Poor Agent Pendergast. He will be meeting Agent Devereaux and perhaps his match as well. A little fluffy perhaps, but I hope you enjoy.
Pendergast would have risen when any woman entered the room – that is how he was raised. However, had he not been trained to be a gentleman, sheer surprise would have most likely brought him to his feet; the woman who walked through the door was truly striking.
It was as if Pendergast forgot his Southern upbringing and the proscription to never stare, as he looked intently at the young woman. She was petite - probably just slightly over five feet tall to Pendergast's six foot-plus frame. Her skin was a clear and fair, although instead of the pallid whiteness of Pendergast's own complexion, hers had a glow of gold, hinting at the ethnic mix in her background. Her hair, currently contained in neat chignon was so black as to reflect a blue tinge and appeared to be thick and glossy. Pendergast was disconcerted to note that he was wondering how it would feel to have his fingers tangled in that hair which triggered other, even more disconcerting sensations which he quashed with some difficulty.
But it was her eyes that held him mesmerized. They were a deep, sea green with flecks of liquid amber. They looked at Pendergast with open curiosity and he realized that although her eyes were not at all similar in appearance, the open frankness of her gaze and the humor and intelligence that seemed to dance in her eyes reminded him of…. Pendergast exerted his will and ruthlessly clamped down on those thoughts as he pulled his gaze away from her, focusing instead on Grady.
As if in response to Pendergast's motion, Deputy Director Grady also rose. He extended his hand to the young woman who walked through the door and briskly made her way to the desk. She shook hands with the director and then turned her attention to Pendergast. "Agent Aloysius Pendergast," Grady said, "meet Agent Amy Devereaux. Agent Devereaux is one of our top profilers and has been instrumental in resolving several cases over the last few years."
Pendergast extended a hand to Amy who took it in a surprisingly strong grip although Pendergast's hand completely swallowed hers. "I am very pleased to meet you, Agent Devereaux," Pendergast said using his most honeyed tone.
The other agent looked up at Pendergast, her green eyes meeting his icy pale blue ones. Was there a hint of amusement lurking there now? "Agent Pendergast," she said. Her voice was lower than he would have expected and had an odd accent that sounded familiar, but that he was not able to place. "If we are to work together, the first thing is to please avoid lying to me. You are anything, but pleased to have me here and for that I am sorry as I am personally looking forward to working with you. I have heard a great deal about you and your," she paused, searching for the correct word, "uncanny ability to solve cases."
The very touch of her hand sent a shock through his body and caused a stirring of feelings and emotions that he thought were long dead and buried, but Pendergast merely permitted himself an infinitesimal smile and an inclination of his head in acknowledgement of Amy's claim. "My apologies, Agent Devereaux, It is merely that I am unused to working with somebody else, but I am certain that we will come to an accommodation that will suit us both."
During this entire exchange, Amy had been looking at Pendergast and praying that he would not hear how loudly her heart was beating – it seemed that it would beat a hole through her ribcage. There was something about Pendergast that set off every alarm in her brain and yet she felt her body reacting in a way that made her feel every inch the awkward school girl with her first crush. "Get a grip, girl," she scolded. You are an FBI agent and a damn fine one at that. Stop acting like a teenager with raging hormones. And yet, even as she berated herself, it took every ounce of her will to keep her knees from going weak as the tall, blond man gazed at her with his inscrutable silver eyes.
Although to the two agents this exchange seemed to take forever, it was only a few seconds and Grady, oblivious to the charged atmosphere, spoke and broke the spell. "Agent Devereaux can brief you on what we know about the case. Sit down, both of you. What have you got for us, Agent?" He looked at Amy who took a deep breath, opened the file folder she had been carrying and began.
"Unfortunately, we do not know all that much yet," Amy started, "as we have just been notified by the local authorities that there may be a serial killer. To date, we believe there have been four victims. All women, all in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties and all from what appear to be upper middle class backgrounds. They seem to be taken on or around the first of the month. All four women have been found dead within two weeks, although the time has varied from seven days to twelve days so we are not yet sure if there is any importance to the interval. The fourth victim was found yesterday. There was some visible trauma, bruises and the like that appear to be peri-mortem, but COD is not obvious yet. All four women were found wrapped in white sheets as if in shrouds and had a small pendant around their neck." Amy showed Grady and Pendergast a photograph of a small circular pendant with the picture of a stylized bird.
"Our labs received all the information on all four victims as well as the body of victim number four yesterday and are doing a full work up. I should have some preliminary data within 24 hours. It is the thirteenth of the month, so we have about seventeen days to prevent the next murder, "Amy said looking at Pendergast.
"Any insights into the killer yet, Agent Devereaux,"Pendergast asked, his voice carrying the merest suggestion of a sneer...
"Very preliminary. Above average intelligence which is par for the course for serial killers. My thought is that he is on the outer range of age – maybe forty to fifty rather than the usual twenty to thirty five. There is no indication of any sexual abuse and what seems like great respect for the bodies so there is a great deal of self-control which usually comes with age. Also and here Amy paused momentarily, "Also, what is strange is that this is not a masculine crime. There is something in the care taken that implies female involvement, although instances of female serial killers are exceedingly rare." Amy took a breath. "I should have more for you within the next day or so."
Pendergast nodded, his lips set in a thin line. "So what you have is supposition and guess work."
"What I have," corrected Amy, bristling at the tone, "Are some educated assumptions based on the very limited information that I have to date. Please rest assured that I will be updating these assumptions as we collect more information."
"Of course," was Pendergast's noncommittal reply. "Deputy Director, given the timing, I recommend that Agent Devereaux and I make our way to New Orleans as quickly as possible. As always, I am happy to augment the travel budget out of my personal funds to ensure…"
"Yes, yes," Grady interrupted. "I know how you like to travel. Do what you need to do, just get the Son of a Bitch, before another woman is killed."
Pendergast looked over at Amy. "I will have a car to pick you up and take you to the airport in two hours. I trust this will be sufficient time for you to prepare what you need for the trip."
"Good luck," Grady said, indicating to both Amy and Pendergast that the discussion was over.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think of Agent Amy Devereaux? I promise there is much more to her still to discover, but I hope you like her as much as Agent Pendergast seems to - although he is not yet willing to admit it. Your thoughts and reviews are always gratefully welcomed. Thank you for taking the time to read.