Free Don't Look Away (Veronica Sloan) by Leslie A. Kelly

scribbling notes onto the screen of his pocket computer then turning the thing so Ronnie could read them.
    “Affair?” one of them read.
    She nodded and jotted one back. “Possible. Tho he’s old enuf 2b her father.”
    Her partner drew a large dollar sign on the screen.
    Yeah. Definitely worth checking into the finances of Mr. Jack Williams, though, to be honest, he was probably attractive enough to catch the eye of a young woman Leanne’s age.
    If he had been having any sort of inappropriate relationship with the victim, the downloaded images from her optic chip would certainly reveal it. Ronnie hoped it wasn’t the case. She truly didn’t want to see pictures of the Polo-League dude doing it. Especially not through the eyes of the woman being done. Talk about voyeurism to the extreme.
    Some of the death row inmates she’d trained on had liked to provide extra-special images for the investigators. Frankly, she could have gone her whole life without getting a close-up and personal view of some sick rapist and murderer jacking off. Telling herself it was all part of the job hadn’t made it any less disgusting.
    Williams returned to the meeting a few minutes later. The hair at his temples appeared damp, as if he’d left to splash some bracing water on his face, trying to get himself under control.
    “So are we going under the assumption that this was terrorist related?” the FBI agent asked. “Because of the location, the timing, the, uh, dismembering?”
    That wasn’t a bad conclusion, and Ronnie imagined every one of them had at least considered it. But there was one big flaw in the theory.
    Phineas Tate cleared his throat and tipped his index fingers up, tapping them together. Everyone fell silent, brought to attention as easily as if a shot had been fired. He was apparently going to mention the flaw. She’d expect nothing less.
    “Your suggestions has merit,” Tate said with kind, intelligent approval that probably made the agent’s day. “However, there is one more piece of the puzzle regarding these events. If the person who perpetrated his atrocity did, indeed, attempt to hide the evidence of his crime by removing part of the victim’s remains, we must make an obvious assumption.”
    The room was deadly still, quiet enough to hear the hum of the wireless fax machine silently spitting out papers on the desk and the sound of Daniels cracking his knuckles. Then Tate continued. “The perpetrator must have known Miss Carr was part of the Optic Evidence Program.”
    So far so good.
    “And therefore must have been someone who knew her.”
    “Not necessarily,” Ronnie murmured before she could think better of it.
    Tate continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I suspect Miss Carr violated her security clearance and told someone the truth of her situation and was subsequently killed by him. The brutality hints at a personal rage, so I would assume you should be looking at an angry lover or boyfriend.”
    Ronnie was about to shoot holes in the theory, despite how much she admired Tate. There was another possibility—a viable one. Someone with high security clearance, or someone involved in the O.E.P. itself, could easily have known about Leanne Carr’s involvement. Why that person would have killed her she couldn’t say, but it was possible. And it was much too early in the game to rule anything out.
    She didn’t have the chance to speak. Before she could even open her mouth, Jack Williams launched back in his chair and rose to his feet. His voice shaking and his eyes bright, he exclaimed, “Leanne was a professional to her very core. A loyal, honest, hard-working young woman who would never have violated her security responsibilities. I simply will not allow you to disparage her character in such a way.”
    Everyone in the room fell silent, staring at the man whose face practically glowed with passionate indignation. Without another word, Williams thrust his chair out of the way and stalked out of the