It was possible it could be coincidental, but the odds were stacking up: something had happened to those little girls, too.
She prayed they’d be alive when PAVAD found them.
38
Todd knew exactly who his contact at PAVAD was going to be. As soon as he could, he shook that prick Whitman and headed down to the first floor where Lytel was assigned. He’d had to tell Whitman he needed to take a piss and call his own mother while they waited for the warrants the guy was all about getting.
He had worked with Eugene Lytel before. Then Lytel had gotten PAVAD in the auxiliary resource agents department. Todd had wondered why many times before.
Lytel certainly wasn’t anything special.
Then again, he’d heard Lytel was a connection of the director’s going back almost twenty-five years. Lytel was connected to both the director and Colonel Boyd Jones. Two very powerful men, when it came down to it.
He was part of the fifty-agent auxiliary unit. Used to do grunt work and canvassing. And guard details. Nothing special.
Lytel’s team was PAVAD cannon fodder. Everyone knew that.
As far as Todd knew, Lytel spent most of his time researching and doing door-to-door canvases when needed or babysitting the director’s snooty wife when she deigned to come off her throne in forensics.
He was nothing special. Lytel never would be.
Lytel was his tie to the real people pulling Todd’s strings now, if Todd ever wanted to move up in the bureau.
Todd wanted to be the director of the whole shebang someday.
He wasn’t thinking PAVAD any longer.
He’d been promised Washington. Todd was going to make that happen.
Sometimes, you had to play the game.
Todd knew how the game was supposed to be played. Quid pro quo. Todd gave them what they wanted.
In return, Todd got what he wanted.
Todd almost whistled as he hustled down the hall, just imagining the fall of Edward Dennis and his puppets.
Max Jones walked by, on his way to his office now. Todd’s lip curled. He had always hated that guy. Everything Jones touched was golden. Max Jones hadn’t ever messed up, apparently.
He had the position now that should have been Todd’s. Everyone knew that. But Jones had friends at PAVAD. Jones had been in St. Louis for years; the other man had had ample opportunity to make those kinds of friends.
Friends Todd most certainly did not have. Yet.
But Todd had friends outside PAVAD. Friends who were going to start delivering on the favors they owed Todd. Finally.
Todd had been banking up those IOUs for years. It was time to cash them in. Todd stayed where he was and watched some of the PAVAD agents now as they were in the preliminary stages of the hunt for who had killed that woman and possibly taken those girls.
He hadn’t realized Jaclyn knew the family involved.
That stunk for her. Todd had never lost anyone he’d been friends with before. He’d been lucky that way. It was no wonder she felt so distracted.
It was obvious Jaclyn Jones was pulling lead for this one.
She shouldn’t be anywhere near this case. That was information he’d use if he had to. He didn’t want to cause trouble for her; for the most part, he liked her. She’d never been a bitch to him, for one thing.
Not like the great Dr. Talley.
If Jaclyn’s father wasn’t as important as he was, she probably wouldn’t be in St. Louis. He didn’t blame her for taking advantage of that. They all had to do what they had to do. To be honest, Todd doubted she would be at PAVAD at all if it hadn’t been for her father’s contacts at the justice department. Everyone knew how important Colonel Boyd Jones was in Washington.
Those types of connections could come in handy.
Hell, maybe he should push to get Jaclyn to go out with him sooner rather than later. Her father’s connections could do wonders for Todd’s career. He wasn’t going to be at PAVAD for long, after all. Maybe he’d be stationed in New York after this. Or California. One of the California posts would be great.
Honolulu would be the best, though. Maybe he’d ask for that.
He’d need to work a few years to build his reputation before he could ever hope to get Washington. Todd would get there—eventually.
First, he’d mark some time with Jaclyn. Help her take her mind off this friend of hers.
It wouldn’t be a hardship to screw around with Jaclyn at all. He’d imagined doing just that before.
Of course, he’d imagined doing that with her good buddy Talley, too.
All that fire in her…yeah…taming Miranda Talley would be one hell of a ride. If a man was stupid enough to climb on.
Todd looked around the bullpen as he finally gave up looking for Lytel and returned to the CCU’s floor. He’d find the guy when he could. Right now, he needed to make himself useful. Put his eyes on the CCU where they belonged.
He had been told to get information after all. He’d trade it—for the connections he needed.
He’d been assigned the worst desk in the place—right next to the elevators. Not so bad, in his opinion. He could see every person who stepped foot on the CCU’s floor. That could prove handy.
But it was a knock against him—and he knew that. Someone in PAVAD was already screwing with him.
Stupid fucking pricks.
He didn’t get ahold of Lytel for another two hours. He’d kept himself busy digging up everything he could find about that stupid prick Sturvin’s business contacts.
What had made Sturvin snap and kill his wife now? That was pretty stupid of the guy.
If they caught that guy, Todd would have to make sure Sturvin didn’t get a good look at him. It had been dark that night at Brynlock, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.
All Todd
