She toweled off, dried her hair, and changed into fresh clothes after throwing the scrubs and flip-flops into the trash.
Starving, she took the elevator down to the lobby and walked into the hotel restaurant, where she ordered coffee and a sandwich. She pulled out her phone to check her messages. There were three from Puller in her mailbox.
She quickly called him. “Everything okay?”
“I guess it didn’t warrant the national news pipeline,” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
Puller filled her in on the attack at his apartment.
“Oh my God. How did you get out of that alive?”
“My cat alerted me.”
“Wait a minute, you have a cat?”
“AWOL. He sensed them before I did. Not sure how, but I pay attention when he gets riled. So when they came in, I wasn’t there. I was waiting outside my apartment with flashbangs and my M11s. Got the jump on them. But some reinforcements showed up and they all got away.”
“Thank God for AWOL.”
“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you,” he said.
Her coffee and sandwich arrived, and she took a sip of her drink. “You got a few minutes? I had my own little adventure.” She filled him in on what had happened to her the previous night.
“You’re lucky to be alive, too,” he said.
“I know.”
“So this Lindsey Axilrod was a setup?”
“Yes.”
“I gave you her name. So this is on me.”
“You had no idea. I’m normally suspicious of everyone, but Axilrod played it just right. She put me off my guard with her dumb-girl routine, and letting me think I was leading her around, when it was actually the reverse. I can tell you I’m never getting into another Uber again.”
“So the odds are very good that Axilrod does not show up for work today.”
“And I highly doubt we’ll find her at home, but I’m going to check there anyway.”
“I can send you the address. I have it in my files.”
“How did your ‘attack’ plan go?”
“I met with him yesterday, drove home, and got ambushed. I have no idea if the two events are connected. I hope they’re not, because that would suggest a mole inside the Army at a pretty high level.”
“I think Teddy Vincenzo was spot-on when he said his son was in way over his head.”
“The son might not even be alive at this point,” noted Puller.
“If not, there goes my only lead to Ito. So what’s your next move?”
“I should wait for my command to get back to me. But I don’t think I will. I don’t like it when people come to my home and shoot it up. I take that personally.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Somebody must have seen something last night. It’s not like they were bothering to keep quiet; they brought full artillery. What about you?”
“I also don’t take kindly when someone pulls the shit they did with me last night. So shoot me her address and I’m going after Axilrod.”
“Let’s compare notes later, and Atlee, I know I don’t have to tell you, but I am anyway.”
“I’m going to watch every flank I have. And trust nobody.”
“Copy that.”
The phone went dead. Pine finished her coffee and sandwich and then had another cup.
When she saw Blum enter the restaurant, she waved her over.
“I’m sorry, Carol, I should have invited you to eat with me.”
“No, it’s fine. I already ate.” She sat down and looked at her boss.
Pine read everything in the woman’s eyes. “I know, Carol. I know. I have to be more careful.” She took a few minutes to fill Blum in on what had happened to Puller.
“My God! So I assume you’ve talked to him?”
“Just now. He said his cat saved him.”
“Good cats do, you know,” replied Blum matter-of-factly. Pine’s expression darkened. “A woman is dead because of me, Carol. And I have to make that right.”
“I had already anticipated that you would say that. But I’ll tell you what I told you back in Andersonville. You’re here to find out what happened to your sister. And while the two cases may have some tangential connections, you could spend all your time on one, solve it, and make no progress on your sister.”
“I had thought about that. But I can’t just let this go. A young kid with a great future is dead. I saw him die. A young woman who was out at a party had her head nearly cut off. And I think she was chosen as a victim so that I could be set up and found dead with the body. So that’s on me, too. I am not going to let these assholes get away with this. I’m an FBI agent. This is my wheelhouse. And it always will be.”
“Another thing I anticipated you saying. And I’m not disagreeing with you. I just want you to move forward fully informed. Including my two cents.”
Pine reached out and gripped Blum’s hand. “I appreciate your two cents. It always turns out to be far more valuable than that.”
“So what now?”
“I have two people to find. Tony Vincenzo and Lindsey Axilrod. And who knows, one might very well lead me to the other.”
Chapter 33
Puller emailed Lindsey Axilrod’s home address to Pine. In it he also verified that Axilrod had not shown up for work that morning. She and Blum drove over to the small bungalow situated in a quiet neighborhood about five miles from Fort Dix.
“No car in the driveway,” observed Blum.
“Front door closed. No lights on that I can see, though it is daylight. No one lurking in the bushes.”
They pulled to a stop at the curb, got out, and walked up to the front door. Pine rapped on the wood and waited. No answer. She rapped harder, with the same result.
Pine eyed the doorbell. “She has a doorbell with a camera, so she’s probably watching us right now from wherever she is.” They walked to the backyard, where there were two listing and rusted poles set in concrete and the remnants of a rotted clothesline, which was hanging down to the ground. A wooden and shingled utility shed sat back against the fence.
Pine walked over to it and peered in one of the windows. “No dead bodies hanging from the rafters. Just a lawn mower and some gardening tools.”
“What do we do now?” asked Blum.
“I’d really like to get into her house.”
“But without a search warrant we have no legal standing to do so. And if you’re thinking about breaking and entering again, I would advise against it.”
“Maybe I can do something that would allow us legal entry then.”
She made a call and said, “I’m FBI Special Agent Atlee Pine. I was supposed to meet with a woman named Lindsey Axilrod about a matter I’m investigating. She did not show up for work today and we’re at her home now. She is not responding to my knocks. I’d like you to do a welfare check on her because I’m worried that something might have happened to her.” Pine gave the address and put her phone away and looked at Blum.
Five minutes later a cruiser pulled up in front of the house and two uniforms climbed out. One was in his forties, overweight with a flushed face and a bored look. The other was about a decade younger, tall and thin with a runner’s build, who looked far more animated than his partner at having been called in by the Bureau.
“You the FBI agent?” said the older cop. His name tag read DONNELLY, and he looked like a man going through the motions until his pension kicked in.
Pine produced her badge and creds and introduced Blum.
The younger cop, who had excitedly identified himself as Officer Brent Tatum, said, “What were you investigating with the lady who lives here?”
“Not something I can disclose, really, but I can tell you that she was a potential witness for something critical to national security that was going on at her place of work.”