"Maybe this feels more private to him. His friends probably don't come here."
"What's his name?"
"Russell Walton."
"What does his wife look like?"
He flipped through a few more photos and showed her one of the couple taken at a party. "This is Brenda Walton."
"She's attractive, too. Does he really think he's going to do better here?"
He shrugged. "Can't say."
"I don't get why Brenda came to you instead of just confronting her husband or following him herself."
"She thought she'd make him suspicious and then she'd never know the truth, but I think the real reason is that she didn't want to find him with another woman."
"That wouldn't be easy, but at least she'd know for sure what was going on," Kate said.
He slipped his phone back in his pocket as a waitress came over to take their drink order. He ordered a beer, with Kate doing the same.
When they were alone again, Kate said, "So, while we're waiting … let's talk. How did you and Sam get on the arson case in the first place?"
"There had been a series of fires involving historically significant and federally owned buildings here in the city. Sam and I were called in to help with the investigation. Sam was a more experienced arson investigator than I was. She'd been working with that unit for several years."
"I was wondering how you got involved since before that you were working on domestic terrorism."
"You're right. I'd spent almost a year tracking a couple of terrorist cells around the country. We were finally able to put them away. It had been a long assignment, and I was looking for something different, a change of pace. Sam suggested I come out and work with her. At that point, there was some concern the fires were also related to terrorism, so she thought having me on the case would be helpful."
"Did you ever find a terrorist link?"
"No, I don't believe terrorism is the objective of this particular arsonist. And neither did Sam." He paused, needing Kate to understand just good Sam was. "Sam was one of the most intuitive people I've ever met. She had a sense for what made people tick. She understood motivation better than anyone. It made her a good profiler."
Kate sat back as the waitress set down two beer bottles and a small bowl of peanuts.
"Food, yay, I'm starving," Kate muttered, reaching for a handful.
"You want something else to eat?"
"This will do for now. We're not going to be here that long, are we?"
"We'll see how long it takes for Russell to show up."
"I'm surprised you take any time away from the fire case. Agent Roman told me you are very … determined."
He smiled at her careful choice of words. "Is that how he described it?"
She smiled. "He might have used a different word or two."
"I'm sure he did. I lived and breathed the case the first few months after I left the Bureau, but I had to wait for the arsonist to strike again, to come back out of whatever hole that they had crawled into. In the meantime, I had to pay my bills. So I became a private investigator."
"Why did you ask Agent Roman for help now?"
"Because the arsonist has resurfaced. Two days ago, there was a fire at a school. That's how the trio of fires always starts. They begin small; a fire in a Dumpster or a shed, not particularly dangerous but still destructive. The second fire has always taken place at a community center of some sort, usually within a three-mile radius of the school. It's bigger, bolder, hotter. The third fire is the grand finale and has always involved a structure listed on the historic register. There have been varying degrees of damage and some injuries, but the last fire took two lives."
"What does the local arson investigative unit have to say?" she asked.
"Nothing. They closed the case along with the FBI eighteen months ago. I've tried to get their attention since then. I've been down there several times. I've contacted everyone at every level in the department, and no one was willing to help. These days I can't get past the receptionist. They're not interested in what I have to say. Even after this latest fire, they wouldn't return my call. That's why I asked for Hal's help."
"Did you ever speak with my cousin-Emma Callaway Harrison? She's an arson investigator here in the city."
"No. While Sam and I were on the case, our contact was Karl Benzinger. After Sam died, I also worked with Benzinger's boss, Mick Young."
"We should talk to Emma."
"If you can get me in the door, I'd be happy to do that," he returned.
"So now you can see how helpful I might be," she said, a small smile playing across her lips.
"I'm not in the door yet."
"I want to look through every file you have before we talk to Emma."
"I'll show you everything."
"I wish we didn't have to hang out here. I'm eager to get started."
He had to admit her words were a refreshing change. "Why are you so eager?" he asked curiously. "This can't be the kind of case you want to work on. If you work for Hal Roman, then you're not involved with arson."
"No, I'm not usually, but I'm game for anything, and when I get an assignment, I dive in. It doesn't matter what it is."
"You are new," he said with a sigh. It felt like a lifetime since he'd been that enthusiastic.
"I can't change my age or how long I've been on the job. So if you want my help, you need to get over that."
"I don't believe Hal really sent you here to help me. He just wants you to confirm that there is nothing to help with. And I'm sure he sent you, Kate, because he didn't want to waste the time of a more seasoned and valuable agent."
She winced at his direct words. "Thanks for that."
"Just telling it like it is. And you already knew that."
"You're very cynical."
"You will be, too, if you stay with the Bureau. If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to get out now before you change into someone you don't even recognize, before you lose your heart and your soul in a job that in the end is nothing more than work. You're not going to save the world. You might not even be able to save one person. You think you're living the dream, but for most people it turns into a nightmare."
His words came out with a reckless passion that he wished he'd been able to repress, but there was something about her wide-eyed optimism that pushed all the wrong buttons.
She gave him a thoughtful look, then said, "I think we have something else in common besides our desire to always be right, Devin."
"What's that?"
"We're both bad at taking advice."
He had to give her credit for taking his curveball and hitting it out of the park. He tipped his bottle to her. "Nice."
She gave him a half smile. "Did I mention I have three older brothers, two sisters, and a humongous family who like to give me advice every time I turn around? You're not going to scare me away, not from this assignment or from the job I've wanted to do since I was eleven years old."
"Eleven, huh? What happened at eleven?"
"Nothing." She averted her gaze as she sipped her beer. "Two men just came in. Is one of them Russell Walton?"
He glanced toward the new customers. "No." He gazed back at her. "What happened when you were eleven, Kate?"
"I already told you-"
"No, you didn't," he interrupted. "You can't keep it from me. It's in your file. Everyone who goes through Quantico is interviewed extensively about their background and motivation for becoming a special agent. And even if it's not in your file, it still wouldn't take me more than fifteen minutes to figure it out. A little Internet research, and I'd come up with an answer. Something happened to you or to someone you knew when you were eleven."
She let out a little sigh. "Fine. I was walking home from school with my best friend, Melissa, when her father kidnapped her. He'd been beating up on Melissa and her mother for years, and her mom had finally kicked him out and gotten a restraining order, but there he was. Usually, there were plenty of people around, but not that day. I was right there when he jumped out of a van, grabbed her and threw her inside. I heard her screams in my head and saw her terrified face pressed against the window for a very long time."
His stomach turned over. He'd worked a lot of child kidnappings over the years, and the story never got easier to hear. "Was she rescued?"
Kate nodded. "Two days later. The FBI tracked them to a dive motel in Idaho. I remember when they brought her home. A female agent held Melissa's hand as they got out of the car. I was so happy to see her safe. The whole neighborhood was there. When that agent handed Melissa to her mother, I thought I'd like to be her. I'd like to bring a missing kid home, make someone's family whole again."