eyes of the receptionist, a few wandering scientists, and the hallway cameras on him.
Brad took a piss in the urinal, then left it stewing at the bottom just to prove he had been there, then headed back to reception, patting himself down and slapping a worried expression on his face.
“I left my cell in the lab,” he said to the receptionist. “Would you mind going and getting it for me?” She eyed him suspiciously.
“Look,” he leaned across the reception area with his arms on the counter. “I know you’re just doing your job, and I don’t want to get you in any trouble. So you don’t have to let me in. But I’m positive I left it on the lab table in Dr. Foster’s hall. It was stupid, really. I shouldn’t have taken it out of my pocket, not during the interview, but I was expecting a call from my mom.” Brad met her eyes, and held them. “She’s a little sick right now and I’m expecting some news. Anyway,” he shook his head, “I can’t leave without my phone. My life’s on that thing, plus the casework. I could lose my job.”
She said, “I could lose my job if I leave the reception desk.”
Brad leaned in closer and gave her the look that hadn’t failed him once since mid 2008. “It’ll take two minutes,” he said. “Tops. If it’s not where I think it is, I’ll leave immediately.”
The receptionist smiled, said okay almost like she didn’t have a choice, then buzzed Brad into the lab. Of course it was on the lab table in Dr. Foster’s hall, exactly where he set the dummy cell phone he always “accidentally” left behind.
Once in the lab Brad immediately looked for Dr. Jacobs, the one scientist who seemed like he had looser lips than the lab liked. Sure enough, it was only a minute back into the conversation when the good doctor spilled a lead.
“Sorry to waste any more of your time,” Brad said, “but Arthur sent me back to follow up with a few questions. What were you saying the last time we spoke?”
Brad looked at Dr. Jacobs patiently, waiting for him to pick up where he never left off. After a long couple of minutes, and a little more prodding from Brad, suggesting he might be able to lead him to someone closer to Madsen, Dr. Jacobs suddenly lit up and said, “If I were you I would check with Ms. Monroe.”
“Ms. Monroe? You’re not the first person to tell me that,” Brad said, even though he was. “Why do you think we should check with Ms. Monroe?”
“Because Willow and Dr. Madsen seemed especially close. She was his secretary and all, but a lot of us in the lab thought there was more going on than that, you know. Then she quit out of nowhere just a bit ago, and did it over the phone. That’s pretty weird, and a lot of coincidence you’d have to admit, considering what happened.” Dr. Jacobs delivered the last part in a whisper.
Brad shook his head. “No argument from me, Dr. Jacobs.” He glanced up at the wall and noticed the red light on the camera aimed directly at him. He winked and saluted. He thanked Dr. Jacobs for his time, left the lab, and was met by Rothstein as soon as he stepped on the other side of the door.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Rothstein said, gently taking him by the arm.
“Sure thing, Artie. No reason to get all handsy, at least not without a few drinks in me,” Brad said with a wink that painted Artie’s face in discomfort.
Rothstein stood glaring, and said, “We have been extremely accommodating, Mr. Hammer, but our kindness ends here. If you don’t have a court order on you right now, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave immediately.”
“I’m already gone,” Brad winked at Rothstein. “Come on, Agent Grayson.”
Brad walked down the long hall, then stepped inside the elevator and rode it four floors to the lobby, then crossed the parking lot and climbed into the passenger side of the Lincoln, Grayson by his side the entire time.
“I’m going back in,” Brad said as soon as she slammed the car door.
“No, you’re not,” she shook her head, started the engine, then pulled from the parking space.
“They’re burying bullshit in there,” Brad said, drumming his fingers on his knee. “Don’t tell me you can’t smell it.”
“Of course I can smell it,” she said. “But it doesn’t mean I’m going to scrape it from my shoe while the world is watching. That’s the difference between me and you, Hammer. I’m discreet. You, well, let’s just say you’re not.”
Brad ignored her, and told Grayson all about the scientist’s secretary, Willow Monroe, who had mysteriously quit over the phone. Grayson agreed it was a lead worth following, so Hammer looked up her address, then told Grayson to hit the highway and head west. Just as she pulled onto the onramp, Brad’s cell started to buzz. He looked at the screen. It was their superior, Mike Cooper.
“Hammer here.”
“Pack it up, we need you back at HQ.”
“What? We just got here,” Brad said.
“I heard about your little stunt at Helix.”
“Wow, news travels fast, eh?” Brad said.
“Forensics is on the scene, you did your interviews, just bring back what you’ve got, and we’ll handle it from here.”
“What the fuck? I’ve got leads to follow, follow-up interviews, I’m not even hours into this and you’re acting like we’re a week in,” Brad said.
“It’s not a request, Agent Hammer.”
“Just let me follow up one more lead,” Brad said.
“I don’t want you going back to Helix,” Cooper said, hesitating slightly. Cooper was a team player, and bowed at the first orders from above, but he had just enough balls to allow Brad a bit of leniency so long as it wouldn’t blow back on him.
“I promise, I’m not going back to Helix. We’ve got a potential witness. We’re tracking her down now.”
“I’m not authorizing this. I want you back here tomorrow. Are we clear?”
“Crystal clear,” Brad said and hung up.
Before Brad was even finished with the phone call, Grayson was merging over to pull off the highway.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Grayson looked at Brad like she didn’t understand the question. “What do you mean what am I doing? We were told to stand down and drop the case, right? Do we really have to go through this again?”
“Yes, we do,” Brad said. “First of all, Cooper said he was not authorizing this. That isn’t the same as him forbidding us. He’s just covering his ass in case we get into trouble, but he’s fine with this. Trust me.”
“Trust you?” Grayson said skeptically. “Like that time you detained Lady Gaga because you were certain she was an alien?”
“I never said she was an alien! I said she had info on an alien spy, big difference!”
“Yeah, you’re lucky we didn’t get fired for that little stunt.”
“She was cool with it, she likes the way I swing my hammer.”
“Ugh,” Grayson said, “You’re such a child!”
Brad grinned, but then turned serious. “Listen, I want to know what they’re making in that lab, and why there was an empty elephant’s sack worth of spunk splattered all over the hotel room. I want answers, and I’m pretty goddamn sure Miss Willow Monroe will lead us to at least one. We have two options: We either head to Monroe’s together, and you help me do my job while doing yours, or we go back to the hotel and I come back alone, then you can report me to Division.”
“Have I ever reported you to Division?”
Brad smiled, “Not one single time, Agent Grayson. That’s why you’re the best partner a guy like me could have.”
He grinned ear to ear as Grayson glided the Lincoln back into the fast lane. “You know you’re not a tenth as adorable as you think you are.”
“I figure I’m at least half.”
“Just promise you’re not gonna do anything stupid. Again.”
“I promise. Something big was happening in that lab. I haven’t felt that sort of nervous energy since ’08.”
Grayson was quiet at first, but then she agreed. “I felt it, too.”
“I’ll be careful,” Brad promised as Grayson swung the Lincoln onto Willow Monroe’s quiet street in Forest
