NO CLOSURE NO FORGIVENESS (5 page)

Reality was
really beginning to kick fantasy’s butt. The longer Jessica stood in front of
Doctor Sarah Chapman, the more she wanted to escape into a dream. Maybe she’d
transform into a heroic adventure character, knock the good doctor down, and
run far away to safety.

It wasn’t
happening.

“Doctor
Chapman,” Jessica said nervously, feeling like a scared kid returning home from
school with an expulsion notice.

“You broke in
here. Why?”

“Why are you
here, Doctor? I never heard you come in.”

Doctor
Chapman raised an eyebrow. “I think you and I need to talk, Jessica. There are
things you should know.”

“Okay,”
Jessica said, taking a small step forward. “What’s going on? Is this about…”

Jessica’s
voice trailed. What was she asking about anyway? Irene Brenner’s murder had
barely been publicized, and it was unlikely that the doctor would have much
interest in the case.

“To answer
your question, yes, this has everything to do with the case you’re working.”

“Talk to me,
Doctor. Do you know a man named Patrick Brenner?”

“Yes, I know
him,” the doctor said with a nod.

Now Jessica
was beginning to get upset. There was the lack of answers, the running around
in circles the last few days, and the fact that she’d committed a crime
punishable by up to five years in prison and it could all amount to nothing.

“You expect
me to believe that it’s a coincidence? That a killer just happened to be seeing
the same head shrink as me?”

Sarah
retreated a step and Jessica realized she’d raised her voice a bit too loudly.
“There are a lot of things you need to know about Patrick Brenner, even though
I’m not really allowed to tell you…” the doctor’s voice trailed and her eyes
began darting around the room as if she were desperately searching for an
escape.

“What is it,
Sarah?” Jessica repeated, even louder. “What is it about Brenner that I need to
know?”

The doctor
hesitated and for the first time since she’d independently chosen to take Irene
Brenner’s case, the truth about her ex-husband that had eluded her for so long
began to emerge. Patrick Brenner was a lot more dangerous than she’d thought,
and a lot more deranged as well. The doctor’s eyes told the same story.

Jessica
raised her hands in surrender and walked calmly towards the shaken doctor.
“Look, can we go for a ride some place and talk? I promise I can sort out the
whole window thing in a few days.”

Sarah didn’t
answer. Abruptly, she turned her head to the right and stared down the office
building’s long hallway. To Jessica’s dismay, she heard the heavy, official
sounds of city police officers walking in their direction. They’d been summoned
by the silent alarm. Or maybe someone had witnessed the break-in. Perhaps it
was Sarah herself who had contacted police prior to coming to the office. For
all Jessica knew, the whole “I have something to tell you” speech was just a
stall tactic.

If so, the
ruse had worked.

Sarah stepped
away as the full figures of three tall, tough, angry looking police officers
walked into the building. The two Jessica recognized wore standard issue
uniforms. The third, however, she’d never seen before. He wore a sharp navy
blue suit against a matching necktie and white dress shirt. He also wore black,
wire-rimmed eyeglasses. And he wore a dark sports coat.

Maybe an
Internal Affairs investigator?

“Detective
Galloway,” the suit said. “I’m Supervisory Special Agent Fred Donahue. I need
you to come with me.”

Jessica’s
eyes widened.
Agent?
 Why would the Federal Bureau of Investigation be
sending its agents to a break-in? Then the harsh reality kicked in. The FBI was
likely involved because its star witness, Andrew Hoffman had disappeared and
the Bureau still had plans to work him. Or worse, something bad had happened to
Andrew and Fred Donahue wanted to bring her in to share the terrible news
before advising her of her rights and beginning an investigation.

Any minute
she’d be that good woman turned bad, a pathetic sight sitting in a courtroom
wearing an orange jumpsuit, handcuffs, and leg irons.

“Detective
Galloway, we need to go. Now.”

One of the
officers stepped forward but Jessica raised her hands again in surrender. “You
don’t need to handcuff me. I’m coming.”

Reluctantly,
Jessica joined the two police officers and the federal agent in the hall.
Doctor Sarah Chapman was nowhere to be found. Maybe she’d disappeared. Jessica
was beginning to think she wasn’t the only one around with mental health problems.
Everyone seemed to be acting weird, as if they weren’t who they said they were.
Or if they had a hidden agenda of some kind and needed to keep information from
her.

Quieting her
inner worrier once again, Jessica grudgingly allowed her new law enforcement
friends to escort her down the hallway and back outside into the cold. The
strong winds she’d felt earlier that day were stronger than ever. Jessica felt
a burning sensation in her fingers even though she’d worn gloves.

At least a
half an hour had passed since she’d first shattered the back window with a rock
and dropped inside the building, so the time was around nine o’clock. Jessica
wondered when, if ever, the night would ever end.

She wished
Andrew was here.

The tables
had turned. Detective Jessica Galloway no longer felt like she had the right to
call herself a police officer. A patriot fighting for justice and a fair life
maybe, but a homicide cop? No, even she had to admit she’d crossed too many
lines.

Jessica sat
quietly in an interview room—not an interrogation room—back at the precinct. The
room was dimly lit, but comfortable and warm. If not for the late hour, she
wouldn’t mind being here so much. At the very least, maybe she could find some
answers. But all she wanted to do was rest, recharge her batteries, and find a
killer.

And of course
reunite with the man she loved.

She sighed
and wondered what she would say to the other members of the Homicide Division
when they learned the truth about some of the things she’d done. Lieutenant
Mann had yet to show his face. Then again, he was probably sick of hearing her
name or even knowing she existed.

Since Agent
Donahue had dropped her off, she’d sat and waited in the interview room for
what seemed like an hour. She was beginning to think no one was coming.  A
disgusted, disgruntled colleague had come in about twenty minutes and sat a cup
of coffee in front of her before walking away without saying a word. Jessica
didn’t like coffee. But Donahue entered the room moments later and Jessica
found herself downing the sugarless, cream-less, caffeine-filled beverage as
quickly as she could.

“Detective
Galloway, good to see you again. Another cup of coffee?”

Jessica
didn’t respond.

“Okay, so
before we get going, I guess I should tell you that your days in Homicide are
coming to an end. I spoke with Lieutenant Mann and the commissioner. Internal
Affairs will interview you eventually. What do you think they’re going to
find?”

Again,
Jessica didn’t speak. She wanted to know about Andrew, and whether something terrible
had happened to him.

“They’re
going to find a pattern of rogue, corrupt behavior from a detective you and I
both know isn’t fit to do this job.”

Jessica
gritted her teeth in anger. Still, she said nothing.

“And once
they do that,” Donahue continued, “they’ll take your badge and pension, kick
you off the force, and the short career of Detective Jessica Galloway will be
nothing but a piece of history.”

Finally,
Jessica spoke. “Are you going somewhere with this Agent Donahue? Or are you
just going to sit here and state the obvious?”

“It depends,”
Donahue said, relaxing in his seat and taking a few sips of his own coffee.
“Can you leave this job and the idea of being an officer of the law behind for
a little while?”

Now the anger
was too much to contain. “Are you serious?” she asked through clenched teeth.
“Being a cop meant more to me than— “

“Your
boyfriend.” Donahue reached forward and thumbed through the stack of paperwork
he’d brought into the room. “Ah, let’s see. Here we go. Andrew Hoffman. We know
you’ve been in contact with him.”

“So?”

“So he’s a
federal witness. You communicating with him the way you have been makes you
guilty of obstructing with a federal investigation.”

“Ohhh, I
see,” Jessica said sarcastically. “So you’re not here to state the obvious,
you’re just here to charge me with another crime.”

“No, I’m not
Galloway. We don’t want to put you in jail, we want you to help us with our
investigation.”

Jessica was
stunned but she wasn’t going for it. The only thing that was important to her
was leaving the precinct and resuming her chase for Patrick Brenner, especially
since she now had a new lead. Still, she wanted to hear more.

“Are you
talking about the drug investigation?”

Agent Donahue
raised an eyebrow. “Drug investigation?”

“Yeah. Andrew
testified at this trial against a bunch of thugs.”

“Did he tell
you about it?”

“He would
never lie to me.”

“He would if
he had to.”

“Then tell me
the truth. What was really going on?”

Once again,
Agent Donahue sat back in his seat. He removed his eye glasses and rubbed his
eyes. “Well, I have some good news to share with you, Detective. We’ve been
investigating Patrick Brenner for several years.”

Jessica’s
eyes widened. Now it made perfect sense. She knew all along there had been
something way off about Brenner, ever since the day she’d first run into the
alcoholic following Irene’s first domestic abuse complaint. But a federal
investigation? Even that was a stretch for Jessica’s imagination.

“What was
Brenner caught up in?” she asked.

Agent Donahue
rapped his knuckles on the table. “Go home and get some sleep. Meet me at the
Bureau headquarters first thing tomorrow morning and we’ll talk further.”

Jessica woke
up around six the next morning. Lying in the bed, she reflected on the happenings
of the previous day. She was still confused about her status.
A rogue cop?
She
asked herself.
But then, why FBI should ask for her help? And why her help?
The
more she brooded over it, the more confused she got.
Hopefully, I will have
the answers today
, she said to herself.

She got up
from her bed and carried out her usual routine. Since technically she was no
longer a cop she opted to wear her hair down so that it hung past her
shoulders. She avoided the delicate makeup touch she usually added. Without a
badge and gun, she grabbed a Taser and a can of mace for protection. Then she
left the house and headed for the FBI’s Baltimore field office, roughly twenty
minutes from her home.

Jessica
rubbed her eyes as she drove. She’d barely managed to get more than a few hours
of sleep last night, having spent all night sweating and over thinking. She
jerked her head to focus on the road. But, details of what had happened over
the last twenty-four hours, kept flooding her mind intermittently. The FBI
investigation and the thought of working for the agency was intriguing. Doctor
Sarah Chapman’s actions back at the office, from her suspicious appearance to
her sudden disappearance didn’t sit right with her. And then there was Brenner.
Who exactly was he and what had he done?

Jessica
pulled into the FBI field office, parked, got out, and walked towards the main
entrance. She’d never thought she’d see the day where she’d get a chance to
walk through the building, let alone work for the agency. The building seemed
much larger than it did on television and in pictures. Once inside, Jessica
could see why the Bureau’s elite agents walked around cockily with their
sharply pressed suits and arrogant swagger.

The main
lobby was brightly lit, warm, and cozy. There were no agents walking around,
nor were there any other visitors in the room. Jessica walked up to the front
desk and spoke with a young female agent who looked as if she were having the
best day of her life. She was smiling even before Jessica approached.

“Good
morning,” the agent said. The woman was about a head shorter than Jessica was,
with startling beach blonde hair. “How can I help you ma’am?”

Jessica told
the agent that she had an appointment scheduled with Agent Donahue that
morning. The woman behind the main desk nodded, made a phone call, and then
instructed Jessica to take a seat. Donahue walked through sliding glass doors
before she had the chance.

“Glad to see
you made it Miss Galloway. Follow me to my office.”

Jessica
silently marveled at the interior of the FBI building as she walked down the
hallway with Agent Donahue. The conference rooms, offices, floors, and walls
were all well-shined. Jessica couldn’t help but wonder if she’d just walked
into the cleanest building she’d ever entered.

Donahue
turned down a corridor and opened the first door on the right with a swipe of a
key card. He opened the door and invited Jessica inside.

“Take a seat,
Jessica. We have a lot to discuss.”

Yes, we do
, Jessica thought as she walked into
the supervisory special agent’s office and took a seat across his desk. The
longer this journey continued, the more intrigued she found herself. Still, she
longed to know the real truth, to take action instead of waiting for things to
naturally fall into place.

The federal
agent rummaged through his desk and file cabinets for the necessary paperwork.
He spent a few minutes filling out a form and typing something on his keyboard.
He whistled while he spoke, his face bright and chipper. He was the happiest
law enforcement official Jessica had ever seen. His office was extremely neat,
maybe even obsessively so. The walls were bare and the paint looked as if it
were being reapplied every other day.

“Okay, so
let’s get to the good news first Jessica. Is it okay if I call you by your
first name?”

“Of course.
Can I do the same?”

“Sure you can
call me Fred.”

“Then we’re
all set.”

“Good. Your
career at Baltimore City Homicide isn’t over by the way.”

“Somehow I
seriously doubt that. I’ve made a lot of terrible mistakes.”

“We know
Jessica. Both your squad and the Bureau have allowed you to make those
mistakes. In some cases, we even set you up to make them. I was just testing
you yesterday.”

Jessica
frowned. The agent was singing a completely different tune than he had last
night.

“Why would my
Lieutenant and the rest of the division knowingly allow me to make the bad
choices I made? she asked.

“Because the
Bureau needs your help, Miss Galloway. We need someone undercover to take on
the Brenner case. Preferably someone who isn’t afraid of thinking outside the
box, if you know what I mean.”

For the first
time in what seemed like years, a smile crossed Jessica’s face. The agent had
her full attention now and she had reason to expect he was lying to her.

“You never
told me about Patrick Brenner. He’s a primary suspect in his wife’s murder.
What else has he done?”

“We suspect
him in four bank robberies, the most recent being the one you may have heard
about.”

Jessica was
shocked to hear the news. “You mean that big bank downtown, the one that got
hit for almost a million?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Jessica found
it incredulous that the experiences she’d had throughout the week were so
linked to one another. She’d been listening to the radio with Irene when news
of the robbery was first reported. It had been only moments before Irene was
gunned down.

“He’s never
killed before, not that we know of,” Fred continued. “The downtown robbery
didn’t seem to fit his profile. But even if we can’t get him for robbery, we
can sure get him for murder. What do you say?”

“Well, of
course I’m in. One quick question. There’s this doctor—

“She’s just a
doctor who happened to treat Brenner once before. And yes, she was pretty
disturbed by last night’s events.”

“I see,”
Jessica said, nodding slowly. She felt a little better knowing Sarah Chapman
wasn’t heavily involved in any of this. On the other hand, she did feel guilty.
She’d broken into the woman’s office, the environment where she worked.

“So where
would I start, Fred?”

“Right where
you left off. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. We only brought you in
because of what you and Andrew did to that guy at the church. A little too
public for us.”

“Where the
hell is Andrew?” Jessica asked, suddenly on the defensive. “What’s his role in
this? You’re working him as a confidential informant haven’t you?”

“Of course
not,” Fred said with a small grin. “We wouldn’t let you anywhere near him if
that was the case.”

“Then
what
?”
Jessica pressed.

“He’s just
one of us. But, I’ll let him tell you himself. He’s outside waiting for you.
Oh, and here.”

The federal
agent reached back into a drawer and pulled out a set of car keys. Immediately,
Jessica recognized them as the keys to the truck Andrew had driven, the same
truck she’d left abandoned in an alley after he’d walked away, seemingly
forever.

Jessica
nodded in agreement and left the office without saying another word. She didn’t
stop to think about the fact that she was moving through the building
unescorted, or the fact she hadn’t bothered to get any answers to the millions
of questions still spinning around in her head. She quickened her pace, then
suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion.

Jessica had
never considered herself a crybaby. Emotional, but not a crybaby. And there was
a time to be emotional and a time to remain focused. Right now she couldn’t
afford to take a few moments to herself.

She turned
around, realizing that Fred Donahue had been following her the entire time. The
rest of the hallway was completely empty. To the right of where she stood was a
special squad room of some kind. To the left of her was an equipment room.

Jessica
continued through the building, back into the lobby, and outside. She avoided
the rental car and began searching for the shiny red pickup truck.

The search
took less than five seconds. Because Andrew was standing directly in front of
the vehicle. But he looked…different. Far more professional than she’d ever
seen. And once she made the connection, Jessica’s heart filled with joy.

She ran
towards the truck, picking up speed as a slow grin crossed Andrew’s face. There
were a few other people in the parking lot but no one seemed to pay much
attention. Which was why she had no issue whatsoever wrapping Andrew up in a
bear hug. She didn’t even want this moment to be romantic at all. Jessica only
wanted to hold him as tightly as possible, so that he could never go away
again.

Eventually,
she released Andrew, took a step back, and looked into his eyes. “What
happened? What was all that about back there?”

“I had
orders, Jessica. It doesn’t matter right now. Let’s just get going. You got any
ideas?”

“Yeah,”
Jessica said as she climbed into the truck. “Let’s go look for a doctor.”