Bloodline (Sue Thomas FBEye)

Bloodline - Chapter Four

Walking between the walls of the Hoover Building at night had always felt safe – until tonight. After she'd sent Bobby home, Tara should have gone to bed instead of grabbing her keys and driving here.

Invisible critters of the unpleasant variety crawled all over her skin. This was ridiculous, and Tara chided herself for letting her imagination run wild. She was a fully trained agent walking down the corridor of one of the most secured building of the country. This had to be the only place where the mole couldn't touch her unless he wanted his identity exposed, which was what she intended to do tonight.

A light in the bullpen shone in the hallway and classical music reached her ears. She knew of only one man who would find the screeching crescendo appealing to the senses.

"Myles? It's three in the morning, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." He was at his desk, staring at his computer screen. "Got tired of Bobby or is he on your heels?"

"He went home and I came here."

No point divulging more than he'd already glimpsed by dropping by unexpectedly.

"And he didn't insist on coming?"

Myles' dubious look brought a smile to her lips.

"I didn't tell him."

He shook his head, but couldn't hide his amusement. "You and Sue share some unwanted attributes."

To hear him above the music, she had to strain her ears. "Could we turn that down? I can't hear very well."

"That's the idea, Tara. You wouldn't want anyone to hear me think aloud, would you? He may decide I need to see a shrink."

The music was background noise in case the mole eavesdropped on them? Good thinking.

"If you ask me, there are other reasons for you to see a shrink," she teased as she moved to his side. "What are you doing?"

"Reviewing the security tapes from last night, which I should have done immediately after I saw him at your computer." He'd dropped his voice to a whisper. "According to the official log, there were twenty-five employees in the building at the time. Eight of them were part of the cleaning crew, which leaves seventeen people, all agents."

"If the mole is an agent, it's possible he sneaked in without signing in."

If someone was familiar with the ins and outs, there were ways around security.

"I know, and I'm also looking for someone who's not supposed to be on our floor or in the building." He glanced at her. "By the way, you still haven't answered my question. Why did you come here alone?"

Did he suggest she should have dragged Bobby for her own safety? If so, the mole had gotten under Myles' unflappable skin.

"From my laptop, I couldn't trace the mole, but from my desk computer, I should be able to hack into the backup server—"

"Hold on, Bill Gates. Didn't you tell Jack it'd be suicidal to access that server?"

Why did her words have to backfire? "Well... as long as I don't erase anything and don't trip any alarms, no one should know I was there."

He crossed off a name from his handwritten list. "When this is over, we'll all be looking for new jobs."

As long as they all came out of this breathing, she'd be happy. Before sitting behind her desk, she moved it so her back was to the wall and no one could look at her screen without her knowing about it. Once she'd insured her privacy, she entered the mace.