Free Agent Hill: Reboot by James Hunt

few toys on the ground, and Becca felt a tug on the fresh wound still bleeding inside her. Watching her children overwhelmed her with pain and joy.
    The doorbell rang, and both Ella and Matt froze. They’d reacted that way to any sudden noise since New Zealand. She’d already taken them to a psychiatrist, who told them that the sudden noise triggered a memory from the ordeal, which was a six-hundred-dollar repetition of something Becca already knew. “It’s okay, guys,” Becca said, kissing the tops of their heads. “Stay right here. Mommy will be right back.”
    Becca tied the bathrobe around her waist and headed for the door. For some reason, she felt her pulse race, and her body jolted as the doorbell rang again just before she reached the handle. She checked the peephole then opened the front door. “Can I help you?” Becca kept the chain lock on the door, looking at the two men through the slim crack.
    “Mrs. Hill?” one of the men asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I’m special Agent Taylor Grimes, and this is my partner Agent Mallory. I’m sorry for disturbing you, but I was hoping we could speak to you for a few minutes.”
    Becca’s body felt like a block of ice: rigid and breakable. “I’ve already spoken to the police about my husband. I don’t have anything else to say.”
    “Yes, ma’am, but I was hoping to ask you a few questions about your sister-in-law.”
    Becca shuddered and wondered if Agent Grimes had noticed. His eyes were concealed behind his glasses, and the lines on his face showed nothing of what he was thinking or what type of questions he wanted to ask.
    “May we come in?” Agent Grimes asked.
    Becca shut the door, her heart beating out of her chest. She spread both her hands over the wood paneling, and after a moment, she unlocked the chain and opened the door. Agent Grimes smiled and took off his glasses, allowing her to see the blue around his pupils. “Thank you, ma’am.”
    Agent Mallory gave her a curt nod, and Becca closed the door behind them. Becca squeezed her arms around her as she walked through the kitchen into the living room. “Matt, Ella, I need you two to go and play out in the backyard, okay?”
    The children looked up at the two strangers then quickly scurried out the back, taking their toys with them. Becca kept the sliding glass door open and sat at the kitchen table, where she could keep an eye on them. Agent Grimes and Agent Mallory took their seats at the table on either side of her.
    “What do you want to know?” Becca asked, her arms still folded over her chest, watching Ella play.
    “We understand that your sister-in-law wasn’t around during the time of your husband’s death, is that correct?” Grimes asked.
    “She wasn’t around a lot,” Becca answered.
    “Do you know where she was during that time?”
    “No. She kept to herself. Sometimes she’d come over for dinner. She and my husband had a falling out after their parents passed.”
    “What happened with that?”
    Becca looked over to Agent Grimes for the first time. He held a pen and a pad of paper. He leaned over on the desk, watching her, studying her, no doubt looking for something Sarah had done that was probably linked to the blackout and to the people who had murdered her husband. She wanted to tell them. She wanted to give them every piece of information she knew they were looking for. She didn’t owe Sarah anything. The woman had caused her enough pain and grief for a hundred lifetimes. “Have you ever lost someone you were very close with, Agent Grimes?”
    “Yes, ma’am. I have.”
    “And how did you deal with that?”
    “I talked with friends, family. They made sure I was okay, helped me work my way through it.”
    “It’s what a decent person would do, right?” Becca asked, unfolding her arms and leaning on the table. She squinted. “That’s not what Sarah did when her parents passed. I watched my husband have to deal with that alone, wanting to speak with someone who