Jeremy saw her sprinting down the sidewalk at the opposite end of the street and made a final blitz for the door. They both reached it at about the same time, and Jeremy slapped it. "I win," he huffed.

  "As if," Maddie shot back. "Luke, tell 'im."

  Luke, the proprietor of the small grill, just rolled his eyes. "How about we call it a draw and I charge you both what you order."

  Maddie grinned. "You know, you just don't get that sort of straight compromise in my line of work anymore. Sound good, Jeremy?"

  "Fine," Jeremy said, still catching his breath.

  "Come on, you can't be that beat. Don't they make you stay in shape in the FBI?"

  "I'm forty two and not getting any younger." Jeremy stretched out his legs, definitely feeling the consequences of mostly working a desk for the past six months. "Give me some slack."

  "Whatever." Maddie handed her card to Luke. "I'll buy. Jere-bear needs some real food to keep up with his big sister. The usual, please. Is our table open?"

  "Reserved it for you," Luke replied with a crooked smile.

  "Luke you rascal, you spied on my calendar didn't you?" Maddie said in mock-outrage. "Is nothing sacred anymore?"

  "I keep up with my best customers, miss." Luke turned and walked back through to the kitchen, tossing a towel back on his shoulder as he went. "And my favorite senators."

  She laughed. "Thanks, Luke."

  Two healthy servings of grilled pork later and Maddie was leaning back in her chair with a satisfied smile. "Perfecto."

  "So why aren't you in D.C.?" Jeremy asked, stirring the ice around in his water idly. "Isn't this an election year?"

  "It's always a goddamn election year," Maddie replied cheerfully. "I wanted to come home for a bit. See how you were doing."

  Jeremy saw right through the lie. "Like hell you did. You here for the devil's blessing?"

  "A woman can't multitask?" Maddie shrugged. "I don't need her endorsement to win. If anything, she needs mine now. The polls love me."

  "A Democratic senator in Washington is beloved by her people. What a stunnin' development."

  "Forty years ago my election would have been very unlikely."

  "Forty years ago you were just out of diapers and I was biting everyone I met." Jeremy shrugged. "People change."

  "Not all of them," Maddie sighed. "Maybe not enough of them, either."

  "So fuck 'em."

  "That's a lot of goddamn people," she shot back. "I'm supposed to represent them all, and do it without becoming a corrupt bitch-ass senator like everyone else. You know how many fucking lobbyists have tried to buy me off in the last five years?"

  "Yes. You've called me after every single one."

  Maddie laughed. "Not all of them, or you'd never have a moment of silence. A lot of 'em get handled by my staff. Those are just the ones who pay enough to get my personal number."

  "Must be nice to have a staff."

  "What, Lani isn't your staff?" Her eyes twinkled.

  Jeremy shook his head. "He's my partner, and a damn good one."

  "Careful, you sound like you're a fat old detective." She downed her drink and signaled Luke for a refill. "You're right though. Lani's a good one. I trust him with my little brother."

  "I'd hope you did. He asked you to stop by, didn't he?"

  Maddie nearly dropped the glass right after Luke handed it to her. "How—"

  Jeremy shrugged. "He's not exactly quiet on the phone."

  She sighed. "Goddamnit, Lani." Her face fell, drifting into a concerned frown from the light tone she'd been trying to maintain. "He's worried about you."

  "Is he now?"

  "Jeremy, don't just play this one off. Should I be worried about you?"

  He shrugged again. "I'm just trying to solve a case."

  "A dead case."

Stolen story; please report.

  "Didn't you get reamed for this shit too? Happened right in your backyard. I watched that C-SPAN video."

  "You actually watched C-SPAN?"

  "Okay, I watched the talk show summary."

  "Nearly gave me a heart attack."

  "I did watch your whole first day on the floor."

  Maddie grinned. "I remember. I believe you called it 'the finest example of why nothing ever gets done in the world.'"

  "Sounds right."

  "So it's a broke-ass system with tons of flaws that haven't been fixed in centuries. You got a better idea?"

  Jeremy stared down at the ice cubes in his glass, watching one of them melt just enough to drift around to the top. "Nope. Why do you think I went into enforcement? I don't want to be the fuckface figuring out the rules."

  "You stick with what you do best, I'll take care of making sure you're doing the right thing."

  "Thanks, Maddie." Her phone buzzed, but she just silenced the ringer and set it aside. He raised his eyebrows. "Shouldn't you take that?"

  "It can wait." She folded her arms across her chest sternly. "I gotta know, are you good?"

  "'Course I am."

  Maddie's expression softened. "Jeremy, it's just you and me. Why are you still all over this case? Shouldn't you have passed it down to state by now?"

  "We're still calling it a terrorist action, so it's still mine."

  "You could get them to release it if you wanted. I'd support you."

  "I…"

  Maddie shook her head. "You don't want to."

  "I don't."

  "Christ Almighty, Jeremy, what are we doin'?"

  "I have to know what happened."

  "That ain't you," Maddie said firmly. "I know you, Jere-bear. You drop cases all the damn time if you think they're no good. This one's dead as they come. What's different?"

  "...Did you look at the list of names?"

  "I skimmed it. Why?"

  Jeremy pulled out his phone and pulled up the list. He never had it further than a few taps away. After scrolling down to the middle, he highlighted the name and handed it over. "Recognize it?"

  "Jacqueline Nossinger… Shit, that Jackie?"

  He nodded. "Same one."

  "Your old partner was in fucking Rallsburg?" Maddie pressed her hands to her forehead in exasperation. "Christ, Jeremy, why didn't you say something?"

  "Because you've got enough on your plate."

  "After what she did for me? Shit, I woulda sent the whole goddamn national guard down there to find her."

  "It's a good thing you don't command them."

  Maddie sighed and leaned back. "Well, how the fuck can I tell you to cool off now? You're trying to find a woman I owe my goddamn life to."

  "Maddie…"

  "Whatever you need, Jeremy. I don't have a whole lot of pull on the oversight committee, but I can try to leverage DOJ for funding. You just say the word."

  "I don't have anything," he replied dejectedly.

  "Huh?"

  "Nothing new since May."

  "Oh…" Maddie's eyes widened slightly. "You don't think she's—"

  "She's not," Jeremy interrupted. "She's actually in the system unlike most of the town. None of the remains we found match her at all by DNA, dental or fingerprinting. As far as we know, she's just missing."

  "Thank God." She glanced around, as if she were worried they might be overheard. Their usual table at Luke's was in the back corner, though, and the booth had thick walls. "Should you be on this case? Is it a conflict of interest?"

  "We don't even have a suspect. Conflicts of interest are more about making sure a case gets through trial." Jeremy shook his head. "You've spent way too much time in D.C."

  "For sure." Maddie reached out and took his hand. "Are you doing okay, though?"

  "I'm not giving up on this one yet."

  "Okay." She smiled. "Then I'm not giving up yet either." Her phone buzzed again, startling them both. Maddie glared at it. "Damn it, I'm trying to have a moment with my brother. I silenced you, you piece of shit."

  "Who's calling, anyway?"

  "Probably another fucking lobbyist." She picked it up and looked at the number. "Shit…"

  "What?"

  "The devil herself," Maddie sighed. She showed him the name. Courtney Milton, the current governor of Washington—and their older half-sister. "I have to—"

  Jeremy stood up. "How long are you in town?"

  "I fly out Friday night. Four whole days with your favorite sister in town," Maddie grinned. "After I pay the devil her due," she added, glaring down at the still-buzzing phone.

  "You got somewhere to stay?"

  "Well, there's a few hotels to choose from…"

  Jeremy sighed. The phone finally stopped buzzing, giving them some peace. "Come stay at my place."

  "You sure? I'm gonna be making a lot of phone calls. I don't want to keep you up."

  "That's fine."

  The phone vibrated a third time. "Holy shit, would you give us a minute?" Maddie practically shouted at her buzzing phone.

  She gave him a quick wave goodbye before the inevitable shouting match began. Jeremy waved back as Maddie reluctantly pressed the phone to her ear, before he turned to head out into the bright afternoon sun and back to his office once again.

----------------------------------------

  "You're fired, Lani," Jeremy said as he wandered back into their office. Lani looked up from whatever case he was working on now, surprised.

  "I'm what?"

  "As my sister's spy. You've been canned. Next time, just tell her to call me straight, okay?"

  Lani smiled. "Went well, then?"

  "Yes, you're both nosy as fuck. Now let me get back to work."

  His face fell. "You're not done with the case?"

  "Hell no, I'm just getting started."

  Lani sighed. "So it went terribly."

  "For you." Jeremy pulled up the video files again and jumped right back to the night that Will and company had vanished from the hospital. Lani's phone rang, interrupting his train of thought. Right as I'm getting settled in. He started watching the video again, trying to ignore Lani's conversation.

  A few minutes later, Lani was snapping his fingers for Jeremy's attention. "What?"

  Lani pointed at the phone insistently a few times before hitting the speaker button. A vaguely familiar voice echoed out. "—and normally we wouldn't call you guys, but it was just way too similar."

  "What was too similar?" Jeremy asked.

  "Lani? Is that your partner?"

  "Yes. Could you start over, Dave? Sorry," Lani said apologetically.

  "Like I was saying. We found another victim with the same type of massive bludgeoning wounds and avulsions as the original victims. It matches the pattern we saw."

  "Saw where?" Jeremy asked.

  "In Rallsburg."

  "Dave was the forensic team lead," Lani reminded him with the mute button held down. He released it. "You found another victim? Does it match anyone from the lists?"

  "Yeah. Jerry Hauserman."

  Jeremy's mind flew through his mental dossier. "The ex-con?"

  "That's the one."

  Did this really need a phone call? "Well, that's one more off our list then, I guess. Thanks for the heads up."

  "I'm sorry, that wasn't why I called. When we found him yesterday, Hauserman had only been dead for forty-eight hours. Maybe less."

  Jeremy and Lani looked at each other at the same instant. Jeremy spoke first, just as Lani was opening his mouth. "Where?"