A Little Harmless Submission(3)
“Callahan!” Agent Smith bellowed. “Get in here.”
It took every bit of her control not to jump and run.
Don’t even let them see you sweat. Make them think they can’t rattle you. Falling apart is for later.
Drawing in a deep breath, she slowly stood and walked to her supervisor’s office. She shut the door.
His head was bent, showing her the bald spot none of them were allowed to mention. He had put on a few pounds in the last several years, but he was still in good shape. He signed a form then looked up at her. His face was expressionless. She still could not tell what her father’s old partner was thinking. Then he smiled.
“It’s a go. I talked to the HPD captain. He agreed we need to be there. He wants you working with his man.”
She could barely pay attention for a few seconds. For the first time, she was going to head an investigation.
“Callahan.” Smith sounded worried. She realized he had said her name several times. She gave herself a mental shake and focused her attention on her boss.
“Sorry,” she said, then cleared her throat. “The detective? He’s been checked out.”
Smith nodded. “He’s been on the island for the last eighteen months, except for one trip to Seattle for the weekend. Sister graduated from college. He didn’t leave the area. So he’s clean. Apparently he’s pretty sharp, so try to play nice.”
He said it sarcastically, and she tried not to wince. She didn’t like the fact that she would be walking into a local department and taking over their investigation. It had to be done sometimes, but the behavior of some agents always upset the locals. For her plan to work, she would need their help, especially the lead detective.
“You’ll take Masters.”
She tried her best not to show her irritation, but failed. Smith knew her too well.
“You look just like your father when you get pissed.”
She sighed. It was a problem working for a man who knew her family so well. Martin Smith had started at the FBI about the same time her father had. When her mother died, he had been the one there for them, the one to pick up the pieces. He and his wife were the closest thing she had to family. Which made it harder to conceal what she was thinking from him.
She settled down in the chair in front of his desk. “We don’t get along. Other than his wife, I don’t think he likes women. At least, he doesn’t like me.”
“You know why he’s like that, why a lot of them are like that. Every single one of them thinks you got this job because of your father’s legacy. But I can’t send you without an agent who doesn’t know how to run a case like this. He’s only going to get you started, and then he’ll come back. We want this low key, just like you said. If you need help, you’re to contact the Honolulu office.”
She nodded. “I understand. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t ask you to like it. Just do your job.”
People’s opinions shouldn’t matter, but they did. Not to her personally. More that it made her job harder to do when no one wanted to work with her. It wouldn’t change until she solved a big case. It wasn’t fair because she had a good reputation from her time in vice, but that didn’t seem to matter. She pushed those morbid thoughts aside and stood to leave. It would do her no good to worry about people’s perceptions. “If that’s all?”
“Flight’s at eight tomorrow morning from National. Make sure you make it on time.”
She nodded and had her hand on the doorknob.
“Maria.”
She looked back over her shoulder. “Yes?”
“This could be a huge step up for you, but please, be careful. This guy isn’t just smart, he’s fucking dangerous. We’ve never had a woman on the case before, and if he finds out, he might fixate on you.”
She nodded again and slipped out the door. She wanted to dance down the hall, but she decided that would be unprofessional. Instead, she went to the bathroom and leaned up against the wall and let it sink in. She was going to Hawaii, and she was going to hunt The Dom killer. Panic settled in her chest first. In the five years she’d been with the FBI, she’d had to fight her way to the top. Sure, she had to work five times as hard as the other agents to prove herself, but there were always those whispers that Big John Callahan was the reason she got her start.
She pushed away from the wall and looked at herself in the mirror. She had his nose, and his mother had always claimed, his frown. But this time, she was going to prove that Big John Callahan’s daughter was more than just the memory of a beloved agent.