Free Chain Reaction by Diane Fanning

thinking?’
    ‘Sir, I did not threaten him with a firearm.’
    ‘Really? What do you call it?’
    ‘Sir, I rested my hand on my gun. It was in the holster. The holster was still snapped shut.’
    By now, Holland’s face was blood-red and veins throbbed in his throat and at his temples. ‘If you don’t call it a threat, what do you call it, Pierce?’
    ‘I just wanted him to know I was serious.’
    ‘Oh, he got that. He said he was in fear of his life.’
    Lucinda rolled her eyes. ‘BS,’ she said.
    ‘Do you want me to charge you with insubordination, Pierce?’
    ‘No sir, I—’
    ‘Then clean up your attitude.’
    ‘I’m sorry, sir. I know my reaction was extreme but Connelly was badgering two parents who had just learned about the death of their son. He was leaping to unwarranted conclusions and he was undermining my investigation.’
    ‘Well, it’s not your investigation any longer. Connelly’s the lead now. Lovett is assisting him. And you are out of the picture. Go to your office right now, forward any digital evidence you have to me and pack up anything and everything else in your office connected to the case and bring it in here.’
    ‘Is this really necessary, sir?’
    ‘The decision has been made, Pierce. They didn’t even tell me until it was a done deal. The police chief called me after he hashed it out with Lovett’s FBI supervisor and ATF Deputy Federal Security Director Wesley. And just for the record, Pierce, I am really pissed off at you this time and haven’t decided what I am going to do about it. And, no, it’s not the political embarrassment of being ultimately responsible for you that has my dander up; it’s the fact that an explosion at one of our high schools – the one closest to this office – has been taken out of our hands; one of our kids is dead and we cannot be involved in solving the case – that is all because of you. It’s all on you, Pierce, and that pisses me off. Now, get out of here and go get those files together.’
    As she was walking through the doorway, the captain said, ‘One more thing, Pierce.’
    She turned around and said, ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘Lovett has been ordered not to discuss the case with you. Don’t pressure him or he might end up out of a job. And while we’re at it, you all ought to stop seeing each other socially until this case is wrapped up.’
    Socially? He doesn’t know we’re living together? We haven’t gone out of our way to publicize that fact but we also haven’t tried to hide it. I had assumed everyone knew. Maybe I should call Jake and make sure he doesn’t volunteer the information unless he’s directly asked.
    When she reached her office, she continued to think about the wisdom of making that call or waiting to talk to him that evening. She first emailed every case-related file on her computer to Holland. Then she got an empty business envelope box and stacked documents in it. She picked up one of the two notes she found in David Baynes’s room but her hand hovered over the pile. She set the piece of paper off to the side. She did the same with the other message as well as her handwritten list of David’s friends. When everything else was in the box, she sat down to think.
    It was important evidence but they needed the cooperation of David’s friends. If Connelly goes in there with his hostile, suspicious attitude, the kids will balk at cooperating and the parents might hire attorneys. That would cut off all communication and stop any possible answers in their tracks. No defense attorney on the planet would want a teenager talking to law enforcement when Homeland Security was raising the threat of terrorism charges.
    Lucinda picked up the notes and her lists with notations about addresses, phone numbers and times of parental arrivals, slid them into a manila folder and walked down the hall to the copier, grateful that she could get there without going past Holland’s office. She made copies of all the documents and