Flash Point by Colby Marshall Page A

obviously, would be Mr Watson.’

Fourteen
    â€˜Everyone, meet Grey Hechinger,’ Jenna said, ‘my literature and linguistics contact.’
    Saleda turned to Jenna, her face incredulous. Jenna simply smiled. It wasn’t like she was freaking excited about this, either. But what the heck was she supposed to do? Grey was already presenting herself as the right person for this job, despite the many things that should immediately disqualify her.
    Irv stepped in behind Grey. ‘Sorry. She showed up at the gate asking for me, and … well, we were kind of—’
    â€˜Hunting me like a feral animal that wouldn’t be smart enough to find its hunter first?’ Grey cut in, looking at no one in particular as she glanced absentmindedly around the room like she was on a tour. Her voice was soft and amused. Almost sing-songy.
    Irv’s chin dipped, and his shoulders curled forward. He caught Jenna’s eye. Shrugged.
    Jenna waved off the nervous questions written on Irv’s face. They didn’t have to worry about Grey getting mad. She didn’t seem it, and anger wasn’t one of her go-to emotions, anyway. She was just awkward and, as usual, oblivious to rules of common courtesy. Jenna watched the woman wander around the conference room she hadn’t been invited into, taking long, anything-but-furtive peeks at notes, pictures, and other case materials lying out on the table. It would never have occurred to Grey that the hunted becoming the hunter statement might’ve drawn a response ranging from pissed as hell at best and menacing and dangerous at worst.
    â€˜So, that online banking thing is looking better than ever,’ Grey said, staring down at one of the crime scene photos that, technically, she shouldn’t even be in the room with. Sure, Jenna wanted to consult her, but she’d always planned to carefully control everything in reference to the case that Grey saw, handled, heard …
    Metallic copper flashed in, the same shade that had popped in when she and Charley had taken A to the zoo the week Dad had the flu. They’d watched in awe from behind the metal bars as the two cheetahs playfully tackled each other, rolling on the grass. She’d explained to Ayana that day, as the copper flashed in, how the cheetahs were friends, but it was only safe for humans to watch them from a distance. If the cheetahs tackled a person, it would probably be more forceful and not as friendly.
Hard to control
.
    â€˜Look, chiquita,’ Porter said, taking a step toward Grey and snatching the folder Grey had been looking at off the table, ‘you may have been invited here, but that doesn’t mean you can tour the place like—’
    â€˜Wait a second.
Was
she invited here?’ Teva cut in.
    Grey turned her head toward Teva, her expression flat. ‘Well, no, but …’
    â€˜I
had
called her several times,’ Irv said. ‘She
did
know we were looking for her.’
    Jenna shook her head and stepped toward Irv, bit her bottom lip to stifle a humorless laugh. She closed her lips but kept wearing the sarcastic smile. ‘She knew
someone
was looking for her. She didn’t know who, or from where …’ Jenna turned slowly to face Grey. ‘She most definitely wasn’t invited to Quantico …’
    God help me, I thought I was done with this sort of interrogation. Ayana’s three, but at least she gives straight answers.
    Grey’s face remained unchanged, as Jenna knew it would. The woman blinked three times, stared. ‘Well, I listened to the talk message on my squawk box from a private investigator … PI he said. Said he got my name from someone at the college. Said he had a stalking case he was working on. Client hired him because she has a guess who the Snoopy watching her is, but the police guys don’t have enough evidence to put handcuffs on him. But the PI guy got hold of a letter the stalker left for the