Safe and Sound by J.D. Rhoades

I under arrest or not? If I’m not under arrest, then get the hell out of my way. If I’m under arrest, tell me what for and get me a lawyer. I use Scott McCaskill in Fayetteville.”
    “I don’t think you quite understand how the landscape has changed since September eleventh,” the male agent said.
    Marie turned to look at him. “Oh really?” she said. “Well, Agent Rankin,” she said, taking a guess, “I’m still an American citizen, last I checked.”
    “I’m Gerritsen,” he said.
    “Sorry. I’m tired,” Marie said as she turned back to Rankin. “So what’s it gonna be, Rankin?” she said. “Am I going home or am I waiting for my lawyer?”
    Rankin’s response came out of left field. “Did you know Jack Keller was romantically involved with your client?”
    Marie felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. “What the hell are you talking about?” She turned to look at Gerritsen. He was pulling some photographs out of a file folder. He laid them on the table. Marie moved slowly, almost unwillingly, toward the table. There were several eight-by-ten photos spread out there. They showed two people walking down the street, arms around each other. She spotted Keller’s long blond ponytail right away. It was harder for her to make out the other figure because her face was turned away, but the slender form couldeasily be Carly Fedder’s. The next shot showed them seated in a vehicle. They were kissing.
    Marie sank into the chair. She saw Gerritsen shoot a triumphant look toward Rankin. She hated him for that look.
    “These are surveillance photos we took the other night,” Rankin said.
    “Okay,” Marie said. “You wanted to shake me up, you got your damn wish.” There were tears in her eyes as she looked up. “But I’m still not saying anything until I talk to Tammy Healy. Or my own lawyer.”
    “If Jack Keller was involved with Carly Fedder, wouldn’t that give him a plausible motive to kill the other man in her life? The man who had taken her child and caused her so much pain?”
    Marie shook her head. She was still numb with shock. “No,” she said. “Jack Keller’s not a murderer.”
    “Really?” Gerritsen’s voice was almost, but not quite, a sneer. “Six months ago, Jack Keller forced his way into a hostage situation and nearly killed a suspect in cold blood. Before that, he was involved in a pair of shoot-outs that left Fayetteville looking like downtown Fallujah. He was discharged from the Army after losing his shit and firing on one of our own aircraft. This guy’s no Boy Scout, Ms. Jones.”
    “There’s a problem with your theory,” Marie said. “If Keller killed Lundgren, where’s the little girl?”
    “Good question,” Rankin spoke up. “Maybe Keller knows. Maybe that’s why Lundgren was tortured. Maybe Keller took things into his own hands and tried to get it out of him.”
    Gerritsen sat down in the seat across from her. “So you don’t want to talk about Carly Fedder,” he said. “Let’s talk about Jack Keller.”
    ***
    You cannot be this stupid, Wilcox,” Keller said. He was seated at the table in one of the interrogation rooms. “Why the hell would I kill Lundgren?”
    “Why the hell would you not tell me you were romantically involved with Carly Fedder?” Wilcox shot back.
    “What?” Keller said.
    “The FBI showed me some very interesting photos a few moments ago. You appeared to be getting pretty friendly with your client.”
    “They were following me,” Keller said. “Even before—” He shut up.
    “Before what?”
    Keller considered for a moment. Then he said, “I saw them at Marie’s…Ms. Jones’s…house the other night. It didn’t occur to me that they were tailing me afterward.”
    “Yeah, well,” Wilcox said. “They’ve been taking this very seriously, Keller. So maybe you better start doing the same. What was going on between you and Carly Fedder?”
    Keller shook his head. “Nothing. I ran into her in a bar downtown.