full of equipment, most of it from his “control room”.
“Is this everything?” I ask him.
Calhoun is something of a squirrelly guy. He’s thin, with dark hair and glasses, and he has the undeniable aura of being one of those people who keeps to himself most of the time. He’s maybe a year or two older than me, but you’d never know it by looking at him. The premature lines on his face make him look older than he really is.
“Everything,” he replies. “I understand you were particularly interested in this.” He holds up Krauss’s cell phone. The same one he showed me down in his little dungeon.
Before I take it from him, I stop. “You don’t need any of this for the case, right? It’s all just going into storage, to never be used again?”
He nods. “I got the call from the prosecutor yesterday. He said to box it all up, that we wouldn’t be needing it for a trial.”
I exhale. Maybe I’m still skirting a line here, but I wouldn’t call this misappropriation of resources, because the items have all outlived their usefulness. No one will touch or see these things ever again, all things being equal. At least not until they clean out the evidence in sixty or seventy years after Krauss dies. And maybe not even then.
“Can you unlock it for me?” I ask, handing it back to him.
“Sure.” He inputs the code and the phone comes to life. He hands it back to me and I scroll through the apps, looking for the one I need. “What did you want with it, anyway?”
“Just needed to check something,” I say, then nod to Zara. She retrieves her own phone and brings up one of the images of the woman from the hospital. The paper copies are safe in my apartment. But we both have digital copies on our phones.
I find the app I’m looking for an open it. It’s mostly source code, but this is definitely the same program Krauss showed me when he demonstrated his “genius”. Using the camera on the phone, I take a picture of the image on Zara’s phone, making sure the woman is as clearly visible as possible. Krauss’s phone accepts the image, then I get the dreaded wheel of death as it processes.
“What is that?” Calhoun asks.
“A more sophisticated version of our own facial recognition programs,” I say. “This man needed a way to find people who looked a certain way.”
“And you need it for a case?”
I shoot a glance at Zara. “No. This is a personal matter. Which is why I waited until after everything with Krauss was wrapped up. I didn’t want to use it while it was still technically evidence.”
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” he says. “Though I will need for you to sign that you had access to these items today.”
“I can do that,” I reply, looking at the phone again as it seems to mock me with its spinning. I might not be able to find peace by figuring out who killed my husband, but I’m damn sure not going to let her get away with it. I’m an officer of the law, and if for no other reason than this woman committed two murders, I need to find her and bring her in. But until I have absolute proof, I need to do it on my own time. Not the Bureau’s.
I shake my head. “It shouldn’t be taking this long. He did it on you and it pulled the results in half a second,” I say.
“Maybe she’s the kind of person who can’t be found,” Zara suggests. “We’ll just have—”
Krauss’s phone gives a little buzz at the same time the circle disappears. Below the woman’s image, the fields start populating. “Wait. It has something.” As I start reading the information, my eyes widen.
Zara must see my expression because she comes over. “What is it? What’s wrong?” she asks. When she looks at the information coming up, she grimaces.
“This just made things a lot more complicated,” I say. “You sure you’re up for it?”
Zara seems to reset herself, then gives me a firm nod. “Always.”
“Then pack your bags. We need to book a flight.”
The End?
To Be Continued…
Want to read more about Emily?
When FBI Agent Emily Slate discovers a series of fires are being used to cover up the murder of firefighters, she’ll need all her skills as an investigator to flush out the killer.
A string of arson cases brings Emily to the historic city of Charleston right as she’s in the middle of trying to find the woman who killed her husband. Her personal investigation will have to wait, however, because the local community is on edge, having already lost two firefighters in these tragedies.
But before she can get very far, more blazes erupt throughout the city, causing a panic within the ranks. In each one, the victim is burned alive, from both the inside and out. And at each scene, a strange symbol remains in the rubble, leaving Emily to believe they’re working with a sick and twisted individual who has their sights set on something even bigger.
With the number of fires increasing by the day, and a city in panic, Emily must race against the clock to uncover the killer before they burn the entire city down with their rage.
Find out what happens in Smoke and Ashes, available now on Amazon. Click HERE to get your copy now!
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Where did it all go wrong for Emily?
I hope you enjoyed The Collection Girls. By now you’re aware of the tragic circumstances surrounding her husband’s death. If you’d like to learn about what happened to Emily in the days following, including what almost got her kicked out of the FBI, then you’re in luck! Her Last Shot introduces Emily and tells the story of the case that almost ended her career. Interested? CLICK HERE to get your free copy now!
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Emily Slate Series
The Emily Slate FBI Mystery Series
Free Prequel - Her Last Shot (Emily Slate Bonus Story)
His Perfect Crime - (Emily Slate Series Book One)
The Collection Girls - (Emily Slate Series Book Two)
Smoke and Ashes - (Emily Slate Series Book Three)
Coming Soon!
Her Final Words - (Emily Slate Series Book Four)
Can’t Miss Her - (Emily Slate Series Book Five)
The Lost Daughter - (Emily Slate Series Book Six)
The Secret Seven - (Emily Slate Series Book Seven)
A Note from Alex
I hope you enjoyed The Collection Girls, book 2 in the new Emily Slate FBI Mystery Series. My wish is to give you an immersive story that is also satisfying when you reach the end.
But being a new writer in this business can be hard. Your support makes all the difference. After all, you are the reason I write!
Because I don’t have a large budget or a huge following, I ask that you please take the time to leave a review or recommend it to fellow book lover. This will ensure I’ll be able to write many more books in the Emily Slate Series in the future.
Thank you for being a loyal reader,
Alex
Alex Sigmore, The Collection Girls (Emily Slate FBI Mystery Thriller Book 2)
