Page 20 of Wanted
“You think this is funny?” Reno asked. Coffee spilled out of his cup as he turned. He could think of a lot of words to describe the hell this case had put him through, but “funny” wasn’t one of them.
“No, I think it’s humbling.” George turned serious. “The Bureau has put significant resources into catching this woman, but she’s managed to thwart our efforts using only ingenuity and sheer guts. You’ve got to admit she’s one of the slipperiest suspects we’ve ever come up against.”
“What did you expect? She’s got an IQ like Einstein.”
“True.”
Reno sipped some of the strong brew. “Along with the stubbornness of a mule.”
“Mm hm.”
“And the tenacity of a Komodo dragon.”
“I’d say.” George tipped his head to the side. “Looks like she’s got something else, too.”
Reno looked over the rim of the insulated cup. “What’s that?”
“You. By the balls.”
“Watch it.”
George rocked forward and braced his elbows against his knees. His voice dropped low, but it carried a sense of urgency. “I have watched, Jeff, and until now I’ve kept quiet. But no more. You’ve been chasing her until you can’t see straight, and now she’s using it to her advantage.”
Reno’s chin jerked up.
“Hey, don’t give me that. My sixteen-year-old looked at me the same way when I took away the keys to the car.” George cocked his head. “He had the hots for a cute blonde, too, if I remember correctly.”
Reno concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths. “This is none of your business,” he said.
“Uh, yeah. I think it is. You need to get your head in the game—the one that sits on the top of your shoulders, that is.”
Reno’s muscles hardened, and pain flared from his ribs. “If you’ve got issues with the way I’m doing my job, just say so.”
George slapped his hands on the armrests of his chair. “I am saying so, and I’m not the only one. People are starting to talk—like about how maybe you don’t want to catch her. It’s never taken you this long to bring in a fugitive before.”
“Yeah, well, she’s different.”
“How? She’s pretty, but she’s still a criminal.”
“Who says?”
George’s mouth dropped open. “Uh, I thought we did.”
“Well, what if we’ve been wrong?”
George leaned back slowly in his chair and gave Reno a good once-over. “Man, you’ve got it bad.”
Reno started to deny it but found that the words wouldn’t come. Warily, he looked over his shoulder to see if anybody else was listening to their conversation. “Yeah, I do,” he admitted, “but it’s not getting in the way of my investigation.”
“Bullshit.”
Reno ground his teeth together. They never should have gotten on this subject, but now that they had, he might as well lay it all on the line. “Think about it, George. It doesn’t make sense. Why would she sell the software? She didn’t need the money. Hell, she drove a Corvette. We’ve gone over her background with a fine-toothed comb, but we haven’t been able to find any questionable connections. There’s nothing fishy in her social media posts, her family doesn’t have any apparent skeletons, and she doesn’t do politics. So why? Why would she do it? Where’s the motive?”
George’s face turned red. “Don’t do this. Don’t start dreaming up holes in the evidence. It’s solid. You were the one who built the case against her.”
“Yeah, well, maybe that case is built on quicksand.”
George’s eyes rounded. “Okay, now you’re freaking me out.”
