Investigating 101. Debra Webb

a doubt,” Victoria agreed. “I was thinking A.J. would be an excellent mentor.”

      Ian nodded. “Perfect choice.”

      Though A. J. Braddock was fairly new to the agency, his record spoke for itself. A former marine who’d turned Homeland Security agent, A.J. had worked through a number of domestic crises that required an innate ability to maintain calm in the worst possible situations. Not to mention that as a marine, he’d been one of the first assigned to Iraq when that deadly dictator had been brought down. A.J. would know just how to take the roughest edges off Mr. Thompson.

      “The Serena Blake case is my top priority.” Victoria considered, remembering the young woman’s desperation. “I think Mr. Thompson’s unique skill would be an excellent match.”

      “Might I recommend that we put these new recruits in the field one at a time?”

      Ian’s concern was first and foremost for the agency and its clients. He was absolutely right to make such an assertion. Victoria had already decided as much.

      “Agreed.” Victoria took a deep breath. “Shall we brief A.J. first?”

      TODD WAITED as patiently as he could for the next step. The other two recruits, Gabrielle Hanson and Michelle Robb, had gone to lunch with Nicole Reed-Michaels.

      He wasn’t worried that his being left behind was a bad sign. Nope. He figured he had been chosen for another meeting with the boss.

      Or maybe they’d found out about his thesis. There was a good chance he might never live down “Charmed and Dangerous.” He’d shown quite literally that fooling others was a simple matter of determination versus skill. Anyone could do it and anyone could be conned. It was simply easier to believe what one was told. Most folks did just that. And none wanted to learn they’d been wrong. As cynical as some parts of American society had become, folks still preferred the uncomplicated. Believing was far simpler than overanalyzing.

      Would Victoria change her mind about him in light of his college exploits?

      She’d said she was impressed. Maybe she’d changed her mind since learning a few more details.

      The door opened and the woman herself appeared as if he’d somehow summoned her with his troubled musings.

      “Mr. Thompson.”

      He stood. “Todd,” he reminded her.

      “Todd,” she allowed, “this is A. J. Braddock.”

      A big guy, definitely former military, Todd decided, considering his bearing and the high and tight haircut, followed Victoria into the conference room. The big guy closed the door behind him and thrust out his hand.

      “Mr. Thompson,” he said as he grabbed Todd’s hand, “I’ve heard a lot about you this morning.”

      The guy looked sincere and quite friendly. He had to be six-three if he was an inch, close to two hundred pounds. Even the nice suit jacket couldn’t disguise what were likely bulging biceps to go along with those extra-wide shoulders.

      “Call me Todd.” He looked from Braddock to Victoria, determined not to be dismissed without an opportunity to prove his worth in the field. “Is this the part where you see if I can play nice with the other kiddies?”

      Apparently his humor wasn’t appreciated.

      “This,” Braddock said with an edge no doubt prompted by his total lack of a sense of humor, “is the part where we see if you can hold your own with the big boys.”

      Todd grinned. “Touché.”

      Victoria took a seat at the conference table. Braddock joined her. Todd did the same.

      She opened a manila folder and viewed the contents for a moment before she began. “Serena Blake is a lab assistant at Milestone Laboratories.”

      Todd wasn’t familiar with Milestone Laboratories so he sat quietly and listened.

      A. J. Braddock took the ball. “Serena’s immediate supervisor is a research scientist named Charles Landon. He is also the heaviest investor at Milestone as well as the most renowned scientist on staff.”

      Now there was a name Todd recognized. “His pregnant wife went missing a few weeks ago.” Every local channel, and some national, had carried the story for weeks. In the past two or three, the hype had appeared to dwindle, but as far as Todd knew, the woman hadn’t been found.

      Victoria nodded. “She was seven months pregnant and simply disappeared. The police have excluded Dr. Landon as a suspect. They believe he is innocent of any wrongdoing and that, in fact, there may not be any foul play involved at all. According to my sources at Chicago P.D., the unanimous conclusion, considering certain details, is that Mrs. Landon left of her own volition. Since the police have no evidence to the contrary and there has been no ransom demand, the case is being treated more like a missing-person case rather than a kidnapping.”

      “What kind of details?” Todd wanted to know.

      With approval in her eyes, Victoria answered, “A large withdrawal made by Mrs. Landon the day before and a missing photo album from her childhood.”

      Todd chalked one up in his favor. His new boss liked that he asked questions. He quickly reviewed what he’d watched about the case on the news and read about in the papers. He’d never heard the name Serena Blake. “So what does Miss Blake have to do with this?”

      “She,” Victoria explained, “believes that foul play is definitely involved.”

      “She has no evidence,” Braddock put in quickly.

      “This is more her gut feelings. Apparently she and Mrs. Landon were friends.”

      Todd thought about that for a second. “Does Mrs. Landon have any other friends who support this scenario?”

      Victoria sighed. “This is part of the problem. Mrs. Landon had no real friends. She had acquaintances of her social standing with whom she attended parties and sat on various charity committees, but she didn’t have a single true friend that we know of. Even her relationship with Miss Blake had been kept secret from her husband. Miss Blake insists he can’t know about it now.”

      “We haven’t confirmed this part as of yet,” Braddock added. “We only have her word.”

      “There is always the possibility that Miss Blake is hoping to damage her boss’s career,” Victoria suggested. Before Todd could ask questions along those lines, she went on. “From what we’ve discovered since she came to us four days ago, there is some tension between her and Dr. Landon. Apparently he has passed her over for promotion once and he requires long hours without additional pay more often than not. I get the impression that he takes advantage of her any way he can. The consensus is that as far as his work goes, he’s quite ruthless.”

      Todd shrugged. “Then why take the case?” Seemed like a no-brainer to him. The police didn’t think the guy had anything to hide. Why believe his assistant who, apparently, had reason to want to hurt him?

      “First,” Victoria said with a bluntness that told Todd she didn’t like being second-guessed, “Miss Blake was willing to drain her savings to put up the required retainer fee.”

      So she was willing to give her life’s savings to get this done. Todd didn’t see where that let her off the hook. Anyone with a little ambition would have done the same and would have considered it an investment in the future.

      “Second,” Victoria continued, “if there is even a remote chance that this man had something to do with his pregnant wife’s disappearance, we have an obligation to take the case. As a private agency there are steps we can take that the police cannot.”

      Todd knew the statistics; when wives went missing or were found dead, more often than not the husband was responsible. Landon certainly had the kind of money required to get rid of a wife he no longer wanted without sullying his hands. But did that