Page 22 of Shane
“Why?”
Shane hmphed. “Because apparently, the FBI has worse ROEs than Alex, and The TEAM can get things done they can’t. Alex’ll send the brief to your email as soon as he—”
Her cell phone pinged an incoming notification. “And there it is. So, what’s Ms. Bremmer wanted for?”
“For murdering Atchison Bremmer, her husband of five years, their three-year-old son Toby and two-month-old daughter Betsy. Allegedly, last month in New York City, she disabled the smoke alarms in their Fifth Avenue apartment, poured charcoal lighter fluid throughout the rooms, then lit the place up. As if that wasn’t bad enough, on her way out, she chained the apartment doors from the outside hall to keep everyone locked inside. She burned them to death while they slept, and the apartment manager has the security footage to prove it.”
Everlee gasped. “She killed her own children?” Like killing anyone’s child made her less of a monster.
Shane nodded grimly. “Oddest thing though, she’d purchased five-hundred-thousand-dollar life insurance policies on each of the kids and increased the payoff on her husband’s policy to a million before she killed them. But then she let herself be filmed chaining the only exit, the double doors, while the fire alarms went off. FBI thinks they’ve got an alibi-proof case. They’re investigating her first husband’s death now, too. But Alex isn’t convinced.”
Everlee let that slide. Alex had been at odds with the FBI forever. He’d made a few friends, including FBI Director Zachary Strong, the man President Adams appointed. Also, Tucker Chase, the director of the Bureau’s one and only Paranormal Unit. But for the most part, he had nothing good to say about the Bureau.
“She was married before?”Amazing.
“Yeah. Her first hubby, Frederick Lamb. Also in New York.”
“Was she the beneficiary on his life insurance policy, too?”
“Not sure. Alex only knows he was quite a bit older and he died of a heart attack about six years ago. According to the FBI’s ME who examined Lamb’s body, no one suspected they were looking at murder. Guess Lamb had a history of minor cardiac events, so there was no suspicion. But with these last three deaths, the Bureau’s exhuming the body to do a more thorough examination.”
“How old are you talking?”
Shane’s lips pursed. “Forty-two years difference. Ms. Bremmer’s only twenty-six now. She was seventeen when she married him. Talk about a winter/spring romance.”
Everlee shivered at the image that honeymoon invoked.Yuck.A creepy old guy with a seventeen-year-old child-bride who’d probably never had sex. Did she and Lamb even consummate their marriage? Worse, Ms. Bremmer had gotten pregnant pretty damned fast the second time around, if that three-year-old boy was hers. Was insurance fraud her plan all along? And for that, she killed that boy and a two-month-old baby girl? What a sicko! “She’s a black widow is what she is, and she’s been busy. How old was she when she married Atchison Bremmer?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Criminy, she didn’t even let her first husband’s body get cold. How long was she married to Lamb?”
Shane grunted. “You’re gonna love this. They’d only been together a little over three years before he died.”
“Jiminy Christmas,” Everlee breathed. “She was so young. Do you think she might’ve had a psychotic break?”
“That would make sense, but I get the feeling Alex doesn’t think so, nor does he trust the Bureau’s intel. We may not have all the facts.”
“Alex doesn’t like most Bureau agents. He’s been burned too many times. When does he want us to leave?”
“Tomorrow morning if Doc Fitz clears us for duty. He thinks you’re going stir-crazy, that this mission’ll get you away from the customer service desk. Sounds easy enough if you ask me.”
“That’s because this isn’t Afghanistan, and we won’t be in combat. Of course it sounds easy, but there’s no such thing as an easy op, big guy.” She fist-bumped his biceps for emphasis. “The instant you even think the word, everything goes belly-up. So lay off the easy op crap.”
“I’m sure we can handle whatever pops. What do you think? You game or would you rather baby that ankle another week? It’s been what, a month or so now?”
Her hackles lifted. He’d taunted her on purpose. “Six weeks, Hayes. My ankle’s fine. The real question is, can you pass Doc Fitz’s exam? Huh?”
He shrugged at her less than gracious comeback. “Guess we’ll find out tomorrow. Alex said he’ll have someone called Mother take care of our travel arrangements.” Shane turned back to the Stewarts and gave Alex a thumbs-up. Alex acknowledged him with a stiff chin nod.
Shane turned back to Everlee and asked under his breath, “Does his mom seriously work for him?”
Everlee snickered. “Heck, no. Mother is Sasha Kennedy, The TEAM’s master techie. She goes by Mother or Mom, and except for Alex’s, she handles all TEAM reservations. Maddie Tenney, Alex’s protocol officer, handles his schedule and travel affairs. I’ll bet Mother already has everything lined up for us.” Everlee tugged her cell out of her jeans pocket as another notification hit. “Yup. Did you get it?”
Shane was on his cell, too. “That was fast. Looks like we’re leaving after we meet with Doc Fitz and Alex. Darn, that won’t give me much time to make arrangements for my girls.”
“Don’t worry. Us agents with dogs just drop our fur babies off with Harley before we head out to wherever we’re going. He runs the kennels, which includes boarding, training, and whatever Molly and Dolly need while we’re gone. Cool, huh?”
“Incredible,” Shane murmured. “Mr. Stewart really takes care of his agents, doesn’t he?”