The promise to kill him was still up for debate.
Aidan cleared his throat. “No, ma’am.”
Monroe turned her red lips to a frown and stared at him.
She looked at him disapprovingly while she asked why he was at work today. Aidan explained to her the same thing he did to Shaun earlier this morning.
Unlike him, she was hesitant about letting him stay.
“I understand you want to find Cheyenne,” she said. Her words were soft but full of authority. “I think you should take a little time. It’s personal now.”
“It’s always been—” Aidan stopped himself short. Admitting it had always been personal was a sure way to be sent home. Instead, Aidan drew in a breath, rubbed his hair. “Let me stay. I can’t sit around and do nothing. The best I can do is keep busy. If you don’t want me to investigate Cheyenne, fine. I trust Shaun enough to do that. But he killed Jordan Blake’s dog. I can look into that.”
She reached for her phone, dialed an extension.
“Can you come here for a second, Agent Henderson?”
They waited in silence until there was a knock on the door and Shaun stepped into the office.
Monroe sighed and looked around her desk and began to straighten files and papers. The expression she gave showed she was considering what it was she planned to say next.
“Okay, Agent O’Reilly, I’m not benching you. “As much as I hate to admit it, you do know this guy better than anyone.” She paused before continuing. “However, I’m making a change in this investigation.” She nodded toward Shaun. “I want Agent Henderson in charge from here on out. Understood?”
Aidan opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. He turned to Shaun and saw he was staring at Monroe and then glanced at him. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.
“This is my investigation,” Aidan demanded, returning his gaze to Monroe.
“It’s still your investigation,” Monroe replied calmly. “Except Agent Henderson is in charge. You’re too invested in it now. He’s not. I’m not so sure you can remain objective, O’Reilly. He can. I’m not going to risk you endangering yourself or anyone else.”
Aidan gaped at Monroe, then narrowed his eyes at Shaun. “You knew about this.”
“No, he didn’t,” Monroe said before Shaun could reply. Another sigh. “If you want to remain on this investigation, this is the best you’ll get. I already spoke to Zane and Hansford this morning on how to proceed. They both suggested you sit back, but I convinced them you should stay on. After all, you’ve come this far. However, if you don’t like the terms, you can go on home—Henderson will still be in charge.”
Monroe’s eyes were firm, but at the same time sympathetic.
Aidan wanted to protest but thought better of it.
“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed.
“Is that okay with you, Agent Henderson?”
Shaun replied it was, and then she dismissed them.
Without another word, Aidan left the office, knowing Shaun was following close behind.
“Aidan,” he began. “I didn’t know she—”
“I really don’t want to talk about it right now,” Aidan snapped. He turned to face him, hands on his hips. “So, boss, what do you want to do next?”
Shaun told him the call and texts did come from a burner, but the nine-one-one was traced to a guy named Gary Short. They also learned Gary worked at WJFX News. He was in charge of the sound check.
As they left the office to interview him, Aidan tried pushing his anger out of mind. He reminded himself it didn’t matter that he was no longer running the investigation as long as he found Cheyenne.
But he didn’t appreciate the feeling that he had been stabbed in the back by a man he had come to think of as a friend.
68
AT WJFX, THEY questioned Gary Short about the phone call and he informed them he lost his phone sometime yesterday afternoon. He didn’t remember where he left it and had figured someone walked off with it.
“Where were you last night at nine o'clock?” Shaun asked him.
“I went to the movies with friends,” Gary replied. He jammed his hands into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled movie ticket for Thor: Ragnarok.
“You always keep your stubs?” Shaun asked.
Gary shrugged. “A lot of people do. I don't really think about it.”
“You're a field technician, right?” Aidan asked.
He nodded.
“So, you know technology pretty well, huh? Do you know how to send and delete a text remotely?”
Gary released an awkward chuckle. “Yeah, Jordan mentioned those texts he received from the killer. I didn't send 'em if that’s where you’re heading.”
“But you do know how to do it?” Shaun pressed.
“Yeah, guess you could say I do,” Gary answered matter-of-factly. “But I didn't. And I wouldn't hurt an animal.”
“Okay,” Shaun told him, passing the stub back. “Thanks for your time.”
After they finished questioning him, they proceeded to leave the station but were stopped by Thomas Blake calling out to them.
They waited as he jogged in their direction.
“Sorry to bother you,” Thomas began. “How are you coming along with finding the SOB who murdered my nephew’s dog?”
“We’re working on it,” Aidan promised. “We’ve got some leads that might prove useful.”
Thomas looked around and then lowered his voice.
“Is it true The Carnations Killer has your girlfriend?”
Aidan considered bypassing the question, but instead he nodded.
“I just hope for her sake you aren't as incompetent now as you've been the last...how long are they saying he's been killing now...fifteen years.”
Aidan tried to think of something professional to say other than “screw you.” He came up empty.
“We know a lot more about the offender than we used to,” Shaun replied hotly. “He’s making mistakes. We're confident we'll find something that'll
