Flawless Read Free Page B

Mike asked. “I hadn’t seen that on the news.”
    â€œIt hasn’t been on TV yet. I’m having a press conference with the chiefs of police and the mayor in an hour. We’ve been holding off, pending notification of next of kin. And, of course, to coordinate efforts between agencies.”
    â€œWe’re in?” Mike asked.
    â€œYeah. State lines and all, since now New Jersey’s been hit, too. Twice. Anyway, it’s all hands on deck. You two will be lead, but you won’t be the only special agents involved. Hell, every law enforcement officer in New York and the tri-state area will be alerted and working on it. The last two robberies took place right over the bridge in Jersey City. The elderly gentleman who owned one of the stores was staying late, doing his books, when he was shot and killed.”
    â€œYou said there were two murders?” Craig asked, flipping through the folder he’d been given.
    Eagan nodded gravely. “There was a murder at the next store that was hit, too. A night manager was there, and a cleaning woman was working in the showroom. She was abducted, then murdered in the alley behind the store.”
    â€œWhat about the manager? Any idea why he was left alive? Did he see anything?” Craig asked.
    â€œHe was in a back office. When he came out, they grabbed the woman as a human shield and dragged her away. They shot at him and missed, and apparently were in too much of a hurry to care,” Eagan said.
    â€œVideo surveillance?” Mike asked.
    â€œYes, but the thieves wore hoodies and ski masks,” Eagan said.
    â€œAre we sure that these thieves and the ones who hit the Diamond District are the same?” Craig asked.
    â€œSame MO. Breaking in after closing time, they wear gloves, so no prints. And all the security footage shows the thieves wearing the same disguises,” Eagan said.
    â€œBut it’s not the same MO anymore,” Craig muttered.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œI mean it’s changed,” Craig said. “Escalated. Five robberies with no one hurt. And now we have two dead. Seems odd to me that they’ve suddenly become violent.”
    â€œMaybe they got desperate for some reason,” Mike suggested. “The pressure of time or whatever.”
    Craig shrugged. “Maybe these are copycats. Copycats who kill.”
    â€œCould be,” Eagan said. “Get up to speed, see what you can find. And let’s hope to hell we’re not looking for two different sets of thieves. Jewel heists are one thing, but murder...”
    * * *
    â€œWhat is the matter with you?” Kieran demanded. Her voice was harsh, even though her words were almost whispered.
    She wasn’t meeting with her best friend and her miscreant youngest brother at Finnegan’s. No way could she have done that without Declan getting wind of it. Didn’t matter that he wasn’t at the bar right now. The customers, the servers, everyone—even the damned walls—seemed to have eyes and ears.
    She’d met them at a nondescript chain coffee place down the street from Finnegan’s instead.
    Daniel looked sheepishly at Kieran, turned to Julie, then back to Kieran. “Julie’s like a sister to me,” he said defensively. “And her scumbag husband deserves the worst. Kieran, he could’ve killed those poor dogs, not to mention the emotional crap he’s been putting Julie through!”
    Daniel was obviously a Finnegan. Everyone in the family had some shade of red hair. Declan’s was a medium-reddish brown, Kieran and Kevin were a darker auburn, while Daniel had the lightest coloring among them. Her uncle had once said that visiting the hospital after the twins, and later Daniel, were born seemed pointless, since he’d gone to see Declan and they’d all looked like the same baby.
    At the moment Kieran figured she really did resemble her youngest brother. Her expression was