These sharp internal thoughts yanked her out of the little bit of rest shed managed to find. Even as she got to her feet, knowing they were going to have to pay Quinn a visit, she checked her watch and saw that it had somehow come to be 5:50 in the morning. Sure, it was too early to go visit Quinn but then again, if the report and the article were spot-on, Dr. Joseph Quinn was someone she had no issue waking up so early in the morning. Sob story or not, his history made him a prime suspect in the case.

As she started leaving the cubicle in search of Jack, her phone rang from inside her pocket. When she saw on the caller display that it was Director Anderson calling, she answered it right away. She knew that adding her Alex Lynch drama on top of everything else was a huge mistake, but she also knew she needed answers. Even if she could just file one of her questions about the Lynch situation away as solved, it would be a small relief.

This is Agent Gift.

Gift, its Anderson. I know its early, but I have a message saying you need to speak with me about the Alex Lynch situation.

Yes, sir I do. I dont know what the hell is going on at that prison, but he managed to call me again. Even after he somehow got someone to put that squirrel and note in my daughters room, he managed to call me.

The heavy silence on the other line told her all she needed to know; this was obviously news to Anderson as well, and he was furious. What did he say?

He was just teasing me. Telling me that if I threatened him in any way, hed send a big man to my daughters room to assault her. And you know, Id love to think it was nothing more than an empty threat, but after that squirrel…

She also couldnt help but think of a killer striking in the Ragland house while there were cops parked right along the side of the street.

Ill look into it, he said, and she could hear the fury in his voice. You have my word on that. If I have my way on this, heads will roll.

Thank you. And youll keep me updated?

Yes. And while I have you on here, I should tell you that we do have a very small break in that Alex Lynch case. There were no fingerprints found at the scene but ironically enough, we did find two hairs on the squirrel. They both belonged to the same mana man with quite a track record by the name of Edward Walton. I currently have a search out for him as we speak. He lives somewhere in southern Virginia, pretty close to the Carolina border. And again, Ill keep you posted on that as well.

Thank you, sir.