Free Beyond the Call of Duty by Wendy Stone Page A

front of him and tore a sheet off the roll of paper towels, and then sank down in the seat next to him and looked up at Luke and Molly.
    “Does anyone know who the man was that broke into the office and jumped out an eighth-storey window without leaving a trace? I mean, that was an impressive maneuver, and I would love to know how he managed it.” She began picking apart the doughnut, tearing off small pieces and eating them.
    “No signs of blood or body matter anywhere, Lexi. I watched this documentary on television about the damage it does to bodies and at what distance would most likely be fatal. Our guy should have been smashed into the concrete, and his brain popped out of his skull. He should have been little more than mush.”
    “However, we know he isn’t, because mush doesn’t usually get up and walk away. Any strange fingerprints? I mean, he was looking in the filing room. It had to be where he was coming from when I heard him.”
    “We got prints, but no details. They look like he was wearing extra-fine-grained leather gloves.” Molly went to her briefcase, opening it and pulling out a file. She handed it to her boss. It was a lot easier letting her read about the crime scene than answering the hundred and one questions she would have about it.
    “So we have absolutely no idea who it was that broke into my office. I could be stuck in a safe house when there is no reason for me to be there.” Lexi stared blankly down at the papers until Jack slid another file under her nose. She opened it and read the top report. “My apartment too? Did they take anything?”
    “A few files, a couple of pieces of jewelry. There was more out-and-out damage done, Lexi, than a true robbery. It’s like they ransacked the place to hide what they really wanted to take. Did you have anything there that was pertinent to this case or any of your others?”
    “No. Any work I take home gets put back in my briefcase when I get done with it. I haven’t been home enough recently to even open my briefcase. They took my grandmother’s locket?” The thought of other peoples’ hands in her possession made her nauseous, and she dropped the rest of her doughnut onto her napkin, pushing it away from the files while she took a long hard look at what had been taken from her apartment. “My dad’s lighter?” Each thing she read about made her more upset until Jack finally took the file away from her.
    “You’re insured, right?”
    “That’s not the point, Jack.” She got up and paced around the room, growling when someone stepped into her path. “The things they took held sentimental value. How do you put a price tag on a lighter that I got for my dad fifteen years ago? He even lost it in the woods one winter and the next spring found it near his deer blind. My grandma’s locket held pictures of my grandparents and a tiny lock of hair that was from her head. Those are the only pictures I have of them.”
    She spun in a circle and looked around. “I’m going upstairs.”
    * * * *
    “We’ll get you up in time for the move, Lexi,” Luke called. “Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this upset.”
    “She’s never been put into the position of being one of her own protections,” Jack said softly. “This case is going to tear her up inside. She’ll either get through it or she’ll find a new line of work when this is over with. I know she’s had offers from the FBI and the NSA.”
    Gabe sat listening to the agents talk, learning more about Lexi than he found out from her in a year. When he finally rose from the table, Luke and Molly glanced at him as if they’d forgotten he was there. “Stay away from the windows,” Molly called when he went into the living room.
    Gabe waved his hand at her and sat on the couch, hunting for the remote. He finally found it and turned on the news. The top story was the car bombing across the plaza from the justice building. They showed a picture of Lexi when she was a lot younger