Edge of Mercy (A Kate Reid Novel Book 11), Robin Mahle [freenovel24 .txt] 📗

take and I feel like you’re always so very sure. Maybe I’m doing something wrong. Maybe I’m not cut out for this job.”

“You are, Fisher. I would never doubt that. I can’t say I’m happy about what happened, but it sure as hell wasn’t your fault. You know, maybe it should have been you all along. I think Cole turned to me because I had a few high-profile cases under my belt.”

“Because of Reid.”

“Yeah, because of Reid,” Nick said. “But it’s your show now. All I’m asking is that you don’t dismiss what she’s capable of. I know you’ve seen it yourself. She has a lot to learn, but damn if she doesn’t pick up on the shit that we miss.”

Fisher appeared to think on the matter. “I can’t have her rattling cages. The guys in Mexico City answer to HQ, not us. If they get the sense that Reid is working on this without their consent, Cole will hear about it. There’s a way to do this and make it look like it’s all for those guys there, you understand?”

“I get it. I know she’ll want Walsh in on it because of the groundwork they both did,” Nick said.

Fisher nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll do what I can to help but nothing we currently have can fall through the cracks.”

“Understood.”

Kate was in her office with Walsh when Nick appeared. “Just the people I wanted to see.” He walked inside.

“We were just discussing our options,” Walsh said.

“I figured that might be the case. I just spoke to Fisher and he agreed that you both should move forward on the concern that Bishop might have help here in the US.”

Kate glanced at Walsh with noted surprise and returned to Nick. “Well, I’m glad he listens to you.”

“It didn’t have anything to do with me. It had everything to do with the fact that he has faith in you. Both of you. As long as you don’t start poking around in the Mexico City office without them asking for help, then you have the opening you need to find out what the hell happened and how we lost Bishop.”

“What about Duncan? We’ll need everyone on this,” Walsh said. “We’re still a team.”

“We are. Like I said, do what you have to do. If Duncan needs to play a role, then so be it. Just keep this quiet. Do your jobs.” Nick stood up to leave. “And find that son of a bitch.”

Walsh waited for Nick to be out of earshot before he looked back at Kate. “Despite all the bullshit that has gone down since we got back from Rio, Scarborough’s still a hell of a leader. Nothing against Fisher, but when it comes to listening to your team, he’ll no doubt give you the rope you need.”

Kate smiled. “So long as we don’t hang ourselves with it. Where do you want to start?”

“You’re the one with the hunch. You tell me,” Walsh replied.

“Okay. I see where this is headed,” Kate smiled. “The first thing I’d like to know is how the hell we lost two days? Your contact found a match to the fake passport Bishop used, but yet it was delayed.”

“I can reach out to him and try to get clarification, but I would assume there was a lag in the reporting. I imagine it must happen on occasion. I can’t say for sure, but it’s something I can follow up on.”

“Okay. Then we have Holly. She waited almost a full day before contacting us and that might have been only because we had talked to her now-boyfriend and then she saw something on the news. Which, by the way, I find incredibly interesting that she would be dating the same man who had reported Bishop’s behavior to his higher-ups.”

“Not to mention Holly insisted Bishop was trying to poison her,” Walsh said. “I wonder if that means he’d discovered something about her. Something like she was cheating on him with this other doctor?”

“That’s a possibility. More importantly, is that if she suspected he was trying to kill her, why not report it to the authorities?” Kate pressed on.

“I can’t answer that. I would suggest it warrants another conversation with Holly, though. Do you want to run on that while I follow up with my guy on the passport?”

“It’s a good start, yes.” She watched as Walsh stood up and prepared to leave. “Hey, Levi?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for believing in me.”

“It would be the same if the shoe was on the other foot.”

“You know it.” She smiled as he left her office.

It should have come as no surprise to Kate that Nick had convinced Fisher to go along with her theory. It made all kinds of sense to her, but this morning’s meeting confirmed she hadn’t been able to convince Fisher, but Nick had. There was no denying he always believed in her and right from the very start. Walsh was right. Nick was a good leader. He listened to his team. Fisher seemed to shy away from going against the grain and perhaps that was because it was still early days. He was still finding his footing.

However, there was no mistaking that what Nick had done, he had done for her. If it helped the investigation, then all the better. But Kate knew he was making up for his past mistake. A mistake she’d begun to see as a lapse in judgment from an otherwise talented agent who could work a case like no one she had ever seen.

It had taken Kate years to learn to forgive. It started with a lie from desperate parents willing to do anything to keep their daughter from finding out who she was. She’d forgiven them for doing something far more egregious than Nick had ever or likely would ever do. Yet she had, thus far, been unwilling to forgive him for falling back on a vice that had become his disease. No one had been harmed by his actions. Maybe it was time Kate