Deadlock (FBI Thriller #24)(12)

Lucy McKnight elbowed herself closer without a problem. She was six months pregnant, though at first glance you’d guess maybe three months, so no one got in her way. “A town on the water. What town? What is that body of water? It gives the impression of being old, well-established. Look at that rickety pier. Does it look familiar to anyone?” She drew a big breath and stared at the assembled agents around the table. “It’s kind of hard to miss the line of dead seagulls on the pier, and aren’t those human bones on the sidewalk?”

Davis Sullivan said, “Maybe it’s some kind of warning, or threat. And the box was addressed directly to Savich, marked ‘personal.’?”

Denny said, “I don’t like this, Savich. A bunch of dead birds and bones. What do you think it means?”

Mr. Maitland’s deep voice sounded behind Lucy. “What’s this all about, Savich? Some goofball’s sending you a freaking puzzle? And it’s taking this whole roomful of brains to fit the pieces together?”

Savich nodded to Mr. Maitland, his boss, now standing beside Lucy, both of them bent over to see the puzzle better. Like with pregnant Lucy, no one got in his way, either. Not even when he cut the taco line in the cafeteria, claiming an urgent meeting, and no one believed him.

“Yes, they helped, and the ‘freaking puzzle’ shows the bottom third of a town. And dead birds and bones. Nothing obvious yet. No one knows what town it is.”

Savich shook out the red wrapping paper. It looked new, as did the red box. There was nothing else, no identifying marks on the box.

Mr. Maitland pointed. “I’ll bet people have fished off that old pier for more years than we’ve been on this earth. It looks like those dead gulls were carefully lined up along that pier and the human bones arranged just so on the sidewalk. And no one’s around. That’s odd, too.”

Savich said to the group, “A third of a puzzle, meant to be a teaser. We can shortly expect another red box with more puzzle pieces for us to fit together. I hope there aren’t any more human remains—”

“Or whole bodies,” Lucy said.

“Take photos and show them on our network. See if anyone in the building knows this waterside town. When the next box arrives—and it will come soon—Denny, would you please bring it to us yourself?”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Denny said.

Mr. Maitland stepped back to let agents snap photos with their phones. He said to Savich, “Always something interesting going on in your unit, but this isn’t why I’m here. Come with me. There’s something we need to discuss.”

When he and Mr. Maitland were alone in his office, Savich said, “That red box, I expected something horrific right off the bat, but this has some subtlety to it.” He paused. “Well, subtle for now, anyway. I’ll bet you when Denny arrives with the second red box, he’ll have agents from all over the building with him.”

“You’d win that bet,” Maitland said. “Let’s hope it’s only a crazy and not a real threat to you.”

Savich shrugged. “Whoever it is, this is his show for now. He wants to preen, show me how clever he is. Bones and dead birds?”

Mr. Maitland said, “Trouble is, the finale of his show might be to drop a hammer on your head. You know that, right?”

Savich nodded. Yes, he knew it was very possible.

Mr. Maitland stretched out his legs and studied Savich’s face. “Whoever this is, he went to a lot of trouble. If he escalates, you’ll find out soon enough why you’re in his crosshairs. Use all the resources you need to get on top of this. We don’t know if this wacko is serious.”

Savich nodded again.

“Hey, Goldy told me Sherlock’s memory is one hundred percent intact again. That’s a huge relief.”

Savich smiled and heaved a big breath. “An understatement. There are no more holes, no more questions or uncertainties. Her very fine brain and all her memories are once again with us.” He paused. “It took nearly two months for all the empty pockets to fill in. Sean never realized his mother couldn’t remember him, and for that we’re profoundly grateful.”

Mr. Maitland sat back in his chair and folded his hands over his belly. He said, “Halloween’s right around the corner. I remember some years ago now, my four boys got all dressed up like Freddy Krueger and scared the crap out of most of our neighbors when they opened their doors. June and I tried not to be amused. The four Freddy Kruegers came home loaded with candy, doubtless from extortion. What’s Sean going to be this year?”

“Captain Corbin. Astro will be his sidekick, Orkett.” At Mr. Maitland’s blank look, Savich grinned. “A children’s series. Corbin hunts down crooks in the galaxy, and Orkett, his dog, eats oatmeal cookies and gets him out of tight spots. Now, sir, I presume you’re here to talk more about Mrs. Manvers’s attempted kidnapping today?”

“I guess you didn’t see Congressman Manvers on TV this morning. He gave an account of his wife’s attack and asked for information. I was impressed. He acted quickly, he was straightforward, and he delivered a clear message. Viewers will empathize with him since they could see he was quite upset by what happened.” Mr. Maitland began to drum his fingertips on his chair arm.

“All right, sir. So there’s more. Talk to me.”