Page 35 of Under Fire

Terrence, his older brother Duan, and sister Libby, along with their father’s wife, Cathy, were giving Orin Jeffries a 65th birthday bash. When Locke got the invitation, he RSVP’d that he was coming. Alone.

“I don’t have a plus-one to bring, Terrence.”

“You have two weeks to find one, Locke.”

***

“Special Agent Wells, I’m Hollis Calloway,” Hollis said, entering the man’s office. When he didn’t have the decency to stand to acknowledge her presence, she’d known it would be one of those kinds of meetings. Detective Connors was right. The man wouldn’t be cooperative, and the way he was staring at her, Hollis knew he wouldn’t be friendly either.

Neither of those things bothered her. She had worked with older FBI agents who should have retired years ago but preferred coming in to work to make the younger agents’ lives miserable. Or they tried to. They were old-school and had not embraced the new way of doing things. They detested change, thought they knew everything, and could take grittiness to another level.

They liked to intimidate, but she had news for him. She didn’t intimidate easily. Hollis had been the youngest member on her team, and she could hold her own with the best of them. In the end, she had earned their respect, and even now, after DOGE let all the members of her team go, most of them were part of the network she could call on from time to time. Their knowledge and resources were invaluable.

She moved to his desk and extended her hand. He stared at it a moment before taking it. “Have a seat, Ms. Calloway. I’m extremely busy, so ask your questions.”

She hid her smile as she glanced at the Spider-Man comic book that was in the middle of his desk. He was busy all right. But to his credit, she might be interrupting his break time.

After taking the chair in front of his desk, she said, “As I told you on the phone, I’m investigating Donnie Barcos’ murder. It’s been alleged that Karl Halifax assumed it was a sting operation set up by the Feds.”

Agent Wells leaned back in his chair. “He could assume or claim anything, and we know that was not true.”

“So, the Tampa Bureau of Investigations did their own investigations?” she asked.

“We verified with local law enforcement that no such persons – Tim Murray or Gregory Altmann were or ever have been employed by the Bureau. If they pretended to be, then they were imposters.”

She lifted a brow. “That’s it? You merely verified they weren’t employed by the Bureau and did nothing more?”

The glare in his eyes and the tightening of his jaw were signs that her question had pissed him off. There was no doubt he had researched her since she had told him over the phone that she was a former agent assisting in Karl Halifax’s defense. And if he had, he knew she was well-versed in Bureau procedures. However, for whatever reason, he felt the need to give her a hard time or intentionally make things difficult. The only thing was that she didn’t do difficult very well, and she had no problem pushing back.

“I know who you are, former Agent Calloway, and I am sure you are aware of our procedures.”

“Then, for the record, how about stating them to assure me they were followed,” she countered.

He stared at her for a moment and then said, “Impersonating federal agents is a federal offense. Therefore, the Bureau has opened an inquiry. If it’s determined a violation of any kind has been committed, we will handle it accordingly.”

She lifted a brow. “Accordingly?”

His glare deepened. “We will refer it to the DOJ”. He then sat up straight in his chair. “I know all about you and how you had four FBI agents arrested five years ago.”

She thought he seemed a little bitter about that. “May I remind you, Agent Wells, it was determined they were corrupt agents who gave us, the good ones ─ yourself included ─ a bad name. So, I’m having a difficult time understanding what has you disgruntled with me doing that.”

“I am not disgruntled. I just don’t appreciate you walking in here acting like the Bureau is filled with bad agents.”

He was on the defensive side, and she wondered why. “I didn’t walk in here acting in any particular way, but here are the facts. Two men posing as FBI agents recruited Karl Halifax into what he thought was a sting operation, and with enough accurate information about him to seem believable. Secondly, Mr. Halifax alleges the agents provided him with a weapon that he used in self-defense to kill Donnie Barcos. I don’t want to think any of that is true, but there’s a chance it might be. So, forgive me if, former agent or not, I have a problem with anyone giving the good agents still working for the Bureau a bad name. Obviously, you don’t.”

She stood. “Good day, Agent Wells.”

Hollis then walked out of his office.

***

Agent Jack Wells remained seated at his desk with former Agent Hollis Calloway’s words ringing in his ears. He hadn’t liked what she’d said, and, reining in his anger, he picked up the phone off his desk and pressed a button.

“This is Agent Harris.”

Wells tightened his grip on the phone and said, “It appears we have a problem.”

CHAPTER 14