Page 54 of Fatal Mistake
“Everything okay?” Cal asked as he stopped next to another door.
“Yes, just homesick.”
“Understandable. You’ve been gone for a long time.” He pressed his thumb against a digital print reader. The lock clicked, and the door popped open.
“Hold on a second,” he said, and stuck his head inside. “You have a minute, Kaci?”
Cal held the door barely cracked open and tapped his foot.
Tara tried to scoot around him to see inside the room, but he blocked her view. “Seriously, what do you have in there?”
“Information,” he replied cryptically. “Nothing but information.”
Kaci pushed the door open and peeked out. “About time you got here. We have a—” She suddenly noticed Tara. “Oh, hi, Tara. I didn’t think Cal would bring you here.”
“You have a what?” Cal asked.
“A lead, but maybe that should wait until we decide if it can be shared.” She tipped her head at Tara.
Cal spun to face Tara. “Would you mind waiting out here with Kaci for a moment?”
She didn’t like all the cloak-and-dagger stuff, but she’d promised to listen to Cal’s directions today, so she nodded her agreement. Kaci stepped out, and Cal disappeared behind the door before pulling it closed.
“What’s he up to in there?” Tara asked.
“He’s most likely being read in on the latest lead and determining if we can share it with you. And since this is our strategy room, we keep a timeline of events, pictures, and other information posted on the walls. He’s probably removing sensitive information that can’t be shared with anyone outside the team.”
“If you all want my help, why keep things from me?”
Kaci frowned. “Let me first say, we don’t willingly share any information.”
“I thought that was just Cal.”
“He’s a quiet one, all right.” Kaci smiled and looked like a teenager instead of a woman in her thirties. “But if you really want to see someone who doesn’t share much, Rick’s your guy. He’s so used to being held to the standard of perfection as a sniper that he weighs his words carefully before he speaks. He gives a mummy a run for his money in the silence department.” Kaci laughed.
Tara laughed, too, and hoped Kaci would serve as an ally on the team. At least be someone who was more forthcoming, who Tara could go to when Cal didn’t provide a straight answer.
“About the information sharing,” Kaci continued. “As a team, we decide which details, if they were leaked, could harm our investigation. We try to ensure that talk of those items never leaves the four walls of this room.”
“I see.” Tara’s mind shifted to thinking about how many things Cal might have kept from her.
He’d shared some pretty gruesome things, but had he let her see only the tip of the iceberg when it came to Oren’s depravity?
The door popped opened, and Cal stood back. They were allowing her into their inner sanctum. Exciting.
She stepped in and let her gaze race over the room. Her excitement plummeted. She didn’t see a supersecret lair, just a plain old meeting room. She focused on a round table in the middle of the space where the team had congregated.
In keeping with her inner sanctum thoughts, she imagined King Arthur with his knights gathered around their table, and a laugh escaped before she could stop it.
Cal eyed her.
She gestured at the table. “The table. It’s round.”
He continued to stare at her.
“You know, like Knights of the Round Table.”
Kaci chuckled behind her, and Tara didn’t feel so bad about bringing it up, but the others continued to stare at her.
