Stolen. Part 17
"Do you think he's lying about Brighton firing at him?"
"h.e.l.l if I know." Noah rubbed his eyes and considered the scenario. "I don't want to believe that a federal agent would shoot at an unarmed suspect, or lie about an exchange of fire, but I think Sean was telling the truth. I called a friend in the New York office, and there's already an APB being prepared to send to the tri-state area. He'll be hunted down as armed and dangerous. He's still running."
"I'll fix it," Rick said.
"And Brighton?"
"Until we know more about the mole, it's too dangerous to expose Sean's undercover role until he's back under our protection. Use your best judgment in how to handle Agent Brighton. Use me if you have to. I'll talk to the New York director and have them pull the APB, then call her supervisor and read him in if I think it's necessary. Keep me in the loop every step of the way."
"Yes, sir," Noah said. "I'd like to brief Agent Madeaux-I need someone I trust in the New York office."
"Bring her in, but tread carefully-if the mole thinks we're on to him, he'll change his routine."
"Maybe that will give us a clue as to who he is."
"Maybe we already know-I'm digging around to see if there's any connection between Brighton and Paxton."
Sean had thought there might be after he was followed, until he realized she was the one who put him in jail twelve years ago. But that didn't mean it still wasn't true. If she was as volatile as Sean thought, Paxton might have been able to recruit her.
"Let me know what you learn at the crime scene." Rick hung up. That was when Noah realized that Rick hadn't said he'd call Sean in. Did Rick actually think that Sean on the run was better than Sean under his thumb?
At least Noah had permission to read in Suzanne Madeaux; he'd already asked her to meet him at the crime scene.
Two police cars and the coroner's van blocked the street outside Nash's apartment. Noah didn't immediately see Brighton or anyone who looked like a federal agent. But it was dark, after ten at night, and spectators had lined up across the street.
Noah introduced himself to one of the cops and showed his badge. "Who's in charge?"
"Detective Tucker. He's in the bas.e.m.e.nt with one of your people."
"Thanks." Noah showed his badge to the officer manning the bas.e.m.e.nt door and went down the stairs.
A woman wearing dirty beige slacks and a filthy white blouse was standing next to a plainclothes cop, but she was talking on the phone. Both had their badges clipped to their belts and looked over at Noah when he came down.
Brighton was saying, "He's a pilot, so make sure you contact all small, private airports as well. He has the means to leave the country; I want to make sure he doesn't."
She hung up and looked at Noah. "Special Agent Deanna Brighton from the FBI. This is a secure crime scene."
Noah identified himself. "Agent Brighton, I need a word with you."
Surprise and anger crossed her face; then she snapped, "I don't have time." She turned to Tucker. "This is a federal case; Rogan is a suspect in a federal crime. Understood?"
A vein in Tucker's jaw throbbed. He said, "Oh yeah, I hear you."
"Get your people to canva.s.s the area and let me know immediately if Rogan has been spotted. He's armed and dangerous."
"Agent Brighton," Noah snapped, "this isn't your case." He glanced at Tucker. "Detective, our NYPD liaison agent is on her way. I would appreciate it if you can work with Agent Madeaux to coordinate jurisdictional issues and resources."
Brighton turned to Noah. "Sean Rogan is a thief and a killer. I've been building a case against him for years. This is my investigation." She was dead serious. She either believed the lie or was doing this completely off book.
"There's no active federal or local investigation into Sean Rogan," Noah said.
"I'm not getting into this with you, Agent Armstrong. You're out of your jurisdiction."
Tucker was watching the exchange with unrestrained amus.e.m.e.nt. Noah had to put a stop to it.
"Brighton, outside, now."
"I'm leading the search. I've had Rogan's longtime friend Colton Thayer under surveillance, and Rogan is now working with him again. I knew it was only a matter of time before he slipped up, only he did it in a big way. Murder."
She had to have been following Thayer to know Sean was working with him. What else did she know? But Noah couldn't give an inch on this. Sean's life was in danger if every law enforcement agency thought he was a killer who'd shot at a cop. Noah wanted to tell her that Rogan was working for the FBI but didn't. If she was the mole, then Paxton would know what Sean was doing and Noah's entire investigation would be a bust.
Instead, he said, "a.s.sistant Director Stockton is talking to your boss right now. You are free to call headquarters. But the APB on Rogan has already been canceled."
"You can't do that! I walked into the apartment and Rogan is there with a gun in his hand and a dead body at his feet."
Noah prayed Sean hadn't lied to him about the gun.
"I identified myself," she continued, stepping closer to Noah, "and he ran. I chased him into the tunnels. He shot at me."
If Noah hadn't already talked to Sean, he might have believed her-she was a sworn FBI agent. And while not everyone in the Bureau was solid, Noah generally trusted them until they proved otherwise.
But Deanna Brighton had already created a lot of problems, and while Sean was a lot of things, he wasn't a liar.
"I'll get to the bottom of what happened," Noah said, "but you're relieved from this case."
"Like h.e.l.l-"
Suzanne walked down the stairs with another agent, a thirty-year-old tall, lanky male. "Noah, good to see you again. And Hayden Tucker, I heard you got your gold shield over the summer. Congratulations."
"Thanks much, Suz."
Brighton was staring at them like they were all crazy and she was the only sane person.
Suzanne continued, "I hear we're working on this together." She glanced around the bas.e.m.e.nt, which was crammed with computer equipment and books. "It's crowded down here. Why don't you and I walk through the crime scene and chat?"
"You still mixing it up with DeLucca up in Queens?"
Suzanne groaned. "DeLucca is off-limits." She said to Noah, "Noah, meet Agent Steve Gannon, White-Collar. I'll leave you to straighten out the deets, 'kay?" Her tone was light, but her eyes were serious. She was trying to tell Noah something, and he wasn't certain he got it.
"Deanna," Gannon said, "I talked to Suzanne, and she said D.C. is lead on the case. I think we should take a step back and listen to Agent Armstrong-"
"No! You don't understand. He's up to something big, and then he kills his partner."
She was talking to Gannon, not Noah. The dynamic was interesting, and she was borderline hysterical.
Noah said, "Sean didn't kill Hunter Nash."
She turned to Noah, her light eyes wild. "You don't know that!"
Noah turned to Steve Gannon. "Agent Gannon, I suggest that you convince your partner to leave and go directly to your office."
"Deanna," Gannon said, looking from Noah to his partner, "let's go."
Deanna took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. "No. Wait. You have to listen to me. Sean Rogan is dangerous. He shot at me. He killed his partner. Don't you see?"
Noah couldn't tell her anything about the undercover investigation, not with her being such a loose cannon. He said, "I'm vouching for him. If you don't report to headquarters straightaway, I'll be taking your badge. Give your Glock to Gannon."
She looked like she wanted to continue to argue. Then she unholstered her weapon and handed it to Gannon. She walked toward the stairs.
Gannon said, "Deanna's smart. Real smart." He was apologizing for her, Noah realized. "She's been after Rogan for a long time, but when he turned up in New York she got kind of obsessed, certain he was into something big."
"How many gunshots did you hear?"
"Two initially. Then, ten minutes later, two more."
"Watch her," Noah said. He nodded toward her gun. "Check the magazine."
Gannon didn't want to. "Why?"
"Do it."
Gannon reluctantly popped the magazine. "Ten."
"Chamber?"
"One."
"Sean didn't shoot at her," Noah said. "She lied."
Gannon didn't seem surprised. "I walked through the crime scene. She said she saw Rogan standing over the victim's body with a gun in his hand, except Rogan ran when she was still in the living room. There was no angle where she could have seen Rogan or the body, unless she stood directly in the doorway."
Noah realized the implications. "Sean wouldn't have been able to run if she was in the doorway while he was still in the room."
It might have been a minor point-he had fled a room where a body had been discovered-but Brighton had already lied about having eyes on him with a gun over the body and about the gunshots.
Noah said to Gannon, "Don't let her out of your sight."
Gannon nodded soberly and left.
Noah called Rick. He was on the phone, so Noah left a voice mail with the new information.
He looked around the bas.e.m.e.nt. This appeared to be a wasteland for old electronics, as if Nash couldn't bear to part with any of his stuff. Ancient game systems, a computer with a floppy drive that Noah barely remembered, a dozen keyboards stacked on a shelf.
A solid wood bookshelf had been moved and behind it was the pa.s.sageway where Sean had escaped. A splintered door was open, leading to stairs. Noah found a light switch and turned it on. Only one faint bulb burned from the top. He carefully went up the stairs without touching anything. Four flights later and he was in Nash's kitchen. The coroner's team was taking out the body.
Suzanne was talking with Tucker. She saw Noah and said, "No forced entry, single gunshot to the head, approximately two hours ago. Does that clear Sean?"
"I don't know, but he didn't do it."
Tucker glanced at Suzanne and said, "I didn't know the feds were hiring psychics now."
Suzanne laughed, but Noah didn't see the humor in the situation. "Sean said he didn't fire on Brighton; she said he shot at her and she returned fire. Her partner heard four shots total. There are four bullets missing from her Glock."
"He could have used a silencer," Tucker suggested.
Noah didn't need the help. "You have to trust me on this. I'll take full responsibility."
Noah realized that while he'd wanted to believe Sean, he hadn't fully trusted him until he compared Gannon's statement to Deanna Brighton's Glock. He felt like a s.h.i.t about it, too. Sean made it difficult to trust him, but at the same time, he'd been solid while working undercover.
"Noah?" Suzanne said.
"You're in charge, along with Detective Tucker. Whatever you need to tell him is cleared, but need-to-know, okay?"
"Well, this is interesting," Tucker said.
Noah ignored him. "I need everything. Bullets and casings. We're bypa.s.sing the New York office-ship everything directly to the FBI lab at Quantico. Sean told me Brighton fired twice in the back stairwell and twice in the tunnels. I'll find out if there are any distinguishing landmarks, but he got out at the subway at East Thirty-third, so I'm thinking that's the outer search boundary."
"You talked to the guy?" Tucker asked.
Noah said, "I'm sorry I can't give you more information, Detective, but I have to get down to FBI headquarters and make sure the APB on Rogan has been voided."
"Proving she's lying is going to be hard," Suzanne said.
Noah handed her Brighton's weapon. Suzanne put it in an evidence bag. "Full ballistics. And report directly to me. Anything you learn I need to know."
"Sean really needs to come in," Suzanne said.
"Her partner told me she didn't see Sean over the body. She lied about that." Noah walked over to the doorway of the den where Hunter Nash had been killed. "If she was standing here, she'd have seen Sean and the body, but then Sean couldn't have escaped." He walked back to the front door. "Gannon said they were in the living room, Brighton went in first, and she saw Sean run from the den into the kitchen. That's where the back staircase is. She might have seen the body after Sean fled, but not while he was in the room."
"s.h.i.t," Suzanne muttered. "Why would she lie?"
"Because Sean p.i.s.sed her off twelve years ago and she's been holding a grudge."
Noah was torn between doing what was right under the law and doing what was right to protect both the undercover operation and Sean. If Sean pulled out of Thayer's group now, they'd never get the evidence against Paxton. Did Noah want Paxton so badly that he'd put Sean in greater danger? Or was this truly the only way to find the truth about both Hunter's murder and Paxton's crimes?
Noah said to Tucker, "Can you make sure NYPD knows that Rogan isn't a suspect? No itchy trigger fingers on this. Suzanne, we need to retrace Nash's steps. Find out what he knew that got him killed."
"You think it's connected to your op?"
"Suzanne was a sharp agent. She'd already figured out something was going on. I'm going to talk to Deanna Brighton. If she's been following Sean since he's been in New York, she might know something that will help us."
Suzanne glanced at Tucker and said, "Would you please excuse us?"
Tucker nodded and left the kitchen.
"What?" Noah asked.
"Lucy called me yesterday. She said Deanna Brighton questioned her at Quantico. Wanted to know if Sean was under investigation for anything. What's going on?"