“Yes,” Diane said, heaving a long sigh as if she didn’t like admitting this. “I wasn’t too happy that this is all they had, and that it took them this long to verify it, but it is what it is. There’s no going back now. We’ll have to work with what we have, as always.”
“Alright then,” Birn shrugged. “I still say one of us should go out there. Clearly, they were staying in the area, even if they’re gone now.”
“The FBI is on that,” Diane reiterated dryly. “You’re behind the desk for at least a few days, remember? Until I’m sure that you’re actually recovered and not just bored out of your mind.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Birn said, waving a hand dismissively at this. “But Holm and Marston can go, then. Or just one of them. You’ve got a friend in the FBI, right, Marston?”
Birn winked at me at the mention of Nina, and I suddenly felt my own cheeks grow hot. Holm made a point of making fun of my potential romantic interests around the office any chance he got, and the fiery FBI agent was no exception.
“No, I don’t want to send them all the way out there when I may need them back here,” Diane corrected. “And I doubt the FBI will respond well to us stepping on their toes in their territory. They’ve extended the same courtesy to us in the Keys so far with this investigation.”
She said this almost a little bitterly, and I knew she was thinking, as I was, about how the FBI took over our New Orleans case. It was only fair that they did, in a way, considering how long Nina had been undercover there. But after chasing the same drug lord, Solomon, during our case in Haiti, Holm and I would’ve liked to get the official credit for that one, too. I knew Diane probably felt similarly, always protective as she was of her agents.
“They have been good to us,” I reiterated, for myself as much as for Diane. “And it’s important to keep those channels open and cooperative on a case like this. Who knows how long it’s going to take to track these people down. We could be stuck working with them for a long time.”
“That’s true,” Diane said, scrunching her fine brows up into a long, thin line, indicating that she was deep in thought. “Though I worry we’ll be stretched too thin, focusing so much on one case. We’ve been getting a lot of other, unrelated cases lately.”
This was painfully accurate. It felt like Holm and I had been on assignment almost constantly lately.
“And you were pushing for Muñoz and me to stay away longer,” Birn scoffed, shaking his head at her in mock frustration. “Face it. You wouldn’t function without us.”
“Our MBLIS office wouldn’t function without MBLIS agents, that is correct,” Diane said blankly, blinking at him, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
They both looked at me.
“What?” I asked with a shrug. “I missed having everyone in the office. Let’s go with that.”
“Alright, alright, so the question remains: what’s the plan, boss?” Birn asked again, turning his attention back to Diane.
“That’s a good question,” Diane said, putting her thinking face back on and leaning against the nearest desk again. “I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see some more. I’m not sure what else we can do. We’ve done our interviews, we’ve combed through the files, and we’re still in contact with the FBI, CIA, TSA, and the local police in the Keys. We might as well add Atlanta to that list. I’ll get in contact with their police department next.”
“Really? Wait and see? There’s not anything else that we can do?” Birn asked with a pained expression on his face. I knew his facial expression had nothing to do with his remaining injuries from his stint as a prisoner on Pye Key and everything to do with his frustration with this case and his desire to track down the people who were ultimately behind his abduction. I shared the sentiment.
“What do you propose?” Diane asked. “I’m legitimately open to suggestions, but there are so many actors involved here that I’m not sure there’s anything else we can do right now without stepping on other people’s toes and making things worse for us down the line. The other agencies are on top of this thing, and as soon as there’s a lead on coastal territory, we’ll be on the scene. Until then, I think the best that we can do is keep waiting and wracking our brains and files for some other lead we haven’t thought of yet.”
“So you are okay with me taking the files home,” I grinned, holding up the fat file with one hand and pointing at Diane playfully with the other.
She narrowed her eyes at me and pursed her lips as if trying to make a decision.
“Just don’t tell Holm,” she said finally, with a little huff.
“Will do,” I chuckled, winking at her.
She crossed her arms and turned back to Birn.
“Now, how are you feeling, really?” she asked him. “And I want an honest answer this time.”
He opened his mouth as if to answer, then closed it again when he seemed to see that she was serious and wanted a serious answer. He then appeared to think about this for a moment, choosing his words carefully.
“My arm hurts, and my head hurts, but my chest doesn’t hurt anymore, and I’m not very tired,” he said at long last, looking Diane in the eye so that she would know he was telling the truth. “Or at least no more tired than usual. I’m pretty hungry, though. Just crashed last night when my flight got in without eating anything.”
“I can order us some food,” Diane said, giving him a small but grateful smile. “You can stay for now.
