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

“That sounds like an invitation to pay him a visit,” Surrey replied.

The sun dipped below the horizon and only the fiery glow remained. Kate peered at it through the window of the restaurant while sipping on a glass of iced tea. “I thought we’d be on our way home by now.”

Surrey nodded. “Getting a warrant takes time, but I think you made the right call. The doctor’s behavior is suspicious. Who hangs up on a fed?” He grabbed his glass of water and swallowed a large gulp. “The more we come up against, the more inclined I am to believe you were right.”

“What do you mean?” Kate turned back to him.

“I mean about the hunch that someone is helping Theodore Bishop. None of this is adding up. It’s as though everyone in that man’s life has shielded him.”

“But why? How could they do that?” she asked.

“The only answer to that is whoever is helping him must wield a fair bit of power. The power to make or break careers, ambitions.” Surrey nodded. “Yeah, it smells pretty bad.”

“I need to know how far Fisher will go to back me. I thought this would be a quick one-off, get back and piece together what happened.”

“Did you really think it would be that easy?” Surrey asked. “You’ve been doing this long enough to know better. You’ve been after this guy for what, two, three weeks? Now he’s weaseled his way out of the country. Reid, I don’t think any of this is going to be easy, which is why I’m glad it’s you on the job.”

A half-cocked smiled played on her lips. “Kissing up to me won’t guarantee you this job, Surrey. I’m not the one who will make the call.”

“First of all, I wasn’t kissing up to you. What I said, I said based on my experiences. Secondly, I haven’t decided if this is the right move for me in any case. Between the relationship you and Scarborough have, the fact that the Senior Unit Agent is also dating another agent; it all feels very swampy to me. I’m not sure I want to step into that muck.”

Kate chuckled. “I can’t argue your point. But what I can say is that Fisher is objective almost to a fault. Yes, he is in a relationship with Eva Duncan, but you know how hard it is to meet people outside of our line of work? Are you married?”

Surrey shook his head. “Divorced. And you might be right about meeting people. Still, I do my best to keep away from the political bullshit. As much as I admire what you did for our office and what you’re doing on this investigation, I’m not sure I’m convinced this is the right move for me.”

Kate nodded and reached for her phone. “Hang on.” She peered at the caller ID. “Looks like we might’ve just gotten our warrant.” She swiped to answer the call. “Reid here.” Kate nodded. “Perfect. That’s exactly what we need. Can you also send a copy to Agent Cameron Fisher at Quantico? Thank you so much. Goodbye, sir.”

“You got it?” Surrey asked.

“Sure did. You don’t mind if I step outside for a moment, do you? I need to call Fisher and get him up to speed. I’m sure no one in here wants to listen to me on my phone.” Kate excused herself from the table. “I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time,” Surrey replied.

Kate pushed through the door and walked outside with the phone at her ear. “Hey Fisher, it’s me. Listen, I just got the warrant we discussed. They’re sending you a copy as well.”

“It’s getting a little late to serve it tonight though, don’t you think?” He asked.

Kate checked the time on her phone before continuing. “Looks like it’ll have to wait until first thing in the morning. I know I promised we’d be back by tonight…”

“Don’t sweat it. Do what you have to do. If you believe this is the right path, then keep at it, but let me know how things go in the morning. Oh, by the way, what do you think of Surrey?”

“He seems very capable,” she replied.

“Capable? That’s it? Doesn’t sound like he’s made much of an impression on you.”

She sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good agent. I can see that. And to be honest, he’s offered helpful insight today. It just takes time to get to know people.”

“But you’re not ruling him out as a candidate for Quinn’s replacement?” Fisher asked.

“I wouldn’t rule him out. No.”

“Good. Keep me up to speed on your progress. And Reid, try to get some sleep.”

“I will. Good night.” She pressed the end call button, but before going back inside, she wanted to update Nick. Call it a habit, or an obligation, it was just what she had to do. He quickly answered the line. “Hey, it’s me.”

“Hi, how’s it going? Still there, I see,” Nick replied.

“We hit a little bit of a snag but now that we got our warrant, we should be able to wrap this up tomorrow morning. I just wanted to give you a call before it got too late.”

“It’s never too late to get a call from you. Besides, it’s what? 8 o’clock? What am I, 60?” Nick laughed.

“Sorry. You’re right.” Kate chuckled. “Anyway, it looks like we’ll be staying here for the night. In the morning, we’ll serve a warrant to the doctor who attended to Theo’s father when he died.”

“He doesn’t want to cooperate, huh?”

“He hung up on me if that tells you anything.” Kate peered inside the restaurant. “Hey, um, we’re getting ready to eat some dinner, but I wanted to touch base. I’ll call you later?”

“Sure thing. Goodnight, babe,” Nick said.

“Good night.” Kate returned her phone to her pocket and walked back inside. As she returned to the table, their food had arrived, and Surrey had already tucked in.

“Everything good?” He said with a mouth full of food.

“It’s all