Decker shot Jamison a glance. “We should have followed that up before.”
Decker and Jamison stood. She said, “We’re sorry to be putting you through all of this.”
“I didn’t think this could possibly get worse.” She paused. “Only it just did.”
They left her there staring at…nothing.
Which was maybe all that the woman had left.
CHAPTER
43
“SO WE GO BACK to Dabney and Associates?” asked Jamison.
They climbed into the car. When Decker looked back at the house he saw Natalie at a window staring out at them.
If looks could kill, thought Decker.
He nodded and said, “Yes.”
They reached Dabney’s office about thirty minutes later.
The reception was not one they expected.
The doors to Dabney and Associates were closed and chained shut. The interior of the offices was dark. And two guards in Army uniforms stood out front.
Decker and Jamison walked up to them. Decker held out his FBI creds. The two guards were not impressed.
“Where are the people who work here?” asked Jamison.
Neither guard answered.
“We’re investigating this case,” said Decker. “And we need to get inside this space.”
“That won’t be happening, sir,” said one of the guards. His hand moved across the butt of his holstered M11 pistol.
“This is a federal investigation,” pointed out Jamison.
The guard leveled his gaze on her. “And I’ve got my orders. Until those orders change, no one goes in. Period.”
Jamison was about to say something else when Decker grabbed her arm. “Let’s go. We’re wasting time here.”
They rode the elevator back down to the lobby and ran smack into Faye Thompson. She looked like she’d been crying.
When she saw Decker, her features turned to a scowl. “You bastard!”
“Excuse me?” said Jamison defensively.
Thompson got right in Decker’s face. “We were fully cooperating with you. And then you pull this shit?”
“I didn’t pull anything,” Decker replied calmly. “We just got kicked out too.”
“Don’t lie to me. This has FBI written all over it.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, the FBI doesn’t wear Army uniforms.”
“You people are all in this together.”
“That’s not how—”
“Do you realize what you’ve done?” snapped Thompson, drawing attention from other people passing by in the lobby. “You’ve ruined us. We’re done. Shutting us down like this? We’re guilty as charged without ever having due process.” She pushed a finger into Decker’s chest. “You screwed us over, you prick.”
“Actually, he had nothing to do with it,” said a voice.
They all turned to stare at Harper Brown. She was dressed in cammies with a sidearm. She walked over to stand directly in front of Thompson. “It wasn’t the FBI. It was the DIA. If you have a problem with anything, you can take it up with me.”
“You had no right to—”
“We had every right. This is a national security issue. If you want to continue to discuss it, we can do so at DIA HQ.”
“Well, maybe I don’t either, but it’s been done.”
“So it didn’t originate with you, then?”
“I follow orders just like those men out there.”
“Dabney and Associates has a lot of employees.”