Page 88 of Broken
Ethan toddled into the family room, picked up the bouncy ball she’d bought for him, then flung it toward them.
“How about we throw that ball in the basement or outside?” Prescott suggested.
Ethan ran after the ball and threw it again. This time, Prescott intercepted it. “Basement or outside? What’ll it be?”
Ethan glared at him. Prescott didn’t budge.
Jacqueline bit back a smile. She had a front-row seat to a power struggle.
“No,” Ethan pushed back.
“You can play with something else then.” Prescott set the ball on top of the counter.
“I want to play with my new ball from Jack.” Ethan regarded her. “Jack, can I have my ball, please?”
Refusing to get involved, she said, “You have to ask your uncle.”
“Why are you leaving?” Prescott asked.
“I’m going to research the missions for overlap, then head to my sister-in-law’s for dinner. Good luck with this stand-off. May the best man win.” She regarded Ethan. “I’ll come back another day, and we can play football or color together. Would that be fun?”
“Okay. Bye, Jack.”
“Don’t forget to drink some of that delicious water I brought you.”
As she made her way toward the front door, Prescott pulled up alongside her. “How’d I do today?”
She opened the front door, turned toward him. “With me or the kid?”
“Both.”
“Great with him, and since I didn’t end up screaming at you—like the last time we worked together—there’s hope for you yet. But there’s still plenty of time for you to screw this up.” With a wink, she left.
Back at Z’s condo, she jumped onto ALPHA’s secure site. She was looking for cases where the four targeted Ops had overlap. Starting with Gloria Whelan, she scanned her cases. Then, she opened a new browser and searched for Gloria’s home address. It took a little digging, but she found it. If she could find it, so could her killer. Then, all he had to do was tail her until he decided to gun her down.
Next, she started reading through Gloria’s missions. There were dozens, so she focused on the ones where the suspects were arrested and jailed for their crimes.
Her phone rang. It was Naomi.
“Hey,” she answered.
“What happened?” Naomi asked.
Jacqueline glanced at the time. It was six-forty. “I got absorbed in work. Be there shortly.”
She hung up, logged out of ALPHA, and left.
When she arrived at Naomi’s, she brought in the dog toys. Her sister-in-law was busy cooking while Cleo lay in the corner. Three pups scampered over to her.
After greeting all the dogs, she hugged Naomi. “Smells so good.”
“Tuna steak with seasoned vegetables and wild rice,” Naomi gave her a double take. “You look… hmm… happy? Yeah, you look a little glowy.”
Prescott.
“Probably just my oily complexion,” Jacqueline replied, and they shared a laugh. “Your crew is getting smaller.”
“Three of the babies were picked up by their families.” She handed Jacqueline a bottle of unopened Chardonnay. “I miss them, but six puppies were a lot.”
