Page 41 of Nothing Hiding

Two shocked faces swung around to stare at her. Two pairs of wide eyes goggled. Harris and Black looked stupefied to see her there.

Walter shrank back to stand next to his model, who was hovering in the hallway looking appalled, but trying not to and trying to smooth the wax on her face that had shifted and cracked due to her surprised expression.

"What are you doing here?" Harris asked.

"What are you doing?" Juliette retorted. She was getting seriously annoyed by their lack of willingness to work with them and their lack of respect too.

"We did our research and have found this man is a likely suspect," Harris shot back at her.

"We did our research and have already ruled him out." Juliette folded her arms. “He was in Devon the night before last. He got back at eleven p.m. and Ubered from the station to here.”

"We'll advise you if we reach the same conclusion.” He frowned. “How did you even find this man?”

“Do you really think we’re incompetent? The fact that we found him on our own, without access to your databases, should tell you we have skills,” Juliette flashed back.

“Well, if you’d like to leave now, we’ll go ahead,” Harris blustered officiously.

They were going to go ahead with this? To remove a cleared suspect from the premises, bring him in, basically hold him for questioning until they saw fit to release him? This was more than just doubling up on resources. This was a power play, and she was now sick of these maneuverings.

"Look, you're wasting time here. We have cleared him. You need to stop sabotaging this case because, I promise you, your actions will count against you, and I’ll make sure of it. Did they skip the step in your Scotland Yard training where you learned to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies?" Juliette let her voice curl like a whiplash. She didn't often lose her temper. Her father had warned her against that. But when it happened, her father had been like a flaming torch. Everyone had been scared.

And now, she could sense, the same fire was in her eyes. Harris did a double take. Samantha Black's eyebrows shot even higher than Juliette’s had.

They faced each other. It felt like a showdown. The air was sizzling.

Harris drew breath, his expression mutinous, and Juliette sharply preempted him.

"Let's talk about this outside."

Did she have to be the one to suggest that they should not be having a dogfight in front of a suspect—cleared or otherwise? It seemed so. Both Harris and Black looked uneasy for a moment.

Then, reluctantly, Harris said, "Okay."

He turned and walked out.

"We'll be a moment," Juliette told the duo inside. "Just have to clear up some protocols, and I'd appreciate it if you could stay right here."

They both looked nervous. But, as she stepped out, Juliette felt damned sure that she was not going to throw these witnesses under the bus for no reason other than egos.

As soon as they were outside, Juliette rounded on Harris and Black.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded. "We've already cleared him. You're wasting valuable time and resources by doubling up on investigations."

Harris bristled. "We have reason to believe he may have had a hand in this. And until we can rule him out beyond a shadow of a doubt, we're going to keep him in custody."

"Based on what evidence?" Juliette shot back. "We've already talked to him, accounted for his movements, and found nothing suspicious. He has a very clear and well confirmed alibi for the time that Daisy was taken. You're grasping at straws here."

"We're acting according to protocol," he blustered.

Juliette shook her head. "It doesn't matter what you're trying to do. You're wasting time and resources that we don't have. I don't know about you, but in the FBI, we have rules to follow regarding interviewing of minor suspects. If they’re cleared through solid evidence, then the team moves on. And solid evidence is what we saw." She paused. "What I'm not seeing here is a team. And it's going to count against us. Soon."

Harris looked cowed, but Black was still scowling. "We're just doing our job," she muttered, crossing her arms. "Our job is our job. It's ridiculous to have to work with foreign agents on it. Especially since we were only brought in because you failed," she sniped.

That was enough for Wyatt. Face crimson, he stepped forward.

"Failed? We've been on the case for just over twenty-four hours, and we've been working almost all of them. We've been following up on every lead. We got to this guy's house half an hour before you. Oh, and by the way, we stopped off at another suspect's studio first. How many other interviews have you two done this morning? Go on, tell me!"

Breathing hard, he challenged them, and Juliette felt briefly glad that she was not on the wrong side of Wyatt's temper. She'd never guessed he was such a force to be reckoned with.

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