Girl of Rage Read Free Page A

And now he had to listen to this spoiled woman demand diapers and bottles.
    “Just in case you missed it, Mrs. Sherman, two of my agents died protecting your family. Leah Simpson is in the hospital. Don’t take that demanding tone with me.”
    Carrie wasn’t cowed. “Just in case you missed it, Mr. Wyden, my sister and brother-in-law are missing because your team failed to protect them. So don’t take that judgmental tone with me.”
    Bear felt his chest and throat tighten. He closed his eyes and struggled to take a deep breath. His mother had suggested breathing exercises to keep his temper under control through the divorce. Sometimes they actually worked. He turned and walked out of the room and into the hall. He could not stay in the same room with that woman another moment.
    He paced in the hallway for just a moment then reached for his phone. It rang before he had a chance to start dialing.
    Secretary Perry.
    Secretary James Perry. Former soldier. Vietnam veteran. US Senator for three decades, then presidential candidate. He’d been Secretary of State for six months, and for reasons that didn’t mean one lick of shit to Bear, he’d taken a liking to Bear Wyden.
    Bear answered the phone. “Wyden, here.”
    “It’s James Perry, Bear.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “I’m going to ask you about progress in just a moment. But first, how’s Leah Simpson?”
    Jesus. Bear muttered under his breath, then said, “Critical condition, sir. That’s all I know. Hospital wouldn’t tell me shit when I called.”
    Damn it. He couldn’t recall the words, but using profanity with the Secretary of State was never a good idea.
    “And you’re downstairs?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Put someone else in charge for the next two hours. You go to the hospital.”
    Bear choked a little. “Sir, I can—”
    “That’s not a request. She’s your ex-wife. Go find out if she’s okay.”
    “Yeah,” Bear replied.
    Perry disconnected without any further courtesies. Bear leaned against the wall for a moment.
    Bear, is there supposed to be a relief team here?
    She was calm. Not panicked. Not even anxious. Concerned. Businesslike. Within two minutes of that call she was lying on the floor, a bullet through her hip and another in her chest. And he was here, babysitting the investigation. Screw that.
    He walked down the hall and pushed open the door to the offices assigned to the investigation team. His eyes scanned the room and fell on Scott Kelly.
    Kelly was a forty-four-year-old former federal prosecutor from Boston. Precise, competent, exacting. Four years prior, his wife had left him, and he decided he wanted to travel the world. He resigned from his position and joined DSS as a high-level investigator, where his first three-year tour had been in Bangkok. He had slightly prominent jowls and dark circles under his red rimmed eyes, and looked perpetually exhausted. His performance reviews, however, were stellar.
    “Kelly,” Bear called across the room.
    “Yeah?”
    “I’m going to the hospital to check on Leah, then out to the crime scene. You’re in charge.”
    Kelly raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? When do I get to sleep?”
    “You can sleep when the investigation is over.”
    “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go check on Leah.”
    Bear didn’t stick around to figure out what else Kelly might have to say. Everyone on the team knew he and Leah had been married for fifteen years. He didn’t need them looking at him, wondering, speculating, whatever. He had a job to do.
    He was soaking wet by the time he got to the parking deck, and the drive to the hospital felt like it took days. Even though it was well past midnight, traffic near downtown DC was snarled from the downpour. Bear didn’t like to drive at all, not in DC, but under the circumstances he had little choice. It pissed him off that he was stuck in traffic. It pissed him off that someone out there was running circles around his investigation. It especially pissed him off that he still had