Oh, nothing really. Just to screw with your head. Just to remind you that Im here and I know. He laughed here, a soft throaty noise that made her cringe. You go catch those bad guys, Agent Gift. And if you ever need my assistance again, you know where to find me.

The line went dead before she could say anything else. Rachel didnt move for a moment. In fact, she found it hard to breathe. She was afraid a single breath would cause her to expel a scream or a bout of weeping. Her entire body seemed to lock up for a moment as a chill of despair crept through her.

What the hell were you thinking going to that madman for help? she asked herself.

Rather than try to come up with an answer, she uttered a silent curse and pocketed her phone. She took a moment to collect herself. Her hands were trembling slightly and she felt like she might be on the verge of a panic attack. She allowed herself time enough to take a few deep, calming breaths, trying to figure out what to do about this. Should she contact the prison and tell them to monitor his calls, to make sure the maniac never called her again? That seemed like a bit much. Though, if he called again, it might be an avenue shed pursue.

When her hands were no longer shaking, Rachel hurried down to catch up with Jack where hed parked their car just off of Chrystie Street. As she crossed the road and joined him, she saw that he was standing against the side of the car, reading something on his phone.

He barely glanced up at her, his eyes still mostly on his phone. Everything okay?

Yeah, she said, hoping it was convincing. How about you? Reading something interesting?

Yes, actually. Branson sent the phone records over for all three of the potential victims.

Potential?

Yeah. Im not calling them victims until we know for sure theres foul play here. I mean, so far it all looks like suicides to me. And if it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck…its a well, in this case, I guess its a duck that killed itself.

Thats not quite how the saying goes.

He ignored her, still looking at the screen. I will say, though, that these phone records do look sort of fishy. You got your laptop?

Yeah, its in my bag.

Rachel unlocked the trunk and took her laptop out of the one bag shed packed for the trip. As she powered it up and got into the car, Jack forwarded the records to her email. By the time he got into the passenger seat, the laptop was powered up. He took it from her without asking and she raised her eyebrows at him. Excuse me…

We can look it over right over there, at that pizza place. Id like to eat at some point today.